Goutal
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Petitgrain crackles with tart, almost aldehydic brightness before absinthe surges in with liquorice-like bitterness, creating an herbal-spicy profile that feels vaguely medicinal, as though you've cracked open a vintage apothecary cabinet.
The fragrance settles into a tense dialogue between orris root's powdery, slightly metallic earthiness and leather that refuses to soften, whilst the green spice persists as an underlying hum of restless discomfort.
What remains is predominantly leather and gaïac wood stripped of warmth, paired with a distant, cool musk—a skeletal base that feels more like a memory of fragrance than fragrance itself.
Duel Goutal is a fragrance that whispers rather than shouts, built on a deliberately austere architecture that rewards close attention. Camille Goutal has constructed something genuinely unusual here: a green-spicy framework where petitgrain's bright citrus bite immediately surrenders to the anise-tinged bitterness of absinthe, creating an almost medicinal opening that feels intellectually rather than emotionally engaging.
What makes this composition arresting is the orris root's earthy, slightly powdery sweetness wrestling against leather and gaïac wood in the base—a tension that never fully resolves into harmony. Instead, Duel Goutal maintains a palpable duality throughout its brief lifespan: civilised herbaceousness clashing with raw, unsweetened leather notes that carry no warmth. The musk here isn't soft or skin-like; it's austere, almost animalic, refusing to cushion the sharper elements.
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3.8/5 (190)