Tam Dao Diptyque 2003 Eau de Toilette

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7.5 / 10325 Ratings

Tam Dao (Eau de Toilette) is a perfume by Diptyque for women and men and was released in 2003. The scent is woody-spicy. It is being marketed by Manzanita Capital. Pronunciation

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Perfumer

Daniel Molière

Fragrance Notes

Mysore sandalwood
Cedar

Cedar

Cypress

Myrtle

Ratings

Scent

7.5325 Ratings

Longevity

6.5244 Ratings

Sillage

5.8235 Ratings

Bottle

7.5230 Ratings

Value for money

6.025 Ratings

Submitted by DirkDS, last update on 16.10.2021.

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Reviews

09/25/2021

5.5
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 10
Bottle

Loopmer

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Loopmer

Memories of the 90s

Diptyque....I do love the look of this manufacturer. The designs, the
Internet presence, the Instagram account are absolutely aesthetic and meet my taste 101%. However, there is one problem for me and that is unfortunately the fragrances! I have ordered so many samples and absolutely every one reminds me of scents from the 80/90s, which I found in my parents bathroom cabinet as a child. Also, many scents seem floral and feminine. Not so with Tam Dao, at least that's what I thought for a while. I tested it a few weeks ago in a branch, of a luxury goods supplier. "Nice fragrance" I thought to myself and so I ordered a sample.

Full of anticipation, I sprayed the fragrance on me tonight. The prelude is like the first test: sandalwood, dry and masculine. This dust-dry fragrance is absolutely what for me. Simple, yet very present. Unfortunately, however, Tam Dao developed today in a direction that again seems somehow feminine to me. The wood moved a bit into the background and a creamy sweetness mixed in. I absolutely did not notice this in my first test. Maybe it's because of the temperatures, which were around 20 degrees again tonight. Has a vanilla feel to it. The mixture of soft wood and sweetness doesn't smell bad, but it just doesn't suit a strong man like me. The scent is almost feminine on my skin and remained unchanged after this change. Maybe it's just the beautiful designs that have influence on my expectation.

After 6 hours, the scent was unfortunately still perceptible, so I was glad to finally lie in the bath and wash it off.

I will definitely try the sample again times, maybe I like it in colder temperatures again as good as the first test.

I leave now times the fingers of Diptyque fragrances and look then but rather the beautiful designs

04/07/2021

8.5
Scent

Stulle

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Stulle

Top Review 39

Time Travel

In the late eighties, ceramic scent lamps were very fashionable. At the bottom you put a tea light in, at the top you put some water in a bowl to evaporate and then you added a few drops of scented oil. I actually only remember ylang-ylang, which created a numbingly heavy but insanely fascinating and erotic atmosphere.

Now I've smelled TAM DAO for the first time, and it has flung me back to that era unabated - sandalwood was, of course, the most popular scent for those little lights! May contemporaries correct me, but I think 90% of all young ladies had one of these in their chambers. No visit to the adored/adored creatures without a tea light flickering and occasionally, in the heat of, er, discussion, completely forgetting to light a new one after it went out.

It is also entirely within the realm of possibility that a not inconsiderable number of our younger perfumos were conceived to this very scent. Perhaps the sandalwood children could just get this almost incidental information out of their parents for me without any obligation...

But not everything was so romantic at the time. I had a colleague with whom I started an apprenticeship at the same time after graduating from high school. Sympathy at first sight, and M. was a funny, but at the same time also in itself resting person, with which one did not come at all into the proximity of an argument. Night-long discussions about God and the world, as they are just standard at this age.

Since just at the transition to the nineties the triumphant advance of the personal computer began and M. was not quite unfortunate from home, he had of course such a box in the apartment (wow, he had his own apartment, while all friends of the same age still had to live with parents!). So we spent many days and nights with the then brand new game MONKEY ISLAND! With the obsessive potential we both had, weeks went by before we had played through the game (there were no tutorials to be found online yet). And in the background, non-stop, the eternally simmering fragrance lamp with - sandalwood oil!

