Reviews of Fougère Bengale 
Parfum d'Empire (2007)

Addictive armpit fougère. Opens with big meaty pungency like immortelle on steroids before revealing a vista of hay but butched up by moss and dry-as-bones tobacco. Floating though this are fresher notes of lavender, tarragon and mint, staking their claim to the fougère terrain. It's a rugged, outdoorsy perfume, suggestive of the blazing sun and dried sweat but at the same time cooled and freshened by the fougère strain. A bit reminiscent of Goutal's Sables but this has less of a point to prove and the rewarding tension between its savoury and airy aspects keeps my nose alert and interested.

sitting in a haystack, drinking a hot cup of tea...there's a touch of mint/ginger spicing up the tea...little chocolate cookies for dipping...weird thing is, despite all this it does not come across as a gourmand to me...more of an exotic Oriental...smells rich and full...kind of sweet and sticky...has that kind of narcotic/hypnotic effect on me that keeps my nose going back for a multitude of repeated sniffs...seamlessly blended where it is hard to distinguish notes...smells like this transports me to the outdoors..if anything does distinguish itself at this point it's a touch of geranium and immortele now and then and a nice solid vanilla/tonka base...this is balanced out with some moss...nicely done...a pleasure to smell...

A gorgeous, powerful, opulent immortelle-tobacco fougere. As has been noted in other posts, the actual list of notes far exceeds the official list. Coffee and mint are there, along with the rich honeyed tonka. I do not get the curried note that other's notice, to me it is more coffee-liquorice-anise. For fans of the original Yohji Homme, this is a richer, deeper, more expansive version of that. Sillage and longevity are excellent. This is bottle-worthy.

Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth 1948

What is it about perfume houses and their "official" list of notes? Here, as is obvious in the many astute Basenoter reviews, the central note is immortelle, which is not part of the official seven notes given out by Parfum d'Empire - lavender, tarragon, patchouli, geranium, tobacco, tonka, vanilla.

The range of scents not in the note tree detected by the 23 reviews as of this writing is astounding. To summarize: coffee, chocolate, mint, Assam tea, oakmoss, maple bacon, civet, anise, cumin, coriander, tumeric, ginger.

I have in past reviews for immortelle scents (Eau Noire, Sables) appreciated the scent achievement without wanting to smell like the kitchen in an Indian restaurant. Primarily, that was due to the sweetness of the garam masala vibe that immortelle gives off.

Here, however, what I get is only one note (not 7, not any of the 12 other notes fellow Basenoters have detected), just one, immortelle. The difference for me is that this is not sweet, but both richly honeyed and bitter. The removal of the sweetness makes me like it. It removes the scent from the gourmand category and places it not in the fougere, but in the chypre category.

I have experienced hundreds of great women's perfumes of the past century and all the chypres have this great "bitter" honeyed note that closely resembles Fougere Bengale, although I don't know if immortelle was the common ingredient, as I never heard of its use in perfumery until recently.

In any case, this is the first immortelle usage I like and its all due to its honeyed bitterness and my attraction to the classic chypres of the past. A surprise, and a welcome one.

An unlikely set of complimentary notes set this one off, and, for the most part, they stick around the whole time it's on the skin. Fougere Bengal hits you with a ringing bell of what smells like musky hay, camphorous licorice, and maple syrup-immortelle. The camphor is really there to spike both hay and syrup as the volume's turned up on both of those notes. With that said. the blending is seamless, and the effect is a warmth that sidesteps the saccharine. As with a number of Parfum d'Empire scents, the musk is raunchy but muzzled deep within the mix. After a while, a sketchy synth-moss rolls up and yells “copout,” but the scent manages to keep its cool all the same. It does smell like a fougere, but one that breaks the rules in a smart way. Nicely done.

Diptyque's L'Autre takes a nice shower, then settles down to a caffe mocha.

