Haltane
Parfums de Marly (2021)

This is more fougere than gourmand, definitely a ramped up Polo green. Really nice and very unique, wet musky forest smell with a sweet pine. Great longevity, really like this. A winter fragrance for me.

The oud is slightly earthy, with lots of dry woods but Haltane stands out by combining that with a clean and seductive saffron-vanilla (praline). It has some denseness and sweetness to it, so seems best for cooler weather.

The projection isn’t extreme, so this can be situationally versatile if the number of sprays is adjusted.

To me this scent opens as fresh laundry, but as time goes on it remains that bright freshness in kind of an oppressive way. This one is not for me.

Just received a sample of Haltane, and I must say I am very impressed with this fragrance. I didn't know what to expect, however the aroma I was met with is sweet, yet dark; gourmand, and also candy-like. The fragrance is not like any that I have come across, especially one from this house. A few notes that stood out to me, Bergamot, Saffron, Agarwood (Oud), and Cedar. I get the woodsy sweet saffron aroma that is amazing. Longevity seems to be at an all-time peak, sillage is fantastic, performance top-notch.

There are some underlining elements of Carlisle that I get, even the sweetness from Kalan...this is just a reference point. However, these fragrances are worlds apart in smell.

Overall, a really likeable fragrance!

Haltane has a high end Polo Green vibe, not to say it is a clone because it is not. I immediately get green herbs, oud, a tinge of saffron, and leather. Yes there is leather in this. Oud does not steal the show the way most oud fragrances do. It supports the structure and even disappears. Leather is stronger than the oud in this composition. Praline isn't consciously perceptible either. Its only function is to sweeten the composition from being too bitter. In that, it does a great job. This is not a gourmand fragrance.

I own other PDM fragrances, and I'll say performance is not on par with those. I have to spray more than double Haltane and it rides very close to the skin. I might catch a fait waft if I'm moving around, but that is within the first 4 to 6 hours. It will still be on your skin 8 to 10 hours later but you have to burry your nose in your skin to smell it. Whereas it only takes 2 to 3 sprays with my Percival or Greenly, Haltane takes me 10 or 12 sprays and perfomance is underwhelming.

I love the way it smells but won't likely repurchase due to the lack of presence and projection. Thumbs up for the way it smells only.

Haltane by Parfums de Marly (2021) might as well be Oud for Happiness by Initio Parfums Privés (2021) part II, because that's what it is. Grossly expensive because it carries the Harrod's exclusive colors and associated pedigree, Haltane offers little more than the warmed-over 3rd-generation cassette-dub of the Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 (2014) base which pervades so many of these modern "luxury" fragrances that confuse nose-blinding musk bases for "smelling expensive". I do like Haltane just a smidge better than Oud for Happiness, but that isn't saying very much. Strap on in, we're going for another ride into delusional "haute parfumerie" meant to fleece the soulless rich (which is the only redeeming part). I have smelled worse at this price point so I'll be as fair as I can, just keep your head down.

If you're suffering from "affluenza" enough to fall for this bottle, what you're treated to is a moderately green opening immediately tamped down by big doses of cashmeran, sclarine, and lavandin swilled around with some of that "candied" bergamot so popular in the designer realm. The saffron and praline notes so prevalent among most of the Initio catalog appear here as well, making me believe that's where this formula was once destined until Harrod's came a-knockin' for a store exclusive from the brand. A bit of a formula switcheroo to make Oud for Happiness what it is occurred, while this went on to be a PdM scent, with Initio's "oud" of woody-amber proportions stuffed into the base alongside timbersilk and ambrocenide scratch, smoothed by something that reminds me of the akigalawood in Montblanc Explorer (2019).

Performance is on par with the brand; but there is nothing exciting about this, and the bit about it being "specially blended for those who come to expect only the finest ingredients" is hilarious, as Haltane actually smells cheaper than the usual Parfums de Marly. Typically I can tell PdM gives their perfumers a higher budget than designers do, and they usually have more natural-smelling tops even if the base is full of nuclear-strength "beastmode" aromachemicals, but that simply isn't the case here. This hits you like a ton of bricks plucked from the walls of Harrod's itself, and I'd much rather buy something else from the store than Haltane by Parfums de Marly. Still, if you enjoy Oud for Happiness and want another shade of it in your collection, plus have the cash to burn, this might be a fit for you. Not my cuppa. Neutral