La Proie Pour L'Ombre
Serge Lutens (2021)

We've been here before with Lutens. The man has a sweet tooth. In the first few moments I was saying to myself "hmm, a chocolate leather. Odd." But when the dry down hits it becomes more obvious that it's an anisic fenugreek, leather, and vanilla concoction of the sweet variety all disinterestingly plopped onto a bed of milky sandalwood. There is a bit of Ecrin de Fumee in here, a bit of Le Participe Passe as well, but it actually feels a lot more like a reworked and much toned-down version of the Section d'Or dud Bourreau des Fleurs. Bourreau was incredibly challenging for me, so this is a welcome change, but I still don't find myself interested or compelled. Quite mundane and pedestrian.

Sticky licorice, vanilla, and "leather" by way of syrupy immortelle mixed with dark woods. Like so many later creations from this house, it shares DNA with quite a few other Lutens scents - the feel of the immortelle reminds me of Le Passe Participe, L'Innommable, and even Chene, though they all go in their own directions by the end. As it dries down, it also drifts in the general direction of something like Chergui - sweet and comforting in its way, but also subtly strange, the kind of thing that shifts in tone and texture each time you approach it. What I appreciate less is the vague ebony accord, which isn't listed but faintly reminds me of Ecrin de Fumee (my least favorite from Lutens' recent releases); whatever that note is makes me think of Tom Ford scents somehow, not that I'm all that familiar, but thankfully it's used more judiciously here than in Ecrin de Fumee, and their passing similarity is minor. The main thing that sets this apart from past Lutens, at least those I've tried, is the darker twist from the licorice, which ultimately defines this scent. Some days I crave that syrupy darkness. Worth sampling for fans of the line.