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Coal Andrea Maack 2012

7.4 / 10 49 Ratings

A perfume by Andrea Maack for women and men, released in 2012. The scent is woody-spicy. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Woody

Spicy

Smoky

Leathery

Earthy

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Juniper berry

Pink pepper

Sichuan pepper

Heart Notes

Coal

Cedarwood

Papyrus

Base Notes

Patchouli

Leather

Sandalwood

Perfumer

Richard Ibanez

Ratings

Scent

7.449 Ratings

Longevity

6.840 Ratings

Sillage

5.741 Ratings

Bottle

6.541 Ratings

Submitted by Aava · last update on 07/02/2021.

Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Black Afgano Extrait de Parfum

Reviews

5 in-depth fragrance descriptions

09/08/2013

6Scent 5Longevity 2.5Sillage

Drseid
828 Reviews

Drseid

Helpful Review 5

Is This The Fragrance Present You Were Looking For?...

Coal opens with a gin-like juniper berry and very subtle pink pepper tandem, as a sweet near sugary accord permeates the composition early. As it reaches the early heart the juniper berry disappears, leaving the pink pepper and slightly diminished sweetness to meld with a strong slightly synthetic papyrus and dark coal-like woody accord with hints of rough leather rising from the base. As the fragrance transitions to the late dry-down the woods and leather never quite recede as they now support newly uncovered patchouli that steals the starring role with the earlier underlying sweetness now all but extinct. Projection is below average and longevity is average at 7-9 hours on skin.

Coal has an amazing list of published notes that I expected to love based on my similar preferences. What I did *not* expect was the rather significant sweetness that hits you right from the open, lasting well into the heart phase of the fragrance's development. What I also did not expect (or desire) were the tell-tale traces of synthetics used to approximate the papyrus and coal woody heart accord... My guess is it is my nemesis norlimbanol as the culprit. That said, the synthetics in Coal are much more skillfully integrated than the norm with the overall effect improving as time passes. The bottom line is the $135 per 50ml bottle Coal has its moments and is certainly a cut above the norm, but it never quite reaches its potential, held back by synthetics and overt sweetness, earning a "good" rating of 3 out of 5 stars.

08/30/2015

ColinM
516 Reviews

ColinM

2

Boredom Labs Inc.

Perfectly consistent within Andrea Maack range, Coal is an entirely-artificial, minimalistic exploration of an imaginary thick “grey” concrete-like matter, pretty much as its name suggest. It evokes in fact something smooth and threatening at once, dark and “organic” with a sheer, balmy lab-like vibe, smelling basically as a really tight and aseptic blend of musk, synthetic woods (Iso E Super), nose-tingling pepper, with a hint of something slightly sweet, Gucci Rush-like, which I guess is due to some, again, artificial note of cashmere wood or sandalwood. Basically a sneaky yet apparently successful rebranding of any Azzaro Visit and similar cheap plastic woody-pepper stuff (something also other “post-modern” niche brands seem good at doing, like MiN New York). I find it exceedingly boring and itchingly pretentious, as I see zero true innovation or creative research, but I admit they seem skilled in turning cheapness into avantgarde - if you’re a fan of that, then help yourself.

5/10

05/29/2013

8Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Palonera
467 Reviews

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Palonera

Top Review 16

not just for buddies

When I was a child, back in the seventies, my parents, my younger sister, and I lived in an apartment that did not yet have the central heating common today.
It was an old house with thick walls, creaking stairs, and a tiled stove in the living room, which we fed in winter with wood shavings, briquettes, and egg coals that we obtained from the local coal merchant and stored in the basement.
I loved the strong, dry, metallic-cool, and slightly musty smell of the coals and the intense, lasting warmth they emitted, their dark glow, and the soft crackling and popping with which the fire told its stories.

Today I live in an old mining settlement.
The houses have modern heating, and their residents work in all sorts of professions.
A few buddies still live here in the "Negerdorf," which is named so because the miners used to come out of the pit with blackened faces, as there were no changing rooms.
My neighbor, who now catches and smokes the world's best trout, often tells stories from the time when he worked underground.
When I announced my intention to test a perfume that was supposed to smell like coal, he looked at me as if I were crazy: "I know the world has gone mad, but not that mad!"
If only he knew...

I refrained from holding my sprayed wrist under Dieter's nose.
I set out on my own to search for the coal, without expert help.
And I made a lot of discoveries in "Coal," exciting and stimulating, familiar and new, yet I did not find coal.
Neither hard coal nor brown coal nor charcoal, which I had sniffed a few days ago just to memorize its scent.
I am greeted by fruity-peppery notes, dressed in an ethereal, incense-like robe, embroidered with warm-spicy garlands.
A man, without a doubt - a very attractive and sensual man with striking features accentuated by very early-present wood.
The subtly sweet fruit soon gives way to the unlisted incense, which is clearly perceptible to my nose but not cold or harsh here - wood and spices are clarified and simultaneously lightened by the smoke.
Perhaps it is the leather that contributes to the ambroxan-like, extremely attractive undertone, which is expressed in Sentifique's "Testostérone" in a highly potent way and is integrated here much more subtly, discreetly, and thus suitable for everyday wear.
"Coal" is neither loud nor intense; its depth is restrained and its eroticism tamed.
And that is precisely what makes it very, very appealing...

03/24/2013

6Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Aava
50 Reviews

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Aava

Very helpful Review 15

The DNA of Coal Drawing

Andrea Maack's drawings resemble sculptures. DNA strands that twist into strangely intertwined patterns across paper and walls, appearing wonderfully alive. At times, they form honeycomb-like structural networks, at other times, they become hard-edged bastions of strokes, lines, and curves. In clear forms, clear colors dominate: white and black and magenta. A bit of green and blue and yellow. Her art is unique and angular. And yet, each of her artworks also appears oddly fragile. Crafted with a steady hand and patience, her works radiate, in all their sharp-edged angularity, a sense of calm, strength, and a confident serenity.

