Les Jeux sont Faits
Jovoy (2012)

A satisfyingly complex boozy, woody scent with a prominent labdanum backbone. I love labdanum, so I'm perhaps an easy mark for this, but Les Jeux sont Faits keeps revealing new, intriguing woody facets that keep it from being just another labdanum bomb.

Worst you can say about it is that it's not the most distinctive offering in this category, and performance is on the lighter/more fleeting side.

Tobacco splendor drenched with potable spirits and fruit compote, Les Jeux sont Faits is a debonaire creation that defies my expectations of what a scent with "boozy" elements might deliver. I am ambivalent to the idea of strong liquor notes in fragrance as often they emit an excessive sour quality on my skin that buries everything else. That is not to say I can't appreciate "sour" in a fragrance, but with compositions that center around say, rum or whiskey, they seem to fall apart in such a way that it might smell a bit too much like I've imbibed one too many the previous night.

Here, however, the tobacco tempers the rum and what I also discern as whiskey even (perhaps the "peaty" earthy notes), along with a musky angelica root. Let's chat just a bit about angelica root itself: Angelica Archangelica is one of few plants (along with Abelmoschus moschatus, aka Ambrette Seed) that contain musk components similar to that found in animals. Cyclopentadecanolide is the musk lactone in Angelica root, and it makes the raw material tenacious, diffusive, but also capable of harmonizing quite wonderfully with citrus, green, and fruity notes. There is a shadowy, earthy quality to it as well that really pairs well with tobacco as evidenced here, with the addition of just a bit of cumin that further shades this. "God made dirty and dirt don't hurt," as my mother would say (thank goodness I grew up in a time where children were encouraged to play in the dirt).

This is not pretty; perhaps better adjectives would be handsome, rugged, cunning, yet warm. It's the same reason why I love scents like L'Artisan Al Oudh and Caron Yatagan. Maybe because I am, much like these fragrances, a little sweet but also a little dirty (wink wink), but I don't want to shout and muscle my way through the crowd. And I also dry down to a delightful amber base...no wait, this does. Very much so, a great coda for a great fragrance. As always, if you can try it before you buy it, do so.

Smells like a church. I mean come on...

Another deep, dark and complex from one of my favorite houses. What we have here is a boozy, woody and resinous concoction. Imagine a wooden chair. Now imagine that chair has been varnished with rum and tobacco and left to sit for 25 years. That's the kind of vibe you will get.

My only issue is that after the first hour it does start to fall apart slightly. It loses a lot of power and some of its magic. If I was marking the first 60 minutes it would be a 10/10 but as things stand I will give it a solid 8/10.

On paper, this is a nice pine forest with hints of booze underneath, but it almost completely falls apart on my skin.

There's a strangely minty pine forest smell, made weirdly sweet and artificial with some sort of saccharin candy note, while a background hum of cat-pee currant, tobacco, and musk pair with that pine and some lemon to smell like old-fashioned bathroom cleaner in a stinky bathroom.

I usually like animalic perfumes and dirty forest perfumes, but this just doesn't get it right. It's like Les Jeux Sont Faits is trying to be three or four uncomplimentary things all at once and, if you look anywhere past the pine, it's just a mess.

Les Jeux Sont Faits is a more feminine version of the brilliant Amouage Journey Man. The former is more immature fougere and floral ebullient and demanding attention when first applied but settles down and stays noticeable for hours.Solid rich mix of angelica rum cognac tobacco. Journey Man is cleaner more masculine slightly peppery but not so you'd single it out and the best evening/special occasion cologne I have tried.
Will suit different personalities. Both are recommended but the latter is a super star.

Fragrance : 3.75/5
Projection: 4/5
Longevity: 4.25/5