Bois d'Hiver
Ex Nihilo (2014)

This is a fresh yet somewhat warm scent, lightly woody. Gentle, on the off-dry side of things. A nutty or toasted note is evident. Having grown heliotrope, I only a muted aspect of it here. Heliotrope flowers have a rich, somewhat vanilla scent. Perhaps it is best that it is toned down here. The scent settles into a light musk dry-down. I don't find this particularly exciting or interesting. Nothing wrong with it, I am just neutral on it. Not woody enough to be "Bois" and not cool enough to be "Hiver" (Winter).

I have tried 9 of these and they are either vacuous freshies or share a common heavy base and are not inspiring at all.
This is the only one I would consider as even slightly wearable. It is almost exactly like Lalique Encore Noire sport, in fact slightly better as it is a touch more subtle and has great longevity.

Fragrance: 6.9/10 : It just dribbles over the line to a thumbs up
Projection: 7.5/10
Longevity: 7.5/10

A classy sweet and fresh cedar woody, nicely airborne with cooling cardamom on its breath. There is probably deployment of the usual suspects in terms of woody aromachemicals but I can't complain with something as good-natured and smooth as this. Has a barbershop zest to it and there may well be a glug of lavender hiding in there somewhere (undeclared in the notes list). Clean musks zoom it up and the whole thing smells of wake-up-and-smell-the-day man cologne. Good stuff – whether it is worth the price when it isn't really deviating from the template at all, I leave up to you.

Is this an original? no...is it pleasant? yes...
this is a more elaborate version of TF Oud Wood, this one is deeper and more complex than TF but not original, I kinda like them both but I'm not interested.

Bois d'Hiver is very interesting. It starts out as the best smelling Play Doh ever made. Seriously though, the cardamon heliotrope patchouli combo gives this a sweet musky scent that is quite pleasant. It's hard to smell this when you're wearing it after a short time, but others can smell it, similar to the aroma chemical in Molecule 01. At least that's been my experience so far. I quite like the smell of Bois d'Hiver and would love to have more than a sample.

Cardamom, cyclamen and heliotropes - and that with a dash of light pepper - resulting in a pleasant dish of top notes. Quite original and well balanced, with the pepper being quite restrained and more a condiment than in the foreground. This is not a heavily spicy opening.

The drydown and floral undertones, a soft patchouli above all, and is followed by mixed woods that lead into - and later on dominate - the base. They are mainly cedar, a light cedar without any heavy pencil shavings.

This base lingers on, pleasantly woody and fades gradually.

I get moderate sillage, good projection and eleven hours of longevity on my skin.

An agreeable autumn creation, well blended, a touch creative in the opening and well balanced, with the synthetic notes not overtly chemical. 3.25/5.