Fou d'Absinthe
L'Artisan Parfumeur (2006)

Oooh, this is tweedy. I feel bookish and wise wearing this: a sweater with a collared shirt, corduroys, a pair of Clarks and a flat cap.

The opening truly is terrific: thujonic, herbaceous wormwood, musky angelica with an almost a Twinings blackcurrant tea aroma. This crossfades into a crunchy star anise note that is reminiscent of Azzaro Pour Homme but also reveals a melange of spices, not an epicene accord but rather dense, raw natural materials, particularly that of ginger. It is far from loud, but it hums nicely several inches from the skin. It is here where the absinthe sensation comes all together for a good while.

As it dries down it gets ever more coniferous, with a patchouli and incense that stirs and undulates. I find this stirring and undulating quite sensual, at least in my opinion. Can a so-called 'green" fougere really be sensual, you ask? You bet it can. Lean in a little closer and you'll find out...the cap and sweater comes off, the collared shirt undone, and...

Nuance is sexy.

A terrific fragrance. I recommend reading JTD's review below. It helped me appreciate this more than I already did. Previously I glossed this as an old school fougere with anise notes. Now I attend more to the specifics of what happens as it warms and softens. A nice dance between form and content.

Imagine yourself to a jungle in the winter after a snowstorm, the kind that covers the pine trees, the sky full of stars, then coming inside by the fire to drink hot peppermint tea. That night, and this perfume, can make you feel kind of crazy and happy at the same time. So mysterious like a forest from some Fairytale. Very natural smelling, a natural, aromatic composition inspired by the scents of nature. Ethereal and romantic, poetic and philosophical.

This has a lovely spicy opening-pepper and ginger, very clear and then becomes green, with pine and anise and a cold bpast of confier, before finally finishing woody and balsamic. Balsam fir smells a bit minty, citrus, pine which they've conveyed beautifully. In fact there is the sweet warmth of the woods and the fresh coolness of the night, brightened up by spicy herbals. What i love about FDA is that's playes between cold and warm, light and dark, masculine and feminine. The sillage is typical for a L'Artisan.

I'm a woman, and I can say that I'm an absinth fan. But I don't find my beloved plant in this, while I find it in many green fragrance. This one is grey, opening with an earthy mix of thyme, rosemary and other dry herbs and leading to a Lush sweet spicy greenness. Great and different.

From November, 2014:

To me, this comes off as a stereotypical, searingly obnoxious men's aftershave. It's headache inducing and lacks any kind of humor or relief from its relentless character. I love the notes as listed on paper and some of the reviews sound wonderful, but it doesn't pan out for me. Up close, many of the notes are there--abisnthe, pine, anise, etc. But the sum of their parts doesn't add up as I'd hoped. They coalesce into such a conventional, predictable smelling masculine (from a bygone era of leisure suits and mustaches) it's hard to imagine this is what Giacobetti intended. Anyway, give it a shot because my experience seems to be in the minority, however, I can't see it any other way as much as I've tried.

Boozy greens. Forest-like. Lightly bitter. The middle notes are muddled. Slight spice, slight smoked wood. My skin seems to suck up this juice. I keep applying more, to get a better feel for this - it's just "not there". Disappointing. I wanted to like this one.

I get some pine and fir in the base; even that, is light. I did enjoy the top but, the rest? Nada.