Santos Cartier 1981 Eau de Toilette Concentrée

If smells bring images into my head, this Santos Concentree brought me the idea of Al Pacino in Scarface. This cologne starts pretty bright with herbs and even a hot pepper note, which i have understood is a combo of eugenol and aldehydes. Then the drydown comes with sandalwood and patchouli, the projection drops when the drydown is reached and when it is sprayed it is a monster. Overall a nice, elegant cologne with touches of warm spicy. (In a pretty particular way, it is not sweet, choking heavy or anything like that) An amazing scent and the performance is good as well, i recall some 8 hours.

Rose gold, a darker and nobler variant of yellow metal, full of warmth and flattering allure.
To wear it usually requires an occasion, not simply to dress, unless one is in the fortunate position of eccentric nonchalance.

The present variant of the legendary Santos is also darker and nobler, indeed even deeper.

Sizzle!

The prelude resembles an overture, several themes are immediately played.

An evening lavender is dressed in deep green basil, while the black juniper berry captures the Hesperides to illuminate its power. Contrasting!

A shifting vetiver soon joins in, its image in rose gold smoothing all rough edges, adorning it with noble attire.

The warm brown nutmeg experiences a peppery brilliance with the vervain, golden threads punctuate an already noble fabric, making it even more precious.

The rose geranium is allowed to play the bloom of the evening, emerald-colored from the mighty rosemary and framed by the rare metal.

Instantly, the composition is taken over by this exquisite pairing of refined patchouli with the best part of coconut flesh, that part which sits directly against the brown and fibrous shell. Not sweet, not overpowering, rather smoothly glazing, allowing the dark splendor to shine.

These impressions of a highly complex composition will alternate, play together, always accompany each other. No solos here, the entirety creates the luxurious picture.

The image of a luxurious night.

He wears the fragrance with a natural ease and understands every nuance. This scent will give him a journey of exploration, all those impressions he will find again in this magnificent composition.

He can easily play the sentences of the third symphony by Camille Saint-Saëns, the organ symphony, in his head; he knows every passage.
All the different themes, the contrasts, allegros, prestos, crescendos, nothing escapes him, they will become one with scent and images.

He looks at his Santos by Cartier in rose gold, a gem of high jewelry art and an expression of epochal design. Tangible luxury!
But time is not important in the prosaic sense.
His walk should make space and time experienceable in a different way.
What role could the exact timing of this Parisian dawn in cool silence and dim darkness play?
What a gift to wear the dimension of time!

He is allowed to observe the shy lovers of the night along the Seine's banks in noble leisure. Wrapped in rising mists of the river, they clumsily hide their embraces, contorted kisses, transcendent glances.
He smiles and listens to the distant opening notes of the symphony.
Softly building yet decisive.
He can allow himself to loosen his shirt collar, to let this herbaceous, distinctive scent flow in its warming splendor and be open to tenderness.
But he continues on. He cares little for fleeting romances.
And the scent reminds him to maintain his composure.

He climbs the long staircase to the Jardin des Tuileries. At this hour, he can carefreely cross the Voie Georges Pompidou, hardly a passing car in sight.
And then he stops at the Allée Centrale between the round and octagonal fountain squares.
The scent tells him of the glory of past times when a part of the palace still stood here.
The contrasts of the components make him aware of the warlike confrontations with all their destructive power, only to then create a perfect garden in times of peace.
The axis to the Arc de Triomphe reconciles him with the square.

Now onward to the origin.

The arcades of the Rue de Rivoli resemble waiting porticoes of a hospital for refugees. Yet there are only a few who walk thoughtfully along their paths in the gray sandstone.
The scent leads him further, forcing him to the Rue de Castiglione, another warlike memory, to the grand Place Vendôme.

And here it is, here everything concentrates, from here it radiates.
The scent becomes more imposing.

The column in the center of the square, the angled corners of the surrounding classical buildings, this precious splendor is reflected in his watch.
An Arcadia of a square, which is cleverly designed to be octagonal. Every side harmonizes in dialogue with one another, their opponents shine in architectural harmony. A masterpiece!
Just like the scent itself.

The windows of Cartier are adorned only with the sparse nocturnal display, yet that does not bother him. He knows of the hidden treasures, the sheer fascination of the gemstones, whose power overcomes the separating walls.
Here beats the heart of the precious scent.
He allows himself to take a closer look at the entrances of the noble establishments next door without hesitation.
The tear-stained deceptions of tired ladies in fine evening attire, the frantic glances of sleepless gentlemen with mundane intentions. They return to find peace again in luxurious protection.
But his happiness lies in observing, in understanding as an outsider.
The superficiality of the splendor may cover a void here. However, he does not succumb to the allure of appearances.

For in the rising dawn, far greater awaits him.
There is no room in his heart for emotional frenzy and blatant vanity.

Stealthily, he leaves the scene, turns left into the Rue des Capucines, and hurries to the Madeleine.
He circles the majestic building and stops at the Rue Royale in front of the portico.

And now scent and symphony become one.

The powerful organ sounds reveal to him the glorious idea of Greece over Rome and here in Paris.

