Reviews of Monsieur. by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle

I'm not old enough to know this for a fact, but if this indeed smells like a Monsieur, then it's a middle aged man in the 1970s going through a mid-life crisis, a forestation of chest hair hanging out of a half-unbuttoned shirt, getting close to him you smell his newly-pursued brick-weed consumption hobby being covered up by the spiciest and pepperiest patchouli aerosol available at the local head-shop, and he's just spilled bargain-shelf rum all over himself. In other words, he's a mostly off-putting character that needs a shower and a change of clothes asap. Now, I'm a little late to this 70s head party so perhaps the pre-Estee Lauder formulation was much better. I'll let someone who has lived with this perfume since its release to tell us how much, if at all, it's changed. In addition to the opening that makes you want to recoil and yell "whoa, dude!" it is very short-lived. It went to a very wan skin scent on me in less than 3-4 hours. With that factor as well, I'm definitely leaning in the direction that EL has tampered with this, but how much so I cannot say.

To proceed further, I must assume this is still (mostly) faithful to the original release, and ask myself what happened. Jovanovic and Malle were an odd pairing, but they gave us Dries Van Noten, which is not on my list of favorite Malle's but was certainly good enough that at that time I had to admit that the odd couple had an interesting dynamic. Monsieur seems to confirm my original suspicion that the pairing might have been a bit too odd to work. The opening is certainly attention grabbing; the rum and patchouli command your focus and won't let go, unpleasant though it is, but there's not much between that and the final skin scent, which is an extremely mild, pleasant, yet derivative masculine patchouli base. Maybe that was the point. The real title of the is perfume is "Monsieur." The period at the end perhaps meant to make a point of something. I imagine some man acting out in public and an officer of some sort walks over to him and says "SIR." - as in, "really, mister? Cut it out. Now. You're really going to be acting like this public?" Monsieur, period, is quite the miscreant.

Starts off as vaguely fougere-inspired, but dries down to a leathery scent with strong contributions from patchouli. Later on, musk and wood come to the fore. Very good development, lasts the course, but doesn't really excite me. Existing reviews have done a good job in speculating as to who might buy this and why; this is not something I wanted to spend time figuring out myself.

Thumbs up, but grudgingly so. Marks for the excellent patchouli. This is possibly the reference wearable masculine patchouli, but expensive and won't make it to my wardrobe.

From the very beginning, Monsieur has been one of my favorites from the house. At first, I was afraid of him because he is grumpy and dark by nature, but we easily became best friends.

In my opinion, Monsieur is one of the best "representatives" of the house. It introduces you to the world of Frederic Malle and shows you what FM can and will do in order to steal your attention.

The best patchouli you can have. Accompanied by tangerine, rum and incense.

His name fits him perfectly, he is a real gentleman!

A pungent mix of leather, metallic patchouli and boozy-grimy amber.

Compared to your average masculine, Monsieur [dot] is – in the immortal words of John Peel 'a welcome blast of foul air', as he hailed the advent of Punk Rock after a decade of three track albums and twelve minute drum solo's.

Not for old farts, or the faint hearted.

This is "old school-mature" right from the start with a blast of green and camphoric patchouli.

The wife's first reaction was “eww”. She enjoys modern, sweet and freshie scents for reference.

Not a huge projection bomb but can get over-powering if over-sprayed. Lasts most of the workday.

I really enjoy this one. It feels like a modern patchouli and I wear it to the office, whereas other patches have to wait until the weekend. I like Bruno Jovanovic's sensibility on this one and also Almost Transparent Blue.

Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle is nothing if not artistic, with often forward-thinking or fundamentalist takes on various perfume genres throughout history, highlighting some of the most famous perfumers operating under the curation of Malle himself, but Monsieur. (2016) composed by Bruno Jovanovic doesn't seem like one of them (and yes, the period is in the name). Bruno has always been a bit of an odd one, just take a look at his portfolio to see what I mean, and here he chooses to subvert the masculine patchouli vibe of decades past with almost intently-shrill aromachemicals as if to say "this is what your dad's bottle of Givenchy Gentleman (1974) would smell like if composed by the house today". Well Bruno, I see what you mean, but is this really the way you want to waste your shot at "immortality" as part of Malle's funhouse gallery of good taste? I for one can barely distinguish the crazy karmawood, olibanum and akigalawood combo note in this from that used in the fake oud takes Tom Ford puts out, as this literally has the same "Comet cleanser" edge but turned up even higher just with patchouli on top. I'm still at a loss as to why somebody thinks something smelling like sodium carbonate and powdered bleach makes a good base note, let alone using it such high doses as Monsieur. Yuck.

