Le Lion de Chanel
Chanel (2020)

Typical Chanel: immaculately constructed, objectively beautiful, but ultimately too aloof and stuffy to command my affection.

Le Lion is a labdanum-dominant, dense, powdery classically French perfume, not worlds removed from Chanel's own Coromandel (though I find Coromandel more captivating and lush).

There are rare fragrances that i instantly decide to buy after a 2ml sample. This is one of those. Chanel seriously doesn't play around when it comes to perfumery. They make classics, that's what they are known for. Look at their catalogue, and you will find yourself in a journey of beautiful scent, and some history with it. Le Lion is something perfect for me, a scent that has some bite to it, while still maintaining the beauty of a Coromandel. Beautiful citruses on top, later comes amber and labdanum that should boost your confidence just by how assertive it smells. Also quite dusty/sandy towards the end, a nice unique twist that i definitely appreciate. To me it leans masculine, just because of a little rougher aesthetic than the previous Chanel offerings from the Les Exclusifs line.

Is it worth paying the Chanel prices? well...when i spray this, i get pure enjoyment for 8+ hours, non-stop. Quality is probably the best i've ever smelt in any fragrance ever. I will enjoy 1 bottle for years to come, and will smell unlike anyone around me. So that should be the answer to that question

Le Lion is a nice amber-incense scent, however it only lasts 2 hours for me. I feel a sense of familiarity about it, that I have smelled this somewhere before. Nice enough scent-wise, but not my style.

Starting with a disclaimer: My “review” can’t really be a review because it’s too subjective. Le Lion intersects with too many personal experiences for me to stand back and analyze it objectively.

I love Le Lion. It has so many past associations and favourite notes all wrapped up in one perfume, like, as a youngster, having art lessons in a studio in a wooded area in the mountains, sniffing my Aunt’s Shalimar, wearing Shalimar on and off over the years, sparkling citrus, delicious patchouli, a tobacco note that supposedly isn’t there but evokes drying tobacco leaves that were mysteriously hanging in the tool shed of the house my grandparents bought and remained there untouched to be smelled at will, and a vanilla that floats serenely under the other notes creating buoyancy and a protective aura around the wearer.

I’m kind of surprised Chanel produced Le Lion as it seems quite a departure from their trademark smooth elegance. To my nose it smells kind of rough—as a lion should. It also evokes for me warmth, like that of an animal’s fur. All of this is why it works for me. I guess a perfume either speaks to you or it doesn’t and to me Le Lion speaks volumes.

I have smelled it before but only tried it on my skin recently - and it's different on my skin than on the blotter. It's more patchouli forward on paper, but my skin pulls more smoke & incense, and that's a good thing for me. It's very strong, dense, deep and dark. I thought it'll be a dupe of Guerlain's Shalimar according to the published notes when this was announced, but it truly isn't - it is its own thing and it does that its own thing well.

I own a bottle since August 2020.

What actually surprised, or maybe even amazed me Le Lion de Chanel IS a powdery fragrance, but with no iris in it. I might be wrong but it's that combination of benzoin, labdanum and amber. Well, it is very oriental indeed. I think main two factors playing crucial roles are "powderiness" and amber. The latter one rather reminds me of that animalic ambergris than any type of resin. What also came to my mind within few of the wearings is a similarity with Andy Tauer's L'Air Desert du Marocain or maybe even with Au Coeur du Desert.

After buying a bottle in Feb 2021:

So basically it is smoky, powdery amber wrapped in patchouli if that makes any sense. Deep inside, when I try to inhale with the fume I can clearly detect the powderiness some people were talking about. But this is different kind of powderiness, it is not similar to iris. To me it's like a powdered chalk. IMO this is the theme detectable throughout the whole time while the scent lasts on me. The fragrance is a little bit resinous but the second thing quite detectable to me is the patchouli.

While the scent lasts the patch gets stronger. And it is so different from the one presented in the Coromandel! In Coromandel, especially in EDT patch is like an old cellar, like a wet basement, a little bit like mold. Here the patchouli smells like dust combined with a chalk that I've mentioned before.

Now the drydown and the base. I am finally getting the leather accord and I understand the reason of calling it "Cuiromandel". It's far away from the leather presented in Cuir de Russie though. It's rather a touch of delicate suede, I'd say. Last but not least I get the smoky accord. It's just a touch of an incense smoke, but it surely is there.

This is a beast on me so I go with two sprays on both sides on my neck and I'm set for 10 to 12 hours easily. The projection - well, I think it's a hugely projecting scent, if not a beast mode.

This could be more of a manly version of Coromandel, but it's not, at least not for me. Why? This gives that chocolate'y vibe but there's surely no white chocolate in here. The last but not least is the fact that Coromandel does not have such a huge load of labdanum (if it does contain it at all).

This is something really, I mean REALLY great. I'd say it's one of Olivier Polge's best creations ever. Definitely a Masterpiece written with M.