As life is then, we parted ways. I had my plans, and M. dümpeln so a bit in a "decent" job. Life purpose was not, but good money, and so he could then every weekend a little too much drinking over the villages and through the (small) cities and let it rip. Occasionally and with growing frequency then also on weekdays and in the morning.
At some point they stopped seeing each other, but I heard much later that he had been out too much with strange people. More, much more alcohol and plenty of drugs; his psyche only took it all to a certain point, and at some point he couldn't take it anymore. And then he didn't want to.

*

They say that someone still exists as long as a person thinks about them. That's what I'm doing, and I'm putting an imaginary stone on your grave, which I never saw, dear M.

*

TAM DAO is just that deep and warm sandalwood smell that reminds me of the intense time of that friendship, of growing up, of existential questions, of doubting and guessing, of unbridled curiosity, of an uncertain, exciting future, and also of another very long and very intense love story.
The perfume has a light, cypress and woody tone and remains relatively unsweet on me. Nothing distracting, everything fits and makes sense, to me it seems structured and transparent. Just as when you look back into the past, you can suddenly see clearly the path you have walked until today.

I did not even know until now that I can like sandalwood so well and have also experienced no fragrance of this orientation so emotional and moving. Wat nu? 10 points for the time travel, 8.5 points already for the fragrance - a bottling must be here to trace this fascination even further.

To the old times!

23 Replies

12/29/2020

8.5
Scent 7
Longevity 7
Sillage 9
Bottle 7
Pricing

INDIGOSPHINX
48 Reviews

INDIGOSPHINX

Simplicity

The major downside to this is that you may get tired of it after a few wearings due to lack of complexity of notes.
However, if you are like me and enjoy sandalwood, you are truly in for a treat.

This immediately puts your brain into a serene mode.

On days where you don't want to wear anything, wear this.

A bonus would be, if you are Asian like me, you would feel even better in it LOL

2 Replies

08/12/2020

7
Scent 6
Longevity 6
Sillage 8
Bottle

Taurus1967
3 Reviews

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Taurus1967

Very helpful Review 11

A lot of fuss about dust-dry sandalwood

Tam Dao reminds me of "Upper Ten" by Lubin right from the first snort. To be fair, it should be the other way around, because the latter came on the market 12 years later. So I'm honestly saying that Tam Dao definitely passed by my nose for 17 years, but I've heard the name more often than not
For all those who do not know one or the other fragrance: Tam Dao is a really very dust-dry sandalwood creation with a good pinch of myrtle and some cedar. It comes extremely woody and spicy, and you think you'll notice some amber, musk and a few drops of rose oil later on.

This would be relatively similar to the Upper Ten, except that the Upper Ten seems a bit creamier and has a good pinch of cinnamon, so that the association with cola is relatively close.

Correspondingly, the upper ten is ahead of me personally, even if this is currently reflected somewhat differently in the overall perfume ratio of 7.5 to 7.3.

Surely a sultry hot day is not the best condition to test the rather autumnal Tam Dao, but my imagination and experience are sufficient to know that it has this nerve potential with me, although it is made of high quality and additionally brings a fine spicy-sweet smoky note into play.
Probably the most people will love this the most, but the whole thing around it is a bit too exhausting for me.

Therefore: interestingly made material for sandalwood species, but I would not overrate it.

11 Replies

10/06/2018

10
Scent 8
Longevity 8
Sillage

MisterShaver

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MisterShaver

Top Review 19

What's that smell?

... asks the nice waitress at the Resturant. I had Tam Dao in my pocket as a sample when I bought it and had it on completely unsuspectingly. It has provided that evening for long conversations.
Now I can see it is slightly woody, it has something creamy and maybe that's why the association with vanilla comes along. The rose is rather in the background, but amber and musk are also perceptible. And all in a nice order. But what remains from the beginning is with me the creaminess.
The thought of a forest clearing is somehow there, but the image of dark woods is also present. All times it is a fragrance that fits very well into a dignified bar with fine gin. A jazz band plays light evening music and a light breeze blows through the open balcony doors, smelling of fresh rain on dry forest ground. Just such a lukewarm autumn evening when summer is still so long in October. In the room you can hear the gentle rustling of the dresses from the ladies, a cigar is lit, some ice cubes clink in the glass, other scents make their way through the room from time to time or pass with their straps ....
Perfect! Perfect! And I feel safe and cozy enveloped by my Tam Dao scent. Sit back, enjoy. Slowly the sun is setting behind the horizon as a glowing red ball ... That's all it takes.