Fougere Bengale starts out as an oddly dry coffee and chocolate gourmand that's seasoned with exotic spices. Several of the prominent top notes are "Bengale" indeed: coriander seed, turmeric, cumin, ginger, and black pepper. The resulting curry accord persists, albeit more discreetly, right into Fougere Bengale's heart. After a half an hour on the skin, a classical aromatic/sweet/mossy fougere arrangement wells up underneath the Indian restaurant accord. Next up is a generous dose of syrupy immortelle. Happily, the moss and the bitter aromatic notes offer balance and contrast against the gourmand mocha and spices, so that Fougere Bengale never becomes overly sweet and syrupy. It certainly smells dark and rich, but also "hot," or even a bit parched.

After a couple of hours the chocolate drifts into the background, leaving the spices and the semi-sweet fougere base to themselves. Late in the game Fougere Bengale lets go a charming surprise: a sweet, mellow tobacco leaf note that drifts up and hovers quietly above the moss and vanilla drydown. It's a warm and comforting end to an interesting journey. The strong curry accord will not please everybody. It's certainly not among my favorites. But if the idea of wearing garam masala appeals to you, go out and try Fougere Bengale - it's very well done.

I blind bought this (what was I thinking) but as time progressed it grew on me in a weird way. At first spray, the curry immediately smacks the nostrils the syrupy, sticky honey kicks in after a few seconds. Then, the hay with a hint of ginger here and there. From a few wearings ovespraying isn't advised.

Fougère Bengale opens with a nice, rich, powerful, kind of dark and almost intoxicating blend of spicy-resinous notes, almost boozy initially, a tad sticky and cleverly mixing an Oriental feel of candied-spicy sumptuosity with a Mediterranean herbal inspiration – which is possibly the nicest trademark of Corticchiato's style, I personally think he's particularly good in “revisiting” the classic French opulence with a shady Mediterranean feel. At the very heart of Fougère Bengale lies a powerful, incredibly aromatic, thick and warm herbal-tobacco accord comprising nuances of hay, licorice, aniseed. A light floral breeze provides the right amount of liveliness and “fresh air”, together with a sweet and graceful tea note (perfectly melting with licorice) and a subtle yet detectable mint-balsamic feel. Fantastic drydown rich in tobacco and, again, sweet-balsamic nuances of licorice and aniseed, just more woodier, overall quite dark but still with a touch of floral grace. I feel the tribute to fougères too, although this is not a fougère at all and has quite nothing to do with traditional fougères – I only think it's more a matter of small subtle echoes (tobacco, woods, lavender, herbs...). Evidently close to some Lutens works as well, like other scents by Parfum d'Empire, but somehow more austere, more green, and also more simple. Honestly I don't think the materials are that great here (just a feel), but Fougère Bengale is overall surely pleasant, refined, rich and sophisticated with its peculiar sort of Mediterranean “gloominesss”. A bit linear, but you won't get tired of smelling it.

7-7,5/10

This is one of the booziest scents i have ever tried.

Most dominant hey note,'mixed with some spices reminds me of some hot dry place where there is little green or humidity there is something so cognac, very boozy.

Its more masculine scent because that boozy note does not go well with feminine style:-) , but its sweet, there is no association to jungle, but the strength and opulence can be connected to the pure strength of tiger, i like it.....

Wearing this scent i visualise lions hidden from the hot dessert sun under the very scarce tree shadow

Though I am in my 40s, I have found that I have old school tastes for colognes. I rarely like anything on the market now (or in the last 25 years) in the US. But I do favor the scents of Lutens and Goutal and my perennial favorite is Hermes Equipage.

I just got Fougère Bengale. I did not like it after I first sprayed it on. Now, an hour later, it feels like and old friend and I love it. I also received a sample of Equistrius from Parfum d'Empire and look forward to possibly making another friend.

Curry, ginger and Helichrysum (Immortelle) with lavender on top. I suspect the curry not being actually present but just being recalled by the everlasting flowers that in some specific context may assume a culinary/spicy feel. Tobacco and hints of vanilla in the base joined by oakmoss. Nice and well orchestrated with just a touch of sweetness but when it comes to immortelle, I still perfer stronger compositions a-la Sables.

