Écrin de Fumée

I must confess that I got the intention of Ecrin de Fumee wrong during the initial sniffs after application. At first, I thought I was getting massive and billowing tendrils of incense smoke, a combination of frankincense, myrrh, and white wood smoke, but quite quickly I realized that was not the case. It was the richest and weirdest combinations of chocolate, and sweet oaky alcohol of something like rum or bourbon, both hovering like a dense cloud over smoking pipe tobacco. Within about 30 minutes the boozy, chocolatey, smokey notes are gone and Ecrin de Fumee settles into gear for a long-haul of large, rich, vanillic, unlit pipe tobacco. And that's about all she wrote, folks. In keeping with Lutens's particular style Ecrin de Fumee is pretty straightforward. I've said this a handful of times in other reviews that Lutens's perfumes are more like bases than they are complete compositions with well-staged tops, hearts, plus bases, but I've also said that's a bit unfair because a great Lutens perfume is like a brilliant quote from a brilliant mind: yes, that quote likely came from a lengthy literary composition of some sort from that author, but you don't need several pages to get the point because the quote is so perfectly stated that being succinct and to-the-point does not weaken the message. Ecrin de Fumee is Lutens and Sheldrake in that top form. As a perfume whose purpose is to deliver an accord of pipe tobacco, I believe Ecrin de Fumee is probably the best out there. Part of the reason for this is because, rather than rely solely on tobacco - fresh green tobacco, cured tobacco, or otherwise - Ecrin de Fumee seems to put one foot over the line into amber territory. Tobacco and amber are far from being a new idea, but it's usually amber plus tobacco, not tobacco plus amber. The balsamic and vanillic amber very nearly pushes Ecrin into the gourmand genre, and I'm sure some wearers will say that it is well-over the line in that genre. Those "amber sensitive" noses have a valid point, but, to my nose (which is amber sensitive) it never loses that tobacco centered purpose. Though a bit less common but far from being new, the way Lutens and Sheldrake manage this tobacco+amber concoction with beautiful materials and near-perfect balance is what makes it stand out. It is so rich, complex, smooth, well-rounded, and endlessly evocative and addictive to the point where I cannot stop raising my hands and arms to my face for one more smell. I'll say it again, if you want a perfume that showcases rich aged pipe tobacco, Ecrin de Fumee is probably the best.

Lutens Santal Majuscule had a similar cocoa note in its spine. Smell a nice dark chocolate and you'll get it. It's an opening note and it lasts about 15 minutes on my skin and the rest is a monolithic dark sweetish boozy-ish amalgam where a handful of notes have been melted together. Fragrance pyramid can't explain the feeling. Strange how in compositions like this rum plays the brightest voice. But you know what's also strange? I smelled it one day suddenly realizing I couldn't remember the notes at all. What I clearly smelled then was nicely aged and a bit animalic leather, and the distant echo of rubber soles. A shoe store, right? Not really. Too easy. Smell of new shoes doesn't bring me emotions like this. But that was my decoding until I remembered - oh yes, rum and tobacco, oh yes, Chergui probably. Still, Chergui also never excited me that much. I can't never remember its smell and I think it's more complex and multifaceted. This one brings a somehow simpler statement and really insists on it in a more minimalistic fashion, as if Occam's razor was strictly applied to everything that could possibly make things more interesting but would also distract from the main theme: a cuddling darkness that doesn't dominate you. No literal smoke here, but I imagine the smokescreen mentioned is that heavy, overly sweet spicy-ambery-gourmand all-at-once trend that dominates the market for some time now, the need for Elixirs and beast mode projection hiding one's personality and vulnerabilities as much as possible. Ironically, it's a couple of Lutens perfumes that probably pioneered this style decades ago, given Serge Lutens has always spoken about personal memories and fragilities.

