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Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
11/23/2014
Drseid
819 Reviews
Drseid
Helpful Review
5
A Floral Rollercoaster Ride To Remember...
Anthracite opens with a natural smelling hyacinth as sharp, nose burning citric lemon and carnation-laced rose support join in. As the composition moves to its early heart the rose takes over as star with a supporting white floral jasmine and lily-of-the-valley tandem before gradually giving way to tuberose that eventually supplants the rose as star midway through the heart, then giving way late to very powdery violet-like orris root. During the late dry-down the powdery orris root dissipates considerably, revealing slightly sweet amber and vanilla base notes that meld with faint whiffs of the earlier rose that make a supporting reappearance through the finish. Projection is good and longevity dead center average at about 7-8 hours on skin.
After previously being quite impressed with the pour Homme version of Anthracite earlier this year, it was time to check out the original to see if it too makes the grade. Things get off to a very nice start as a rare, extremely natural rendition of the hyacinth opens up the development (albeit with some extremely sharp citric support). When the rose makes its initial appearance it smells like there is some carnation mixed into it, just enough to notice. Just when you think you have the composition figured out the rose recedes as relatively sweet banana-like tuberose takes its place at the fore (most likely derived by the jasmine mixing with it). Then, yet *another* shift as the composition turns quite powdery during its late mid-section. This part is the least desirable aspect of the composition's development, but luckily it only lasts about 1-2 hours before finally dying down to reveal the slightly sweet amber driven base. There is quite a lot going on with Anthracite and the further one goes into its development the more one realizes just how complex the composition is, most of it quite good. While it is easy to praise the composition as skillfully done, the powdery orris root does mar one's enjoyment a bit as the powder proves too much at times. Still, on the whole it is hard to classify Anthracite as anything less than a success. The bottom line is the $100 per 100ml bottle on the aftermarket long since discontinued Anthracite changes direction multiple times, providing the wearer with a real adventure that mostly impresses, but the powdery orris root slightly obscures some of its strengths at times, reducing its rating to a "good" to "very good" 3 to 3.5 stars out of 5 and a recommendation with modest reservation. If one doesn't mind relatively heavy powder in their compositions Anthracite is bound to impress.
After previously being quite impressed with the pour Homme version of Anthracite earlier this year, it was time to check out the original to see if it too makes the grade. Things get off to a very nice start as a rare, extremely natural rendition of the hyacinth opens up the development (albeit with some extremely sharp citric support). When the rose makes its initial appearance it smells like there is some carnation mixed into it, just enough to notice. Just when you think you have the composition figured out the rose recedes as relatively sweet banana-like tuberose takes its place at the fore (most likely derived by the jasmine mixing with it). Then, yet *another* shift as the composition turns quite powdery during its late mid-section. This part is the least desirable aspect of the composition's development, but luckily it only lasts about 1-2 hours before finally dying down to reveal the slightly sweet amber driven base. There is quite a lot going on with Anthracite and the further one goes into its development the more one realizes just how complex the composition is, most of it quite good. While it is easy to praise the composition as skillfully done, the powdery orris root does mar one's enjoyment a bit as the powder proves too much at times. Still, on the whole it is hard to classify Anthracite as anything less than a success. The bottom line is the $100 per 100ml bottle on the aftermarket long since discontinued Anthracite changes direction multiple times, providing the wearer with a real adventure that mostly impresses, but the powdery orris root slightly obscures some of its strengths at times, reducing its rating to a "good" to "very good" 3 to 3.5 stars out of 5 and a recommendation with modest reservation. If one doesn't mind relatively heavy powder in their compositions Anthracite is bound to impress.
