Patchouli Ardent
Eau de Parfum, Guerlain (2020)

It’s a fairly retro patchouli rose, with a French perfume ethos and a large dose of Guerlainade , which is really nice. It has chypre echoes, with more air and light, especially in the patchouli.
For me, the lightened patchouli is a standout, really resonating and playing off the Guerlainade to excellent effect.
I have a weakness for patchouli/rose, and chypres, and Guerlainade, so Patchouli Ardent is really finding my happy spot.
On my skin, its one weakness is that the Guerlainade chord outlasts the other notes. After the patchouli is gone, Guerlainade is still playing, but alone. The leather note never came through to balance it for me. It’s way too high to be doing that, even though I love it in mixtures. I’d be tempted to apply another Patchouli or leather fragrance at the end to counter that if I owned a bottle. It may fall out that way only on my skin, but I’d recommend trying it before you purchase. I’m still giving it a thumbs up, but reservedly. If you don’t have that problem, lucky you.

The Absolus d'Orient collection always seemed an uneasy fit with the overall brand identity of Guerlain, as though Thierry Wasser was applying classic French perfumery elements to something foundationally very modern. 2020's Patchouli Ardent is my favorite of that line.

Wasser's true legacy at Guerlain is undoubtedly his work restoring their classics, but Patchouli Ardent feels wholly "Wasserian," insofar as, in it, you can glimpse the same authorial voice that gave us the great Salvador Dali pour Homme.

Patchouli Ardent certainly has a bit of a "Guerlanified Montale" feeling, though that's mostly relegated to the forceful, shouty opening, in which pepper and smoky woods (a sour cedar, among other, more abstract woody tones) dominate.

What lies beyond that feels more quintessentially French: a rose blended with lactonic fig tones, paired with patchouli in a way that magnifies its floral facets, supported by leather. It all comes together to create a somewhat clay-like aroma (shades of Thé Noir, but this is more full-bodied and retro than that).

Apparently, the revamped version for the Absolus Allegoria collection, which I haven't smelled, ditches the fig note and tones down the opening. I can't verify, personally, but I like this version.

If you're looking for a hippie-style patchouli you certainly won't find it here!
Guerlain's Thierry Wasser approaches the beast with his usual elegant touch,
mixing it up with an almost fruity rose and warm leathery notes in the base.

It's certainly a romantic invention and now that Autumn seems to have well and truly
arrived in the UK I think there's a perfect fit between the fragrance and the season.

Lovely!


(If you fancy something less sophisticated look no
further than Lush's wonderfully dirty "Rentless").

Patchouli Ardent by Guerlain (2020) is a rather nice leather patchouli rose fragrance, with a novel twist of fig and tonka that imparts a sort of black tea note, not unlike The Noir 29 by Le Labo (2015). Not that Frank Voelkl's work on the Le Labo isn't impressive, built upon his tobacco and fig experimentation in the 2000's for cheaper brands like Avon, but Thierry Vasser just elevates this particular style to the level of an oud almost, making Patchouli Ardent feel like a proper companion in the Les Absolus d'Orient. It must be said that if you are looking for a classic straightforward patchouli subject scent from Guerlain, this is not where you'll find it.

The opening is quite shockingly virile, musky civet and patchouli mixed with lactonic fig notes and a slow rose build behind it all, with little pops of black pepper that weave through. The patchouli focus could almost be seen as absent as the Estée Lauder Youth Dew (1953) inspired opening makes room for more rose, that hay-like note which reminds me closely of Méchant Loup by L'Artisan Parfumeur (1997) when mixed with the animalic musk. A parched cedar wood note emerges with pyralone sourness for the leather, the whole construction feeling very 80's and the kind of work Thierry Wasser used to be known for long before his Guerlain days.

Performance is as one might expect for such a bold, somewhat syrupy composition. Although Patchouli Ardent lacks any substantive "Guerlainade" that would otherwise make it feel at home with the classics, it does feel like the kind of heady turn-of-the-20th-century perfumery Guerlain would have been known for alongside many of the extant greats which define the house for most of its fans. Déclaration d'un Soir by Cartier (2012), being itself discontinued alongside Calvin Klein cK2 (2016) could see itself replaced by this, as could the aforementioned The Noir 29 by Le Labo, as all will cost much more online than this does from disounters. The superior fragrance to them all, at the superior value. Thumbs up

I don't detect much patchouli in this fragrance, but the cedar drydown is really nice. It's similar to the woody drydown in many Comme Des Garcons fragrances like Wonderwood. Is it worth the price? I don't think so, but I would consider purchasing it if it were priced around $100.

A really nice woody rose.
Hints from the same line of Oud Esential and Bois Mysterieux, but only hints. To me it's a dark, hardwood rather than oud, and there's just an undercurrent of cuminy/spice/body funk early on, presumably from the leather and musk.

A juicy fig note briefly, then a bright rose for a long time on my skin. That tails off as the patchouli creeps in more, but really it's a wood note that partners the rose, with patchouli in the background.

It finishes on me after many hours as a very pleasant wood base with a touch of leather.

Seamless transition through these three distinct stages of fig/rose; rose/wood; wood/leather, with patch floating around throughout.

This suits me fine.