Bois Corsé Diptyque 2024

A deciduous forest, where the cedars ooze vanilla bourbon and tempered chocolate leaves alight upon coffee ground soil. It’s an artful dessert. Like something enjoyed over fika or featured in a Le Creuset advertisement. Not a nuclear Starbucks meltdown (a la Kerosene’s Followed) or a craft-store candle. I’m obsessed with these rare “bittersweet” gourmands. It’s Soie Malaquais, but subtract the rose and add malty tonka. If I didn’t already own (and spend a similar fortune on) Soie, Bois would be an auto-buy. Head-to-head, I found Soie had greater endurance and intensity than Bois, however Bois dried into the most alluring cocoa powder-y scent for its final hours. I guess you could say I’m a soie-boi.

Mental Snapshot: The perfect afternoon in your hygge hideaway, tucked snug in a childhood treehouse. You nurse a ramekin of homemade sticky toffee pudding whilst rereading Redwall. Or some Robert Frost. You are most definitely wearing something cable-knit. And something corduroy.

tl;dr: tiramisu yule log

Smells like something Imaginary Authors or Rania J would make, and I mean that in a positive way.

The opening can be challenging due to an unapologetic combination of "wet" tree bark and sweet coffee. Very earthy, woody, slightly chocolaty yet dry. Almost inspiring and therapeutic in some way due to the woody earthiness from the tree bark accord.

But it's the drydown that is worth waiting for: Some of the milkiest most delicious sandalwood accords I have smelled. Slightly smoky too. Smells like a sacred ritual. It's so good.

If you ever test this, give it at least an hour, because that's when the real magic happens.

This one's grown on me. Bois Corse seems to be the darling fan-fave of the five Essences. People have such an appetite for gourmands these days, and with Diptyque carrying none at all, I think this really scratched that itch.

Touted as coffee-centric, I mainly get this chocolate candy-ish, Tootsie Roll-like accord which I suppose is the tonka. In theory, I love tonka. it sounds so cozy and vanilla-adjacent. But in practice, I always get this plasticky, rubber-like smell which I'm told is coumarin. (Apparently coumarin is also used in industrial manufacture of plastics and paints to neutralize unpleasant odors. I wonder if this is why I have that mental connection.)

With that said, I find Bois Corse much more appealing than other tonka’s on the market since it doesn’t have that plasticky quality. It’s not my favorite note, but I’ve come to appreciate it more than I used to, especially on chillier days with overcast weather.

I’m still a bit confused on Diptyque’s Les Essences de Diptyques line. For a brand that has decent prestige, and is know for having some quite stellar creations, their ‘exclusive’ fragrance line is not feeling very exclusive, but rather a bit bland. Bois Corsé is not an exception to this, and I still found it an odd, and not entirely pleasant fragrance. The opening is very astringent, with a dry and powdery side as well. There is a very prominent woody note with a turpentine feel to it that seems to dominate the opening. To add, there’s also an underlying sweetness from the tonka , which is making the entire thing clash. This opening actually lasts for a fair amount of time, but the dry down is a somewhat better experience. The dry down consists mainly of powdery tonka, and the same woods from the opening, but they’re now toned down and easier on the nose. Despite it being more enjoyable I still found it to be awfully bland. It never really goes anywhere deeper than just vague sweetness, which is disappointing. I am truly having a hard time imagining this fragrance being the ‘essence’ of anything other than perhaps a furniture polish of sorts, or maybe some kind of unpleasant cocktail with lots of bitters?

I can’t fault Diptyque for much here though. From what I’m gathering this line as a whole seems to be aimed more at an abstract concept where they are attempting to capture the scents of things that don’t really have a scent. This is especially the case with Corail Oscuro, and the newly released Lauzulio, both of which seem like they wouldn’t strike as much of a nerve. Looking at it from a more artistic point of view, I can definitely appreciate the work, but at this price point I can think of better options that are more enjoyable and exciting to wear.

I am greeted with rum and coffee in the opening with a hint of chocolate for about an hour. The dry down is a gentle, balsamic sandalwood. Tonka is there doing what vanilla often can't and bringing a background sweetness, but it's not the focus. There is no powder, yay! It's a clear scent, like so many of the Diptyques that got me hooked on this house.

It is very understated in an elegant way. I feel like a rich lady when I wear it because it has a maturity and balance to it that many other fragrances lack. It won't be smelled by passersby and if it were, it seems confidently non-offensive.

One could call this an almost-gourmand. If you typically find gourmands over the top, this one could be for you. It is such a beautifully composed, clear and slightly warm scent. I love wearing it in the beginning of fall, when it's still warm but the leaves are starting to change and I'm looking for the autumnal feeling without going full snowy winter-vanilla.

I find the price point annoying as Diptyque starts pushing towards 300 Euro per bottle, but it's refillable and the refill price is much better.