Monsieur opens with a very quick dash of orange-laced rum, as a slightly synthetic smelling vague wood infused smoky patchouli immediately emerges and takes control. Moving to the early heart the smoky, synthetic wood infused patchouli continues as star, increasing in strength while adding a slightly sweet vanilla and near soapy frankincense supporting tandem to the mix. During the late dry-down the patchouli remains, shedding its smoky facet, as a slightly animalic musk emerges as co-star, supported by smooth suede leather and remnants of the now dry vanilla through the finish. Projection is above average and longevity very good to excellent at around 12 hours on skin.
When I heard my favorite house was releasing a new composition that was supposed to be the "masculine" counterpart to my favorite perfume, Portrait of a Lady, I, like others got excited. While Portrait of a Lady certainly is "masculine" enough for me and most others who have actually worn it, sometimes macho gents need a perfume specifically marketed towards them in order to feel like they have the "green light" to wear the composition -- Enter Monsieur. Unfortunately, my excitement quickly evaporated when I found out the perfumer behind the new composition was not Portrait of a Lady's brilliant nose Dominique Ropion, but rather Bruno Jovanovic, easily the least talented perfumer in the Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle stable (with only one "passable" release -- Malle's own Dries van Noten). Uh oh... Enormous disappointment in perfumer choice aside, could Monsieur prove that all of Jovanovic's many previous sub-par perfume outings were just learning opportunities for creating his first masterpiece (or even his first winner) in Monsieur? Time to find out...
Monsieur has been touted by Malle as containing one of the largest concentrations of patchouli in a perfume, and having now worn the composition on skin several times I can definitely believe it. Monsieur is almost *all* patchouli, all the time. This would not be so bad in and of itself (if not a tad boring), but the patchouli presentation used in Monsieur is of the somewhat rough around the edges aromatic smoky variety. This is the polar opposite presentation of the ingredient to the one favored by this writer. One could have hoped for smooth sophisticated patchouli like the stuff found in Javanese Patchouli by Zegna, but instead we get rough and ready patchouli a la Patchouli 24 by Le Labo without the far superior perfumer's skill used on that one. It doesn't help that the composition is extremely linear, with the smoky synthetic wood-laced patchouli taking center stage throughout from start to finish, only adding significant supporting musk and a touch of softening suede leather late. In truth, suede in the late dry-down is the only thing that separates this perfume from being a total failure, instead salvaging it to the level of minor disappointment. What it *doesn't* do to this writer's chagrin is buck the trend of unfortunate releases by perfumer Jovanovich. One has to wonder when Malle has so many top superstar perfumers "under his roof," so to speak, why add someone to the fold who isn't anywhere near their talent level? The bottom line is the $290 per 100ml bottle Monsieur does nothing to buck the trend of disappointment after disappointment by perfumer Bruno Jovanovic, earning it a "below average" 2 to 2.5 stars out of 5 rating and a mild avoid recommendation. My advice is to stick with the *far* superior Portrait of a Lady and just call it "Monsieur," if you must... This release only confirms a counterpart was never needed, nor wanted!
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