Fahrenheit Absolute
Christian Dior (2009)

Demachy perfect craftsmanship!

Today, I come across a discontinued one that many regret, because it is an impeccable perfume! Dior Fahrenheit Absolute !!! Released in 2009!
It's love at first glance, opulent, resinous. The dream Fahrenheit violet remains and is enhanced by a myrrh like the one used in eau Sauvage Parfum 2012 and we also have incense with oud. Phenomenal! Francis, if you read these lines, please, reintroduce this perfume back into production, we still have hope to resurrect this under the graveyard 🤗

Fahrenheit Absolute

To me this one smells very similar to the original with two significant differences, one good and one not so good. The good is that the caustic note that I always got from the original is (thankfully) gone from Absolute. The bad is that Absolute barely lasts on my skin whereas the original was extremely long-lasting.

On my skin this is really very linear, opening with incense and violets with a hint of oud, and continues to sit like that. This was pretty weak in terms of projection, maybe a few feet for several hours, then falls into a very close scent. When it becomes more of a skin scent on me it tends toward smelling powdery. After about 5-6 hours this is gone on me. I find this personally to be a fairly masculine scent and wouldn’t consider it unisex. On me this sits close enough and is gentle enough that I can wear it to work (would not have done that with the original!). Overall I enjoy this one, but not overly exciting. I have a bottle and will use it, but once it’s gone I will not be replacing it.

As always, your results may vary!!

I bought Fahrenheit Absolute and the Parfum version a year ago. I've been a perennial fan of the original Fahrenheit going WAY back to when it had the controversial ingredient that the IFRA had eventually discouraged the use of (so key to that classic gasoline smell that I was drawn to!).

The Absolute version (now discontinued) does come across as related to the original, though it feels more like an amped up retake versus a bona fide "extreme" or "pure" version.

The myrrh is an interesting choice here, adding its signature resinous sour touch that doesn't quite sing "Fahrenheit" to me as I'd like. I do enjoy the darker, more violet-drenched flavor of Absolute, and the oud and incense are a more modern melange that adds a bit of band-aid smoky woodiness.

Overall, I found Absolute to have a more toned down, mature character with a tad more sweetness versus the original. The Parfum version is more voluptuous and it, too, is a rethink that is more of an evolution type presentation giving homage to the original, but thicker and darker and with a smidgen of the dna.

Worth a comparison spritz beside the original and other Fahrenheit flankers, depending on what you are yearning for.

Fahrenheit Absolute is not as acerbic as the original nor is it nearly as sweet as Le Parfum, instead, somewhere darker, in between, more mysterious, yet comparably rich to the Le Parfum.

Including the characteristic violet of the Fahrenheit line, as well as myrrh, incense, and oud, Absolute balances the resinsous side of the myrrh and incense with slight dirtiness (though not animalic or medicinal, really) of the oud. The result is a blend that's really more subtle than either the original or Le Parfum.

Performance is quite good, not quite as good as Le Parfum but still very good. I like it about the same as Le Parfum overall but would be curious to do a side-by-side but I think the sweetness is the main difference.

7 out of 10

If vintage Fahrenheit is a biker's leather jacket, Absolute is fashion apparel in thin vinyl. It looks convincing from a distance, but put them together and the difference is clear.

A underappreciated gem they said. A tragedy that it has been discontinued they said. A couple of years back one enthusiastic YouTube reviewer (in this particular case this person is always a warning sign) insisted that his viewers buy 5 bottles and put them away for the day they would double in price. Well at the time of writing that day has yet to come but I concede, the prices are rising.

The fragrance heads at Dior certainly saw the writing on the wall for Fahrenheit Absolute. What had arguably been a daring and original composition in 2009 began to falter as the niche market gathered steam and continued delivering a lot of great compositions amongst the constant stream of generic muck. In comparison, Absolute suffered from a monotone drydown that is seemingly composed of an unlisted note or two, something like cherry and almond and syrupy-like. Whatever this drydown is, it is resinous and sweet in a way that almond notes often are. This failed to please me after a promising, complex opening in the first 45 minutes. That opening is full of clean fruity oud, a citrus note that resembles grapefruit, a dose of pink and black pepper and a bitter incense note. Yes, this all has little to do with the note pyramid, and if it does, the order seems wrong. Myrrh is a listed note, but it fails to turn up for work.

The connection to the original Fahrenheit is typical for Fahrenheit flanker, the two are more like cousins than siblings, and it cannot be otherwise because the original is so perfect that anything smelling too much like it can only be inferior.

Performance is strong, and the first 45 minutes justify a sample. But leave those full bottles to flounder on eBay unless you are a Fahrenheit die-hard, because that drydown stands little chance of enticing you back more than a handful of times.

As a final note, there is a similarity to YSL's original M7. The shy use of oud, the cherry accents, they both have much in common and both suffered the same fate.