Knowing Andrea Maack's art and her perfumes, one approaches a new scent from her line with a certain expectation. One anticipates avant-garde, expression, equanimous and powerful character strength - a typical Andrea Maack statement. One expects Coal, the DNA of coal drawing, distilled into a perfume. A scent that is supposed to translate both Andrea Maack's art and tactile experience into olfactory expression: the brittle dustiness and crumbly texture of coal drawing when it meets paper, fine coal dust aromatizing the air, smudged fingertips, and sharp-edged, broken lines on paper. I have eagerly awaited Coal and how all of this would be translated into a perfume. Thus, I was all the more disappointed when I finally got to test Coal.

Strangely flat and expressionless, Coal presents itself in the actual scent experience, both on the test strip and on the skin. A scent that does indeed faintly remind one of such a dry, porous material as coal, but from the very beginning and throughout its duration, it lacks depth. The opening is distinctly spicy and somewhat ethereal. Peppery notes and especially juniper are dominant. I find the contrast that sets in after the first few minutes quite beautiful: the dry, crumbly texture of coal drawing on one hand and the characteristic black, slightly smudged fingertips typical of working with coal drawing on the other. I would have wished for this expression to be as sharp-edged as the angular stroke of coal, but I find it only in hints in Coal. It feels scratched but not fully realized.

Ultimately, Coal grounds itself a bit with the onset of the heart note and darkens slightly. It becomes rounder, a bit drier but also a bit warmer. The papyrus and woody aspects provide structure, while the patchouli and leather add a touch of warmth. Everything is wrapped in a slightly bitter undertone, which may still be attributed to the juniper or the supposedly contained shiso.

In this contrast between dark-warm and fresh-vibrant scent notes, Richard Ibanez, according to the press text for Coal, aimed to capture the warm/cold contrast that coal can have, and Andrea Maack has given him free rein in this. The development process of a new scent is supposed to unfold as freely and unconstrained as the creation of one of her artworks. While her art gains more and more contour in its creation, Coal, on the other hand, smooths out into a beautiful but rather bland insignificance for my nose and fades into a dry, bitter, and rather restrained leather accord. In the entire composition, I miss the contoured or at least the characterful. Coal is so restrained that one has to spray quite a bit to give it some depth. It doesn't always have to be the expansive sillage or day-filling longevity; even something more subdued can have character, as Smart, one of her first scents, proves. Smart is also not an olfactory club to the nose, but overall, it is so expressive that it can accompany one through the day with a certain self-assured elegance. Coal lacks that.

Coal only hints, suggests, and points to something but does not stand for itself. Coal refers more to Andrea Maack's art than to itself and therefore functions more as an art scent, as a concept scent, and not as a perfume in the conventional sense. Andrea Maack's art is perfectly suited for this, as she attempts to unite scent and art and invites the viewer to become part of the artwork: scented and hand-painted tents are just as much a part of her art-scent installations as wall-filling structural drawings made from individual strips of paper that are sprayed with perfume and can be taken away by visitors. In this context, I envision Coal, and in this context, Coal belongs for me. And when one sees Coal from this perspective, one can even say: mission accomplished. Yes, this is a scent for art. A scent that carries and underscores art.

For me, Coal is therefore primarily a means of artistic expression and less a perfume that can accompany me through the day. And even though our DNA may not seem compatible, I still look forward to hopefully experiencing Coal someday in one of Andrea Maack's installations.

02/24/2015

7Scent

Terra
646 Reviews

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Terra

Top Review

Escentric Coal

What is this? It has been on my mind all day. Coal is a beautiful and effortless fragrance that doesn’t become boring. In the opening, I smell a lot of cedarwood, juniper, and something that reminds me of sandalwood; which, when sniffed closely, even seems a bit annoying in combination. As it develops, Coal takes on a distinct note that feels very familiar to me. Soft, warm, bright, white... it must be some kind of synthetic musk. Maybe Cashmeran? I just can’t put my finger on it. This note seems to define the fragrance for me, giving it its fundamental character. However, when I look at the Maack fragrances from this perspective, they are extremely well done. I found Craft to be much more about Iso with incense, somehow not that exciting. But if I dare to make the bold comparison with the Escentrics by Geza Schön, I also get the impression of certain chemicals as the main theme here; but I find them comparatively more interestingly staged.

Especially in the early stages, after the cedar and juniper have settled a bit and the top notes slowly transition to the base, I can understand associations with coal. Dull, dry, bright yet dark... at times rather unharmonious, a bit rough, and in the sillage still quite pleasant, but directly on the skin, it’s rather unpleasant for me.

But that settles down, and Coal then becomes a real charmer. A very androgynous and delicate fragrance that I felt good wearing today.

Cochones... I still miss those a bit in the Maack fragrances. I don’t want anything bulkier or more complicated. The scent has edges and corners, but is still very wearable. However, I perceive it, like Craft, as being so terribly "sweet" in its fundamental character. It simply leaves such a terribly innocent, delicate, soft, and androgynous sillage. Absolutely genderless, absolutely elfin and beautiful, but almost terribly sweet.

I think, this is not going to work out for us...

Statements

5 short views on the fragrance

Verbena

4 years ago

8.5Scent 8Longevity 6Sillage

23

15

Leather skin over peat-warm ground, resilient, dense, and oil-smoked. Fossilized seams, once a forest-green realm. Primeval waves frozen in anthracite.

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