Sidi Bel-Abbès
Serge Lutens (2015)

The opening 1s a combination of bees wax, cumin and tobacco. The first few notes a quite clear-cut, with the cumin being restrained with a gently spicy character. The tobacco develops a bit slower, resulting in an aroma that is somewhere between an open box of Havana Cigars form the Vuelo Abajo and a mild Virginia-based pipe tobacco with a slightly sweet flavouring.

In the drydown a nice nutty undertone develops, and a suede notes arises that works very well with the tobacco especially. Whiffs of milk chocolate come and go, underlined by a restrained vanilla undertone.

I get moderate sillage, very good projection, and seven hours of longevity on my skin.

An agreeable scent for warmer autumn days that results in quite a unique olfactory impression at times, but which is a bit generic at times, and not very intense. Never having been to the city that gives this creation its name - Algiers was probably the closest I ever got - I can only surmise here, but some of the atmosphere is probably caught quite well on this olfactory sojourn. 3/5

My Night at Maud's by Éric Rohmer 1969

I won't comment on the price.
The juice smells like a nice combination of Serge Lutens' previous perfumes. Mainly, something between:
- Gris Clair (the coumarinic notes),
- Chergui (the honeyed-hay notes),
- Fumerie turque (the tobacco notes)
- Daim Blond (the suede, apricot & orris combo).

This is in a similar vein as perfumes from brands like Clive Christian, Montale, and Roja Dove: over-stuffed and ostentatious in a manner that borders on trashy, only here the volume has been dipped down a few notches. In no specific order, this flip flops between (what smells to me like) notes of wine, suede, chocolate, iris, incense, jasmine, and some citrus for punchy aeration. It shifts around a lot, and that's really what tanks it: it's too hard to tell what you're smelling at any given moment. If I were to describe it, I'd say that it smells like a vodka cocktail served on a leather tray. There's something environmental about it, but it's such a mush – a grey-smelling semi-industrial scent cloud, that, for whatever reason, makes me think of a fog machine. Out of focus and moody, but not entirely unappealing, if the price weren't such a joke, this is the one that I'd consider following up with again. I'll wait until it hits the Fragrancenet clearance bin for $50 or so.