Feuille de Reglisse
06130 Zéro Six Cent-Trente (2007)

Interesting opening – floral but it's a floral that exhibits more breadth and depth than is usual. The muguet seems to provide the breadth, and the depth is provided by the heliotrope and orange blossom. An important reason for the feeling of depth, I think, is that the cedar, ginger, and nutmeg of the heart notes are oils, and even provide an oily tinge to the opening. I usually get a sort of distant, airy feeling in good-quality oils. The opening, because of its floral nature, lasts for a respectable length of time. It's not a feminine floral accord – definitely unisex. The middle wood and spices take over from the florals and they provide a blunted, indistinct feeling, again because of the combination of oil joining with cistus from the base. The cistus provides an understated resinousness to the heart and base of Feuille de Réglisse. The base is actually quite impotent except for its resinousness because its cistus and musk simply do not provide very much solidity. It turns a bit powdery toward the end.

I don't understand the reference to “Réglisse” because I don't smell any licorice in this fragrance. Okay, okay. I'll admit that I think that I smell a tiny bit of anise in the opening for a few seconds – that could be a licorice leaf reference. In spite of its name, I would not consider this a gourmand. I find it a fresh floral with an undertone of resinous cistus. It's actually pretty subtle and quite a good fragrance – just not very interesting…