He becomes a god-fearing agnostic, sublime light dispels fear, a comprehensive harmony takes the place of a terrifying notion of the Unnameable, characterized by the sudden onset of the organ.
The imposing power of the herbs, the cognitive understanding of the knightly vetiver, the noble heart of the rose geranium, the glazed patchouli full of shine, all of this now bundles into a powerful beam.

A warm and tender embrace of his left hand confirms the keeping of the promised appointment.
Slowly, he raises this priceless token of love, lets the precious watch disappear under his shirt cuff, and tenderly kisses this pulsating back of the hand.

He can now share the scent.

..and I put the world back on its axis!

Before we talk about my inner values, we need to say a few words about my appearance.
Because here I give you a kind of instruction manual for me!
You best showcase me when you wear a black suit.
I don’t mean your confirmation or graduation suit that your grandma gave you in 1984!
Make sure you’re properly outfitted before you come near me!
You should wear a white
shirt. Even though my stripe is golden, you should of course wear a white shirt, not a golden one! Unless you are Eddy Murphy. But you’re not!
And don’t forget to get yourself some decent Derbies and take care of them at least as well as your alloy wheels!

One more thing; shave!
Whoever wears me doesn’t need to hide their face behind a beard.
Whoever wears me embraces their wrinkles and their slightly slipping facial features.
We are both not the youngest anymore. You and I.

Spray me on your neck. Make sure I am noticed. Open your top two shirt buttons for that and roll up your sleeves. But neatly folded, please!
You can casually throw your jacket over your shoulder and wear it like that. I am more of a scent for summer and evening hours anyway.
Because I am fresh and citrusy.
Somehow clean, but also dark and bitter at the same time.
I am definitely masculine. And I dare to say it openly.
You will be addressed more formally when you wear me. But that doesn’t mean I come off as distant or even repulsive to others. Quite the opposite. I have something very sociable and trustworthy about me. People want to talk to my wearer and linger with them, ideally imagining them with a drink in hand.

You definitely need to make sure that I am noticed more again! Absolutely!
I should never have been forgotten so much!

Because if I hadn’t been; there would never have been so many poor women who rummaged through their closets for hours in a desperate search for their jeans and leggings; only to find out that their favorite and tightest pants had been "borrowed" by their brothers and partners!
All those tattooed left-arm hipster daddies with wave boards and mop hairstyles would never have existed!
There would have been no daddies!
There would just have been normal fathers!

So go out into the world and wear me!
And give the poor, desperate girls and women back their fathers and men!
And their skinny jeans and shiny leggings…

Fine!

I guess the two negative statements about the Concentrée describe a ReFo!?
I have an old version. It's not hard to distinguish by the bottle.
Transparent = old version, opaque = new, reformulated version.

The original looks like the one depicted in the photos below.
Noble brown-gold transparent bottle framed by an anthracite-gold casing.
Only these versions are in the old original scent composition and may still be available for a lot of money (from €100) on eBay.
All other current versions in the anthracite opaque bottle are reformulations and can be referred to as a new perfume creation that has nothing to do with the first version.

The Concentrée is even finer than the EdT. While the EdT hits hard at first and scares off many scent-sensitive people, the Concentrée is delicate and more reserved from the start and develops this lovely, effervescent scent early in the heart note, which the EdT only releases at the end, and it lasts all day and is even still there the next morning.
Best SANTOS ever, the Eau de Toilette can't compete. However, those who prefer a more animalistic scent, like KOUROS, should opt for the EdT, but exclusively the old, very, very rare version No. 1.

I would also like to point out that the above image of the bottle for Santos (Eau de Toilette Concentrée) Cartier 1981 is the new version and actually does not belong there. This image next to the first release year 1981 will surely cause many confusions, and therefore it is necessary to explicitly indicate in the statements and comments which version is actually being described, here and also, for example, with KOUROS and Montana d'Homme.

Addition:
If you particularly like this lovely effervescent heart note from the Concentrée, I highly recommend Aramis' TUSCANY per Uomo and/or CARE for Men by Margret Astor.

Furthermore, there needs to be a correction/update of the bottle image!
As the current questions from April 28, 2019, again demonstrate, there are still irritations regarding the correct version. Other manufacturers, e.g., Guerlain, have two images, one of the first edition and one of the new edition with the corresponding comments. That way, everyone knows which version is meant.
Here with SANTOS and KOUROS, there are constantly these misunderstandings.
But this is an admin task, and I urgently request assistance to remedy this!

I knew it from the 80s, but even the current formulation has lost absolutely nothing in quality and radiance in my memory over the long years.

Santos Concentrée is an extraordinary, spicy Fougère. Basil, juniper, rosemary, nutmeg, and pepper - all spices that would also fit well in a hearty stew, and so while wearing it, I occasionally catch a whiff of my grandmother's absolutely delicious, spicy-fine beef soup.

The individual fragrance components are extremely fine and complexly intertwined, which makes Santos never come across as intrusive but rather elegant and very noble, while always remaining present. Sprayed on in the morning, the Concentrée confidently accompanies you throughout the entire day due to its truly enormous longevity. On clothing, it is still noticeably perceptible days later.

In my eyes, Santos Concentrée is an extraordinary masterpiece, for the mature, confident, and elegant gentleman, and a must-have for anyone who appreciates 80s classics and spicy Fougères. With its incomparable composition, Santos Concentrée certainly has what it takes to be a true signature scent!