The bombastic opening startles with patchouli stretched thin over mandarin orange and cardamom. There is a honeyed piss note reminiscent of vintage Givenchy Gentleman that is probably civetone, but it lacks the deep musk component completely, coming across vulgar and unpleasant. The green smoothness of the patchouli holds this back to some degree, leading into an enjoyable bourbon vanilla middle that gives a bit of respite from the rough start, until the norlimbanol stew in the base starts cooking up on skin. Coming from someone who likes Dior Sauvage (2015) and One Man Show Oud Edition (2014), I am not a hater of this note if used judiciously, but here it is just compounded and compounded again with literally every other Givaudan woody molecule I've encountered in recent times plus that bootstrap leather note making the rounds until it smells like you've been elbow-deep in a bucket of institutional-grade floor cleanser. Musk does come near the end, but it doesn't save anything. Sillage is moderate but longevity is sadly eternal. If you like Tom Ford Oud Wood (2007), this is probably your "next level" fragrance, especially if that Comet scouring powder smell is to your liking. Best worn in fall or winter as a casual scent, although I wouldn't wear it period because I'd feel like I scrubbed a commercial hood range all day before tossing on the khakis and polo before grabbing dinner at the local gastropub. Blech...

If Frédéric Malle wanted a black sheep in the family, he really couldn't have done better, as only Geza Shoen or Olivier Gillotin have done things on the same level of weird as Bruno Jovanovic. Unlike Shoen or Gillotin, Bruno has a bit more mainstream success in later years under his belt and was more ripe for picking by Malle, since the latter is almost as focused on clout as he is artistry, meaning he'd never select a truly daring perfumer like Bruno Fazzolari or Andy Tauer because they're just too "small time" for his brand's aesthetic. Hope you're happy Malle, because you've earned this weird half-baked horror of head shop patchouli oil meets Pine-Sol, as if you didn't learn your lesson when you let Jovanovic create Dries Van Noten par Frédéric Malle (2013) for you three years back, you have now. Once again, fans of these kind of extremely-jarring drydowns may enjoy this, so don't take my word for it, but I find nothing redeeming about Monsieur. by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle at any price. If a modern patchouli leather fragrance is what you're after, stick with Gucci Guilty Absolute Pour Homme (2017), which accomplishes the effect this goes for without giving your nose chemical burns in the process, and costs half the price. Holy freakin' Hell man... what a bizarro freak-out this ended up being. Thumbs Down.

Despite the name it is quite unisex.

An opulent opening suggests rose and saffron. It comes out of the traps quite dandy. The patch gradually creeps in and the essence of the scent reveals itself. The early opulence is gone and the scent transitions to something quite one-directional

The Patchouli here is very smoothed round the edges, almost polished but smelt up close almost tingles the nose in a minty fashion. Rum is definitely discernible and the overall feel is smooth, boozy, adult. Classy and expensive smelling in an effortless way. Within the Malle world this one is clearly THE night out option. Performance is good with assertive projection and longevity that will give you flashbacks of the night before after you wake!

Somehow surprised Jovanovic got the commission, and he's created a scent that adds to the Malle line. For the price I just want something a little more thought-provoking or unique or even a fragrant journey. The overall feel is just a little flat. This could easily be in a TF Private Blend bottle.

Think I'll take Gucci Guilty Absolute over this and get a properly macho Patchouli scent and enjoy spending the difference
65/100

Clove and medicinal, smells like going to the dentist.

Leather/russian leather type, somewhat medicinal, reminds me of alliantone (Givaudan) - (not sure what happened to this material).

One would expect a certain degree of polish from Frederic Malle perfumes, whether one likes the perfume or not. Monsieur. is an exception. It is an exercise in patchouli, although it doesn't come across as a 'routine patchouli'. It is overladen with woody-spicy notes, rum or whatever, and the patchouli is thick, dark without any softness or sweetness. However, it is also extremely one dimensional, banal, pointless, synthetic, and very irritating after an hour on the skin. It has a certain leathery aspect, but that's when one tries very hard to find nuances. For the records, sillage is moderate and duration is good on my skin.

The most puzzling aspect of Monsieur. is that is not rugged, but rather unrefined. It almost smells like an art patchouli perfume exercise gone wrong, and it feels that there has not been any edits. In fact, to be blunt, this is one of the most annoying perfumes I've ever tried. Very much a disaster, and easily one of the worst in the line.

1.5/5

Nasomatto Duro - anyone?

It's basically the same, if You don't look too close.
A bit medicinal/sweet/ mature men's perfume.
Wear mustache and leather jacket with this one.

Long lasting.

Sadly i didn't have the chance to smell the famous Givenchy Gentleman that is compared, but this one is a great patchouli fragrance. I really like the quasi-linear earthy patchouli, combined with nice boozy and citrus notes.