Not exactly a fougere, more of a fougere-like.

When I first smelled Fougère Bengale upon its release I was uncertain whether I would like it - the fougère part was immensely attractive but the tobacco note, which has a clear curry leaf and immortelle aspect to it, was a bit critical. I'm overly sensitive to immortelle and cannot stomach either Eau Noir or Sables, nor do I like to smell of curry-cumin dishes as much as I like to eat them. Thankfully, this part of the fragrance has turned out to behave well on my skin.
Like others I find there is a pleasant boozy aspect to the opening, which doesn't seem all that lavendery in the usual fashion. The herbal-hay leads over nicely to the very dry tobacco note with its salty-spicy character, which is quite similar to that in Lorenzo Villoresi's very rare tobacco scent "Virginia." This dryness is balanced by sweet, slightly vanillic notes of tonka, but it clearly defines the scent as principally dusty and dark. The association with strong black Assam tea leaves makes sense, though it is not made as explicit as in many tea fragrances proper. The Patchouli adds some restrained camphor-like nuances and woody substance in the base.
In sum, Fougère Bengale comes acros as rather serious and formal, rather than leisurely or even romantic. A dinner suit for the tropics tailored on Savile Row would make a nice match, perhaps.

I admit I was sensitive enough to be repulsed in 2007 (when it came out) by the image and concept behind the perfume itself : All that talk about tiger hunting got under my skin, and I actually tried this about two years later...

A big love at first sniff made me forget about poor tigers and sleazy british hunters. Bought myself a 100ml bottle right away.

FB is unbelievably delicious. The way immortelle and civet (there's a good doze of these both) are mixed with classic fougere base makes this a really unique smelling thing : Sure, it has some similarities with such fragrances as Eau Noire and Sables, but it smells very different in the end.

I smell raisins, dried plums, wet hay bales, damp straws, warm fur of some wild animal, pipe tobacco and curry-like spices - among some other things.

For a foody and almost gourmand scent this is exceptionally masculine, although it could of course be worn by women, too.

As you may know this company's bottles come with suprisingly full and unsteady spray mechanism. Makes a small challenge in application since this, like some other PdE perfumes, are very strong with loads of character. The one needs to be fairly easy on the trigger to avoid overdoze and that way boredom towards this brilliant fragrance.

Really a gorgeous thing and, if there ever was such a thing as animalic gourmand, then this is the one.

Five shining stars.

I seem to be creating a collection of 'curry' scents. I love Indian food, and now it seems, I want to smell like it. So Ive added this to a selection of Eau Noire, L'Autre, Serge Noire and Declaration. Seems I cant get enough of cumin or imortelle. I get a slightly boozy rum accord from FB, very thick and rich and if I was to compare it Id choose Sables with a bit of added sweetness, but not too much.

After a cursory first contact with this perfume I felt a very strong attraction although I could not figure out what I liked exactly. What stayed in my memory was a very warm, herbal aroma. Later I had the opportunity to try it with a generous spray in a perfume shop. Initially, what surprised me is a touch of vinegar, that others might describe as chutney. Coriander can often create such a sour topnote or basil. What dominates the heart of the perfume is a very faithful reproduction of the scent of tobacco leaf. Immortelle? Although not mentioned in the note pyramid I can clearly understand the affinity (notes from http://www.parfyym.pri.ee/. : Topnotes: lavender, Heartnotes: tonka beans, tobacco, spices, laurel, Basenotes: mint, moss, ginger, patchouli, gingerbread)But what was revealed in the drydown of the scent was really a surprise. It is the most faithful reproduction of a natural scent that I associate with summer holidays: the smell of wet straw, whether it is in a straw mat stretched on the sand on a beach, or in a straw hat or a wicker chair that was left exposed to the humid night air. It is a very characteristic odor, herbal and totally unique. If this means anything to you, try FB. Well worth it.