Cabal pour Homme

Cabal pour Homme is an unabashed sweet shop of a fragrance, where the ostensibly fresh opening of bergamot and mint serves as little more than a brief distraction before the main event unfolds. The cardamom, rather than providing its usual dry, resinous spice, acts as a bridge between the mentholated top and what quickly becomes a cinnamon-spiked gourmand heart. This is where things get interesting—or potentially cloying, depending on your tolerance. The apple blossom isn't so much floral as it is candied, mingling with lavender that's been drowned in syrup and dusted with bakery spice. It's aromatic fougère territory reimagined through a distinctly early-2000s lens, when masculine fragrances began their flirtation with sweetness but hadn't yet learnt subtlety.

The base is where the synthetic accord becomes most apparent, that particular sheen of tonka and vanilla rendered in broad, unmodulated strokes. The sandalwood and Virginia cedar attempt to provide woody structure, but they're largely overwhelmed by the musk-and-vanilla combination that dominates the dry down. This is a fragrance for someone who wants presence without complexity, sweetness without sophistication. It's the scent of a man who wears his leather jacket to the coffee shop, orders something with caramel syrup, and isn't remotely embarrassed about it. Cabal pour Homme knows exactly what it is: a crowd-pleasing comfort scent that trades nuance for likability, and at 3.55 stars, the crowd seems reasonably pleased.