L'Artisan Parfumeur
L'Artisan Parfumeur
243 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Rum-drenched mandarin explodes first, that spiritous brightness immediately tempered by clove's numbing spice—it's like biting into a studded orange pomander. The citrus oils shimmer briefly before the alcohol accord settles into something warmer, almost caramelised, whilst whole clove buds seem to crack open, releasing their aromatic heat across the skin.
Tobacco leaf unfurls with an almost leathery suppleness, dusted with dried fruit sweetness—muscovado-dark and slightly fermented. Narcissus brings its peculiar honeyed-hay quality whilst rose petals, half-dried, add a muted floralcy that never overwhelms; the dried fruits stew gently into the spice matrix, creating that signature gourmand density without crossing into cloying.
The vanilla finally claims centre stage, but it's pod-scraped and resinous rather than sugary, propped up by benzoin's vanilla-adjacent warmth and tolu balsam's balsamic sweetness. Vetiver's earthy roots thread through the base like smoke, whilst tonka and musk create a skin-close powderiness—warm, slightly talc-like, comforting in the way a beloved jumper smells after being worn all day.
Bertrand Duchaufour's Vanille Absolument is a boozy, spice-crusted take on vanilla that sidesteps every saccharine cliché the note typically invites. This is vanilla soaked in dark rum and rolled in clove buds—a gourmand with a cigar box heart. The opening bursts with citrus oils cut through amber-hued spirits, that telluric combination of mandarin peel and rum creating an almost fermented sweetness before the clove arrives to anchor everything with its eugenol bite. Duchaufour weaves tobacco leaf through the composition's centre, not as smoke but as the dried, slightly fruity character of cured leaves mingling with narcissus's hay-like floralcy and a wisp of tea rose. The dried fruits—think rum-soaked raisins and sticky dates—add textural density without veering into Christmas pudding territory. What grounds this potentially wayward gourmand is the base: vetiver's earthy, almost smoky rootiness plays beautifully against the resinous trio of benzoin, tolu balsam, and tonka bean, whilst the vanilla itself reads as pod and extract rather than buttercream. There's a dusty, powdery quality that emerges late, like icing sugar sifted over warm spices. This fragrance suits those who want their sweetness cut with something darker—the person ordering an old fashioned rather than a cosmopolitan, equally at home in a worn leather chair with a book or a velvet booth after midnight. It's comfort with an edge, familiar but never dull.
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4.2/5 (611)