Baume du Doge
Eau d'Italie (2008)

Like its brothers, Bois d’Ombre for the same brand, and Dzongkha for L’Artisan Parfumeur, Baume du Doges (Eau d’Italie) is emblematic of a period in Bertrand Duchaufour’s career when he seemed deeply interested in excavating the vegetal, vinegary side of resins for brilliant effect in incense compositions stuffed with dried fruit, smoky grasses and roots, and adding accents like whiskey or wet newspapers. The effect is that of sourness balanced by sugar and a hit of smoke – a sort of myrrh agrodolce.

True to form, the opening of Baume du Doge emits a sharp vetiver and cedarwood frequency that smells like the burn in your throat of a particularly smoky Laphroaig. This spicy burn is simultaneously calmed by a balmy orange milk accord and revived with a clove note that splits the difference between a licked spoon and a virulently camphoraceous mint. This creates a wonderful vanilla-orange-peel-incense accord that smells like Christmas morning. The vanilla is restrained; just a smear of something friendly to take the sting out of the astringent myrrh.

Because this is essentially a myrrh perfume. With its gloomy demeanor, myrrh is the sulky emo teen of the resin family, but here, a smile has been pasted on its face by way of a bright, boozy sparkle that feels like the crunch of cassonade on a crème brulée. The brown-gold depth this creates is not a million miles away from the deep dried fruit, vodka and whiskey notes in Ambre Russe (Parfums d’Empire), minus the black tea and leather notes that take that great perfume in another direction entirely. Still, I think it’s remarkable that both Baume du Doge and Ambre Russe manage to smell quietly but resolutely masculine, despite the presence of sugary, ‘edible’ notes.

The richness of the resin against the vegetal tartness of the vetiver and cedarwood smells absolutely right, as if the basic bones of this successful marriage already existed in the air, waiting for a perfumer with vision to come along and bring it all together. Unfortunately, Baume du Doge runs out of steam quickly, getting quite threadbare in the drydown, so those looking for that brilliant, rich orange peel incense and milk accord to be sustained throughout may be disappointed.

Because amber and incense are basically room fragrances, this gives me the uncanny feeling that mass has been said in my lounge.

The consensus on this seems to be that the drydown is a letdown after the more distinctive opening; an opening that gets mixed reviews. The spices and vanilla with a touch of cedar say “woody oriental” while the orange says “gourmand,” with the net effect being something like a creamsicle melting in your spice cabinet. Really, it all smells delicious, but at the same time all that sweetness seems a bit too desperate to be liked.

The mint (or mint-like) note becomes more prominent as the orange and most of the spice recedes. The vanilla and some unassuming wood remains. It doesn't quite turn to toothpaste, but yeah, the drydown is a letdown. Not that I wanted more spicy creamsicle, but it was at least an idea, whereas this is barely an afterthought.

Ultimately, the drydown morphs back into woody oriental territory–sort of like a vanilla-flavored toothpick. Which is better than it sounds, but not enough better.

A good sweet orange note married to effervescent spices such as cinnamon, fennel and cardamom: the opening is refreshing and well rounded with a bit of heft. The decision to use cooler spices instead of "hot spices" such as cumin, coriander etc is a good one and created an uplifting opening instead of a Surge Lutens-like spice attack.

The trademark Duchaufour bitter/dark notes dont materialize - rather, the incense and myrrh notes are well blended with clove and cedar to introduce a woody heart composition which carries on the upolifting spicy aroma of the top notes. The basenotes are more demure by comparison - a vanilla/benzoin sweet woody drydown.

Overall: a versatile woody-oriental fragrance that may have more mass appeal than the typical Bertrand Duchaufour composition.

As far as I am concerned Baume du Doge is Bertrand Duchaufour's pratfall. A resinous-spicy perfume suffused with a way too sugary orange note, it is one of those perfumes that – whichever way you sniff it – is a muddle, refusing to reveal any detail, a scented foam for the nose. The prolific Duchaufour was likely working on it around the same time as his glorious Jubilation for Men (both were launched in the same year) and this seems to share the same idea – a fruit-infused resins based creation – but so dully that it seems almost like an abandoned study. Perhaps it's the dead hand of vanilla in the base which seems to flatten everything else. I was thankful for its demure sillage, otherwise I might have been compelled to wash it off, which would have done no end of damage to my rather puritan perfume ethic of suffering one's choices.

I agree with previous posters that the opening is stunning and the dry down less so, but for me it is definitely NOT disappointing. Despite this, I still believe overall that Baume du Doge is an very good fragrance. A little more projection and I would classify it as EXCECCENT.