Déclaration Parfum Cartier 2018

Yes, the scent is great.
‘Déclaration’ has always been a great fragrance (at least in my opinion), and Mathilde Laurent, the chief perfumer at Cartier, apparently feels the same way; otherwise, she wouldn't so faithfully incorporate the DNA of the original fragrance in all the flankers she has created.
The creator of the fragrance, launched over 20 years ago, also considers it one of his best.

It was meant to be a tribute to ‘Eau d’Hermès’, that early masterpiece by Edmond Roudnitska, which his student reinterpreted almost half a century later.
Unlike his teacher, Jean-Claude Ellena positioned the fundamental character of his new fragrance more towards a semi-oriental chypre scent and allowed the pronounced leather nuances of the Roudnitska fragrance to recede somewhat into the background.
Mathilde Laurent now ensures that these leather notes come back to the forefront, which, however, does not lead to the new fragrance transforming back towards ‘Eau d’Hermès’; no, she develops it further in the direction of her own fragrance fingerprint, which is primarily characterized by the frequent use of a fragrance ingredient: Cashmeran.
Mathilde Laurent loves Cashmeran. In many of her creations, it is experienced in a rarely encountered quantity and, alongside all its wonderfully fragrant aspects, unfortunately also reveals its - at least for me - unpleasant sides.
But Mme Laurent is not the only one enriching her formulas with an excess of Cashmeran: François Demachy has also adorned his widely praised ‘Eau Sauvage Parfum’ (also originally a Roudnitska fragrance) with it, as has Maurice Roucel with his ‘Dans tes bras’.
Mathilde Laurent herself has overloaded her own ‘Roadster’ with it, as well as the actually wonderful patchouli fragrance ‘L’Heure Mysterieuse’.

Cashmeran can be found wonderfully, especially if you appreciate sweet, light, woody nuances combined with a vaguely musky skin note, but you can also quickly become annoyed by it - annoyed by all the synthetic caramel-woody-baby skin fluffiness.
Strangely, however, the Cashmeran in ‘Déclaration Parfum’ doesn’t bother me as much as in the Dior fragrance or in ‘Roadster’, as the base notes of its light-beige sweetness hold it quite well in check. Nevertheless, it is there, and unfortunately quite noticeable. The comparison with Ellena’s ‘Déclaration’ makes it particularly prominent.
At the moment, I have its scent on one wrist and Mme Laurent’s version on the other.

On its own, the parfum version is not bad: it is sonorous, unfolds volume and a lavishly orchestrated depth, all interwoven with the well-known ‘Déclaration’ sound, but in a darker, richer tone. However, it does not reach the bright brilliance, steel strength, and refinement of the original.
That’s not too bad, as ‘Déclaration’ parfum finds itself in quite respectable company: just like this supposed ‘parfum’ (probably more of an EdP), it is the case with other heavyweights like the aforementioned ‘Eau Sauvage Parfum’, but also ‘Hèritage Eau de Parfum’, ‘Dior Homme Parfum’, ‘Fahrenheit Parfum’, or even ‘PuH de Caron Impact’ - they all fail to reach the class of their EdT counterparts.

Of course, it’s all a matter of taste. Some prefer fragrance powerhouses in a modern, inflated style (Cashmeran, Ambroxan & Co...), but to me, it’s too loud, too SUV-like, too much sound generator posing....
The original ‘Déclaration’ on my other wrist simply smells better: fresher, brighter, more refined. The spices that are so precarious for many, cardamom and a hint of cumin, come into their own better, and the orange that later matures into full beauty in ‘Cologne Bigarade’ is already hinted at here. Everything in wonderful balance and not yet overly reduced according to Ellena’s later minimalism mandate.
But also not smeared and glued by Mathilde Laurent’s beloved Cashmeran. I must be glad that Mr. Demachy didn’t get his hands on the fragrance - he would probably have stirred even more Cashmeran and Ambroxan into the formula and inflated it into a farce of itself.
No, ‘Déclaration Parfum’ has thankfully not turned into a farce but can really hold its own.

So far, so-so...
A good fragrance, but not an outstanding one.
Outstanding remains the old ‘Déclaration’.

Longevity and projection are good, but not better than the original.
And the bottle is unfortunately just as ugly....