Yuzu Man
Caron (2011)

Yuzu Man is fresh, crisp, almost with the same bracing quality of that of a morning toner, but more substantive, naturally. Somehow, I imagine myself strolling through an arched trellis with filtered sunlight coming through the leafy canopy. The dry down is a bit creamier, courtesy of the fig and pistachio notes, but is rather nuanced and muted green. The hotter the temps, the better this performs, somehow. Caron makes some good stuff.

Yuzu Man by Caron (2011) was touted as the next big thing in men's fragrance by the house, and first new masculine release since L'Anarchiste (2000) utterly bombed for the brand, so much to the point then-house perfumer Richard Fraysse felt compelled to slightly re-orchestrate it's opening to increase appeal. With Yuzu Man, Caron owners The Alès Groupe were not going to let Fraysse take the same creative risks, and this scent is the result. As Richard had done with The Third Man (1985), and later the modernized DNA of Pour Un Homme (1934), his main mode of operation was derivation from a main theme, and that theme was the ozonic citrus freshie. Keep in mind, ozonics had not really been popular since the beginning of the previous decade when L'Anarchiste had launched, and really after L'Eau d'Issey pour Homme (1994) and Acqua di Giò pour Homme (1996), where was the genre to really go next? Speaking of L'Eau d'Issey pour Homme, that scent also featured yuzu as a top note, so funny coincidence, that. Here with Yuzu Man, I feel Fraysse was trying to give the Caron lineup the fresh casual dumb-reach male scent it was lacking, and at least in that regard, Yuzu Man was a success; but in regards to sales, this tanked just about the same as L'Anarchiste. Crucial difference being absolutely nobody complained or cared about how hard this tanked compared to L'Anarchiste, so it's a "fool me once, fool me twice" scenario for the brand. People didn't even blink when this launched, and didn't seek it out to test.

For those who don't know, Yuzu is a hybrid between mandarin and lemon, and is extremely popular where it's cultivated in Japan. With L'Eau d'Issey pour Homme, yuzu is part of a bombastic and dry citrus onslaught, while here in Yuzu Man, it is delivered somewhat softly by Fraysse. Yeah, ozonic aldehydes exist here, with buzzy acetates and ionones, tempered with green notes like basil and verbena, softened with fig. To be honest, Yuzu Man sort of becomes more about fig than Yuzu after 30 or so minutes, feeling like a niche twist on Marc Jacobs for Men (2002), which already dates it to the relevance-obsessed as fig masculines have already had their day in the sun. Stuff like Dior Dune pour Homme (1997) and Salvatore Ferragamo Pour Homme (1999) are hanging on by a thread as is. The base here is a pillowy nü-chype cloud where mastic replaces oakmoss beside cedar, sandalwood proxies, and ambroxan, coming across like Creed Royal Water (1997) at times. I'm a real big fan of Royal Water's "ambergris" treatment, and Caron does it similarly here. Ultimately, the fig and effervescent dry down make Yuzu Man fairly unique as a yuzu/fig freshie with a good bit of transparency. Richard Fraysse was clearly cut from a different cloth than what Caron wanted or needed for mass appeal, and I find charm in that. Projection is moderate while projection dies off after only a few hours, making this mostly a summer deal or as an after shower fragrance. I also feel Yuzu Man is quite unisex. How niche or how much like Caron does this truly feel? Eh, not much, but who's counting anymore?

Yuzu Man isn't the men's fragrance Caron fans wanted, but most Caron fans are also still stuck worshipping the classics made by Ernest Daltroff and not wishing for the house to join its rivals Guerlain or Chanel in the present. Likewise, young and trend-conscious buyers with the kind of cash and wherewithal to be buying from brands like Caron either don't know who Caron is anymore (small part of the problem), or why they even should know who Caron is (bigger part of the problem), which makes creating fragrances for them almost a paradoxical effort doomed to failure. You make something trendy and relevant, the installed fanbase cries betrayal while the target market who doesn't know you exist ignores it too, and you make something daringly different only to have everyone cry foul because it isn't "classic perfumery" as expected from your brand, so you split hairs and end up with really pleasant yet still vaguely odd Yuzu Man. This is a satly fig on a bed of cedar wrapped in yuzu rind and splashed with dry ice, which isn't very on-brand for Caron, but definitely is for Richard Fraysse. There's a bit of 90's in here, a bit of early 2000's, and something for the kids too; but nobody was picking up what Caron's putting down, and they still aren't despite a new house perfumer and owner too. I like Yuzu Man as a simple, well-designed fresh fragrance that actually develops over time, although that's not what it will be remembered for, if anyone remembers it at all. Thumbs up

Powdery sweet citrus with a bitter green balsamic-woody support. OK as far as that goes (which isn't far), but the chemical and lime note of dihydromyrcenol simply ruins it.

Man deserves better than this type of strangulated minimalism.

*

I have to admit it--I LOVE yuzu. I love it floating in my bath, I love it in jam, candy and most of all, I love it in ponzu. My guilty pleasure is to drink the remaining ponzu in the dish after shabu shabu. I once stayed in a ryokan in Japan that had a yuzu theme and I wired home to my local nursery to buy a yuzu tree. You get the idea...

Yuzu Man is a great Yuzu fragrance, light and fresh with cedar and sandalwood in a supporting role. It is a better, truer yuzu note than the Issey Miyake yuzu fragrance, which plays up the bitter aspect of the yuzu fruit. Yuzu Man sits nicely alongside my other favorite yuzu scent, Azzaro Pour Hommel'Eau. Richard Fraysse has had a very mixed reputation as a perfumer and custodian of a great house, but in this he has done something quite good--not groundbreaking or great the way that all of the other Caron masculines are, but good nonetheless.

Yuzu by Caron is a simple but very cheerful scent for me.
It's not something different, but every time that I smell it, it makes me happy and completely refreshed.

The opening is a very pleasing and fresh fruity fig note along with yuzu.
At the start fig is bolder and it has a fresh, green, fruity and slightly sweet aroma. very tasty smell.
Yuzu note is not that strong at the start. it's just a few steps back behind the fig and adds more fresh and kind of tart citrusy feeling to the scent.

As time passes unfortunately fig note disappears (after about half an hour) and only simple tart, fresh, slightly bitter yuzu note remains along with very transparent woods that joins in the base.
The yuzu note smells different from other citruses that I've smelled in many fragrances before. it's something almost like lemon but with a unique twist that makes it something different at the same time.

Projection and longevity it's not good. average and below average projection and around 3-4 hours longevity but as long as I do love the smell and it's a quality scent who cares?! :D

Genre: Citrus

Yuzu Man'ssweet citrus and basil opening recalls Annick Goutal's Eau du Sud, and while the notes are less full and natural, they're still refreshingly pleasant. Unfortunately, with a few minutes' wear the basil retreats, and the citrus reveals a shrill and unpleasantly chemical powdered Kool Aid or hard candy aspect that grates on the nose. The intent may be “modern” and “refreshing,” but the effect is irritating, and far more in keeping with liquid hand soap than a fine fragrance. The underpinnings for the citrus are a dry, thin wood accord and a touch of clean musk, neither of which do anything to elevate the wearing experience. It pains me to say it, but Yuzu Man emphatically terminates the remarkable winning streak that had run unbroken through Caron's masculine releases, all the way from Pour un Homme in 1934 to L'Anarchiste in 2000. I suppose nothing lasts forever…