Has great performance and very masculine

Norlimbanol patchouli absurdity, yes it smells sort of like GG updated, but the smelling good part got lost.
For the price get vintage GGentleman, heck the current one is probably better.

There is a very close resemblense between FM Monsieur and TF Oud Wood. This may be a sharing of Estee Lauder Technology.

With vintage Givenchy Gentleman out there, this fails to do much for me. Monsieur is primarily a very dry, spicy patchouli. It's somewhat astringent, and I just wouldn't particularly want the smell like this. I prefer my patchouli with a bit more body.

The patchouli is the be all and end all patchouli as for as the latter's dominance in the development is concerned. A patchouli that is terse, spicy but not very sharp - unlike Tom Ford's Purple Patchouli. It is neither a smooth nor a particularly sweet one either.

Fairly linear, moments of booziness alternate with phases of pleasant oriental spiciness with restrained hints of vanilla, without any civety characteristics on me.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection and a splendid thirteen hours of longevity on my skin.

As a strongly patchouli-centric winter scent, less harsh that the Tom Ford or the Le Labo version, it is a bit overly linear, but a good example of a fairly balanced, albeit an unexciting representative of this species. Great performance. Not bad overall. 3/5.

Great patchouli! Very clean and smartly paired with the vanilla powdery musk, unlike the Le Labo. The dry down on my skin gets a hint of labdanum like funk after 6 hours, which I recently discovered and like. I had always thought of this as a linear fragrance.

Once I'm through with the 10 ml, I'll definitely level up to the larger. I think it's the best fragrance of the Malle line.

Decent patchouli. There's also a grassy, piquant vetiver in there doing a lot of the heavy lifting as well. A pinch of lemongrass adds brightness at first, before a sour bergamot takes over and adds that touch of mold you get in some patchouli perfumes. There's also a bit of that "woody amber" aromachemical that smells kind of like ammonia, which I generally detest but isn't too awful here, though I question what it could possibly be contributing that couldn't have been achieved with birch tar or saffron or some less-cheap dark component. After a few hours, a slight chocolate undertone arrives once the bergamot fades.

All in all, I prefer dirty, earthy, woody patchoulis more than this sour mouldering kind, but the use of vetiver is clever. All in all, a neutral rating. Anything with that ammonia smell is automatically disqualified from getting a thumbs up.

Medusa BY Caravaggio 1597

Obviously this is a patchouli scent beginning to end. I like patchouli fragrance and like this one quite a bit. Monsieur possesses some good high and dry notes of Tom Ford Patchouli Absolu and some of the chewy darkness of Le Labo Patchouli 24. If I were to guess notes I would include: patchouli, vetiver, lavender, aged patchouli, hay, birch tar, bourbon vanilla. There is a cool but thick, chewy almost edible patchouli note (??) that stays cooling, wearable and also solidly echoes tones of traditional masculine dry down notes from the past. It is as if the perfumer tried to pull cooling base notes from many traditional masculines, avoiding the flowery or citrus openings and going straight to the base of things. I enjoy this one quite a bit. Best to go lightly on the spray as it gets bold and in your face really fast. But, after settling down, the dry base is very elevating and quite masculine and cooling in nature. Not my favorite patchouli but this is a solid fragrance you might build your wardrobe around.

Really perfect for those days when I need something ultra-masculine and classy. Wife loves it also, so thats a bit of a bonus. Projection is moderate, a bit disappointing for the price but acceptable.

I understand the negative reviews here: this is maybe the most conservative scent Malle has done (along with Cologne Indelible). The key here is execution: if you like the kind of thing Monsieur does, you will like this very much indeed.

It's definitely clear that this shares a base with POaL, although like that fragrance I would not call this a patchouli fragrance, despite its purported high levels of the stuff. Rather, the star is vanilla and rum with deep woods in the background. Frankly, this bites the style of Mona di Orio's Vanille (which also has loads of rum and spice) quite a bit: I wouldn't be surprised if that was an inspiration for Monsieur. It's better than Vanille, though, with less emphasis on vanilla and more on bitter woods. A literal name for this fragrance would be "bitter smoke, spices, & vanilla", so if that sounds good to you, give this a shot.

The Bergamot, Mandarin and Smoky patchouli certainly grab your attention. Ten minutes and you are left with a non smoky Patch and a hint to a Dry Frankincense. Twenty minutes and it's a simple one note and flat, like an attempt to mimic Heeley's extraordinary Cardinal.

More like medium quality Frankincense soap.
Nice but attainable at a fraction of the price.

A spritz of Sarai's Led IV and a dab of generic Frankincense oil gives me something similar, far more interesting,camphourous, Haylike and Davana-ized.

I was hoping for something to compete for shelf space with Chanel Pour Monsieur and Monsieur Lanvin. Not here.