L'Artisan Parfumeur
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Marron glacé dominates immediately—sweet, earthy chestnut preserved in syrup—cut through by the green astringency of walnut shells and the zesty bitterness of candied orange peel, sticky with essential oils. It's remarkably photorealistic, like crushing chestnuts between your palms whilst standing outside a Parisian confiserie, cold air sharpening every sweet molecule.
The coffee arrives with serious intent, dark-roasted and slightly smoky, meeting maple syrup in a surprisingly savoury collision that recalls pancakes with bacon. Orange blossom threads through as a white floral counterpoint, its creamy indoles preventing the composition from becoming a straightforward gourmand, whilst the woods begin their slow ascent from beneath.
Macassar and sandalwood create a foundation of polished wood and soft leather, whilst vanilla, heliotrope and tonka meld into an almond-tinged, powdery sweetness that clings close to skin. What remains is warm, slightly spicy, and deeply comforting—like the scent of expensive wooden drawers lined with vanilla-scented paper, with the ghost of coffee lingering on cashmere.
Noir Exquis is Bertrand Duchaufour at his most indulgent, crafting a fragrance that reads like a Parisian chocolatier's autumn window display translated into olfactory form. The opening marries glacéed chestnuts with bitter walnut husks, their earthy tannins softened by sticky candied orange peel—a triumvirate that somehow avoids dessert-counter sweetness through sheer textural complexity. As Brazilian coffee emerges, dark and slightly burnt at the edges, it weaves through maple syrup with an unexpected savoury quality, whilst orange blossom adds a whisper of indolic cream that keeps the composition from toppling into confectionery territory.
This is a fragrance for those who've moved beyond safe amber vanillas and want something that demands attention without shouting. The Macassar wood provides a masculine backbone of polished furniture and pipe tobacco, whilst Indian sandalwood—the real stuff, you can tell—lends a lactonic smoothness that makes the whole construction feel like expensive leather gloves lined with cashmere. Heliotrope and tonka bean create an almost marzipan-like almond nuance in the base, but it's never cloying; Duchaufour's too clever for that.
Add fragrances to your collection and unlock your personalised scent DNA, note map, and shareable identity card.
3.8/5 (349)