You don't know how, but you and your friends found yourself in a speakeasy cigar bar while downtown. You grab a table, a cigar, and a shot of spiced dark rum to start the night. The smell of the ashy and smokey tobacco with the spicy and boozy rum is literally and figuratively intoxicating. A fancy waiter brings you all dark chocolate with the logo of the speakeasy. You just MIGHT be in a little over your head, and you don't wanna know how much that shot and cigar cost, but when in Rome. The heat of the summers night heats up the old wood deck, the smell of long trapped sweet pipe tobacco drifts through from a generation prior of friends. As you all joke with each other, the evening begins to fall into night. The lights of the city begin to all turn on as you look down at the glitz of your next stops from the rooftop bar deck. Life is good. A beautiful opening of biting smoke and bitter cocoa powder that fades into a mixture of ashy tobacco, smoke, dark chocolate, and spicy rum. The mixture of ashy and smokey tobacco, dark chocolate, and spicy rum is amazing. Fall and Winter nights is probably the intention, but I could see this being really sexy under the summer night heat if you spray accordingly. Super sexy up close, and even better in the air. Leans masculine to my nose, but wear what you want. I would wear this while going out or dressing up, but someone 25+ could pull this off consistently in my opinion. Want a full bottle or decant soon, I can see this becoming a 10 with some full wearing's. Long lasting on my skin and projects well for the first like 4-5 hours, but becomes within arms reach for the remaining 5-7 hours. 9/10 Song vibe - Perm by Bruno Mars

I tested this on a paper and it was amazing!! I was completely in love with the dark cacao and tabac notes. But then I tried on my skin... and what a disappointment, it turned kind of sour, chemical, and I could only feel the alcohol note. I checked my clothes and they were absolutely wonderful, smelling exactly like on the paper. I am so sad 😭😭. I am super jealous of those who have the right skin chemistry for this scent, because this is a piece of art ❤️ Edit: I gave it a second chance, and I understood that what I was feeling was actually the rum note, which was new to my nose. Now I started to understand the booziness, and feeling more the cacao and tabac on my skin. I have a feeling that soon it will come an edit2 saying that this is the best winter scent I’ve ever felt haha Edit2: I’ve ordered a new, fresh decant of this scent. The other times I was testing it in a department store. I think maybe the bottle was standing there in the light and heat for way too long. The new sample doesn’t have the sourness, or I got used to it, I am not sure, because it doesn’t bother me anymore. I feel now just the beautiful booziness, cacao and sweet tabac notes. I find it happens often that I have to try a SL fragrance multiple times to fully understand it. After some trials, I fall in love with it, and everything else becomes boring! And every time you wear them, the perfumes still surprise you. I personally find Ecrin de Fumee much better than Chergui (sorry!). This will probably become my default winter scent ❤️

#1650 in my “Tour de Fragrance” Got this as a sprayette from scentswithsense.com, but if I had blind bought a bottle of this I would be content. It fits in with one of my all-time discontinued favorites, Thierry Mugler “Pure Havane”, three of my all-time still available favorites, Les Indemodables “Vanille Havane” and "Cuir des Abysses”, Pierre Guillaume “Anti-Blues”, and the not-bad-for-a-cheapie Reyanne Tradition “Insurrection II Wild.” Rum, chocolate and tobacco (with a somewhat powdery character). It’s a note combination I didn’t expect to like when I first encountered it, but I actually do like it a lot, and where this scent differentiates itself is it doesn’t drown out those marvelous notes with an overdose of vanilla as all those others do. This not a heavy scent and so a safe go-to for car poolers, elevator riders and anyone working in a tight spaces office. Really any use and environment. Moderate longevity and projection. I’d probably respray at lunch. I think in the age of Versace “Eros”, Dior “Sauvage” and BDC, scents like these can come off a bit dated, but I don’t much care. I would expect anyone who wore this would also happily wear Bentley’s “For Men Intense”, Paco Rabanne's “1 Million Prive.” For myself, I think it’s worth owning for date nights. Good Luck and Good Hunting!