Top Notes 
Rhubarb
Calabrian bergamot
Granny Smith apple
Heart Notes 
Corsican immortelle
Violet leaf
Lavender
Nutmeg
Base Notes 
Oakmoss
Australian sandalwood
Corsican cistus
Indonesian patchouli
Leather
08/12/2025
ClaireV
958 Reviews
ClaireV
1
Clean, leathery fougere
L'Arte de la Guerre is a modern, spicy interpretation of a classic fougere, and it does its thing so confidently that it never strikes you as a pastiche, or as old-fashioned. The opening notes are of a green, astringent fruit - the snapped-stalk bitterness of rhubarb coupled with unripe Granny Smith apples - which together provides a twist to the classic fougere opening. It's important to note that the fruit notes here are not literal at all. They are not like, for example, Creed's Spice and Wood with its crisp green apple top note, or Aedes de Venustas' Eau de Parfum, which uses a very realistic rhubarb note. Instead, L'Arte de la Guerre uses the textural qualities of rhubarb and green apples, i.e., their tart, green astringency and 'stalkiness', to suggest a sharp, watery freshness as a stand-in for the usual citrus-like opening notes to a fougere. It is unusual and striking.
The freshness does not last long, though, because what this fragrance is all about is an exercise in dark, shady materials - smoky, mineralic oakmoss, dusty lavender, earthy patchouli, tobacco, and leather. It reads as very complex to my nose and is almost impossible to separate out into its constituent layers. I definitely pick up on a crunchy green-grey violet note floating up through the density of the darker materials, like an air pocket. But at its heart lies a dusty, dry, and intensely spicy tobacco accord, buffeted on either side by camphorous lavender and dark patchouli. More moss and leathery amber form the sturdy base. There is some relationship to Caron's great fougere, The Third Man, but L'Arte de la Guerre is perhaps the more evolved of the two.
Although I would characterize the overall feel of this as darkly mossy/bitter, the maple syrup aspects of immortelle and a touch of amber have been used cleverly here to gives little hints of sweetness, as if to take the sting out of its tail. The texture of this perfume is slightly dry and powdery, but also rich and deep.
The freshness does not last long, though, because what this fragrance is all about is an exercise in dark, shady materials - smoky, mineralic oakmoss, dusty lavender, earthy patchouli, tobacco, and leather. It reads as very complex to my nose and is almost impossible to separate out into its constituent layers. I definitely pick up on a crunchy green-grey violet note floating up through the density of the darker materials, like an air pocket. But at its heart lies a dusty, dry, and intensely spicy tobacco accord, buffeted on either side by camphorous lavender and dark patchouli. More moss and leathery amber form the sturdy base. There is some relationship to Caron's great fougere, The Third Man, but L'Arte de la Guerre is perhaps the more evolved of the two.
Although I would characterize the overall feel of this as darkly mossy/bitter, the maple syrup aspects of immortelle and a touch of amber have been used cleverly here to gives little hints of sweetness, as if to take the sting out of its tail. The texture of this perfume is slightly dry and powdery, but also rich and deep.
Smoothie
DJSaunter
EnomisCVD