1 Replies

08/28/2018

8
Scent 7
Longevity 8
Sillage 7
Bottle

Pepdal
226 Reviews

Pepdal

Tam Dao edt

My review is for Diptyque's Tam Dao ead de toilette from my vintage square bottle. For fans of woody scents this may be one that needs to be sampled...

01/28/2015

6
Scent 7.5
Bottle

Ineverwas
45 Reviews

Ineverwas

Helpful Review 4

Serenity Now

Review for the EDT in round bottle.

Well, to be honest, I was a bit worried that there will be too much cedar and not enough sandalwood in the EDT version. But I can happily confirm that it's not the case! Tam Dao EDT is a beautiful sandalwood-centric perfume that's completely unisex.

It reminds me so much of the sandalwood fan my mother used to have, it's almost the same smell, only the real wood was a bit sweeter and muted, while Tam Dao has quite an airy, spacious and solemn feel to it. Like a Buddhist meditation to find inner peace. Which is interesting because I do feel calmer and more meditative than usual when I wear this scent, so the suggestion works.

The sandalwood is not milky or creamy, in fact it feels a bit raw and dry, as if freshly cut - but I do not get the dusty, wood shavings impression from it either which is what allows me to enjoy it completely. Behind the sandalwood, cypress and rosewood are great in their supporting roles, maintaining the exclusive woodiness and adding complexity and interplay. The cedar is also there among the crowd, but not a contender for the dominant note. It adds a touch of masculinity and keeps everything dry and airy.

Overall, a true woody perfume and a wonderful way to relax and think more profoundly about the meaning of life. :)

Sillage and longevity are moderate. A reapplication might be needed after 6 hours.

01/29/2014

6
Scent 5
Longevity 7.5
Sillage 10
Bottle

MasterLi
375 Reviews

MasterLi

Very helpful Review 4

Dry wood, cedar wood, sandalwood... and even polished wood!

Much has been said about the sandalwood element here. Whilst I do detect the sandalwood vibe I must admit it is faint. I do notice the other woods here being more prominent, such as the cedar wood etc... Overall it probably shouldn't be looked at as an iconic sandalwood fragrance. Definitely a prominent woody scent but not exclusively a sandalwood one. Overall it's warm, very pleasant and the dry-down happens to be very nice. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to go anywhere else apart from smelling like high quality, freshly polished wood. In that way it's quite a linear fragrance. However worth a try, just not the masterpiece others claim it to be. But it is elegant and refined, definitely. If wood is your thing, you will enjoy, but it's not in any way ground-breaking in my opinion.

1 Replies

12/01/2013

5
Scent 7.5
Longevity

Epimedes
9 Reviews

Epimedes

Helpful Review 6

Synthesized tranquility

I couldn't decide what the opening of Tam Dao reminded me of until I found a review that gave me the answer: crushed dill! An odd note for sure, but very short-lived. For the most part, Tam Dao rides on the carrier wave of a white-musk molecule that my nose also detects in L'Artisan's Passage d'Enfer, among others. Cedar is definitely present, and sandalwood as well. Both are mellowed down by the white musk base that creates a waxy-smooth effect and binds the whole composition together. Progression is minimal over time, but the scent lasts on my skin for many hours. Despite the linearity, I find Tam Dao well-balanced, inoffensive and rather calming.

06/09/2013

8
Scent 5
Longevity 5
Sillage 5
Bottle

Steve0580
31 Reviews

Steve0580

Helpful Review 5

Cedar

Cedar - that's what this fragrance is.

I don't smell much of anything other than that. It's like walking around in a natural wood furniture shop or smelling freshly cut cedar.

To me, that's wonderful! I like the smell of natural wood and cedar.

It's not an overpowering scent and longevity is average at roughly 4-6 hours.

Show all reviews (13)