Top Notes
Cardamom
Bergamot
Heart Notes
Coffee
Cedarwood
Base Notes
Ambrox
Vanilla
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Collection
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Notes07/04/2021
Drseid
797 Reviews
Drseid
3
Highly Capable Cardamom...
Madras Cardamom opens with a very brief blast of sharp citrus bergamot that quickly couples with powerful nose tingling warm cardamom spice with a moderately sweet coffee-like accord undertone before transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the warm cardamom spice from the open slightly softens, remaining in relative strength as the moderately sweet coffee-like accord gains potency as it becomes co-star, with significant just slightly synthetic smelling polished cedar wood support. During the late dry-down the cedar wood remains, shedding its detectable synthetic qualities, as remnants of the now significantly diminished coffee accord join with soft, non-powdery vanilla that becomes the star through the finish. Projection is good and longevity outstanding at over 20 hours on skin.
During my latest trip to Las Vegas I tried to hit the usual suspects to see if there were any relatively new releases of interest. Most of what I sniffed that was relatively new did not impress enough to merit further attention, but my trip to the Zegna store yielded a number of pleasant new surprises with its generally perpetually impressive private Essenze line, and Madras Cardamom led the pack, earning it a trial on skin for the day.
As soon as you spray Madras Cardamom on skin powerful warm cardamom spice asserts itself big time. It would be all too easy to have the spice get completely out of control, but the perfumer, Marie Salamagne, deftly uses a very unique smelling sweetened coffee-like accord to counter the warm spice without letting the sweetness go too far either. When cedar shows up in support, it first starts off with a bit of a synthetic bent but never in a bad way, only turning more natural smelling as time passes. By the time the perfume reaches its late dry-down the cedar, coffee and now vanilla all combine seamlessly to form an extremely pleasant smelling lengthy finish. It is safe to say that of all the new releases I tried during my Vegas trip Madras Cardamom was the most impressive. That said, I am a bit surprised at how much I love this one, as its semi-gourmand fragrance profile is definitely not a natural fit for my preferences. I can only credit some really good blending techniques by the perfumer to come up with such a winning concoction that won over this sweetness averse writer to even buy a bottle of the stuff. The bottom line is the $250 per 100ml EdP bottle "excellent" 4 stars out of 5 rated Madras Cardamom is a superb example of a semi-gourmand that exudes refinement and class, able to even win over wearers that generally dislike the category, earning it a strong recommendation to all.
During my latest trip to Las Vegas I tried to hit the usual suspects to see if there were any relatively new releases of interest. Most of what I sniffed that was relatively new did not impress enough to merit further attention, but my trip to the Zegna store yielded a number of pleasant new surprises with its generally perpetually impressive private Essenze line, and Madras Cardamom led the pack, earning it a trial on skin for the day.
As soon as you spray Madras Cardamom on skin powerful warm cardamom spice asserts itself big time. It would be all too easy to have the spice get completely out of control, but the perfumer, Marie Salamagne, deftly uses a very unique smelling sweetened coffee-like accord to counter the warm spice without letting the sweetness go too far either. When cedar shows up in support, it first starts off with a bit of a synthetic bent but never in a bad way, only turning more natural smelling as time passes. By the time the perfume reaches its late dry-down the cedar, coffee and now vanilla all combine seamlessly to form an extremely pleasant smelling lengthy finish. It is safe to say that of all the new releases I tried during my Vegas trip Madras Cardamom was the most impressive. That said, I am a bit surprised at how much I love this one, as its semi-gourmand fragrance profile is definitely not a natural fit for my preferences. I can only credit some really good blending techniques by the perfumer to come up with such a winning concoction that won over this sweetness averse writer to even buy a bottle of the stuff. The bottom line is the $250 per 100ml EdP bottle "excellent" 4 stars out of 5 rated Madras Cardamom is a superb example of a semi-gourmand that exudes refinement and class, able to even win over wearers that generally dislike the category, earning it a strong recommendation to all.
