Fahrenheit Absolute Dior 2009

A dirty little secret: samples of this are virtually nonexistent online unless you go the ebay route. I love ebay, but fragrance acquisitions from there have always seemed too risky. A decant from the gracious Digindirt brought this scent to me at last. Another dirty little secret: Fahrenheit is one of my favorite scents. Am I biased, expecting great things of Dior? You bet.

Instead of starting out with a gas note, Fahrenheit Absolute starts out with an incense-vanilla-oud note, which smells fantastic. Soon the incense whispers away to leave the oud in all its "noble rot" glory, with the remaining vanilla sweetening it just the right amount. Initially, the silage is restrained, at about a foot.

By an hour or so, the silage expands to a few feet -- an aromatic but not obnoxious effect area. It stays this strong for six hours and falls off slowly afterwards. During this time, the scent itself remains a high-quality oud. Spicy and woodsy notes unveil themselves in supporting roles, but the overall effect is not as earthen as Memoir Man.

Once you apply some heat to the scent (in terms of working out), out comes some kind of orange and more vanilla; again, it's just the proper amount of vanilla, demonstrating power under control.

Fahrenheit Absolute changes little throughout its thirteen hour life and is almost a linear scent. I found it to be exotic, serious, weighty, and refined. It is not oppressive; it is not quite moody; it has a restrained sensuality. In a word -- compelling.