Cologne Bigarade Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle 2001

When you delve a little into the fragrance line of Frederic Malle and test some of the scents, you quickly notice that they all have one thing in common: They are different. And by that, I don’t mean "bad different" or different in the sense of better, but simply different different. I find it beautiful that such fragrances continually captivate me, as I just can’t relate to the generality of today’s scents, where fragrance X is as similar to fragrance Y as one egg is to another :-)

It actually goes against my grain to call the Editions of the perfume something truly special. Beauty and uniqueness always lie in the eye of the beholder, of course. Fragrances are often copied, produced under different names at lower prices with slight modifications regarding the scent notes, and presented as novelties by another company. Especially with Oud, I quickly notice that almost everything smells the same, but that is just subjective. Strangely enough, among the Malle fragrances, there is only one that is supposed to smell like another, at least if you believe the legend of "Similar-Smelling Perfumes": Cologne Bigarade and Bigarade Concentree. A comparison:

The day before yesterday, a wonderful package with "Cologne Bigarade" in a 100ml bottle arrived at my place. I thought a good cologne is always useful, and at the time of the "premiere" of this fragrance in 2001, the acquisition of Bigarade oil was apparently quite new. It was simply different, and that’s exactly what I wanted.
By chance, I discovered a sample bottle of the "head note cousin" Bigarade Concentree, partly covered in dust, in a far-off little room, and since these two fragrances are indeed controversial regarding their similarity, it was time for a slow test.
So, I sprayed it on, waited a few minutes, and compared.

1.) The top note is almost the same. However, Bigarade Concentree comes across as much stricter, less fresh, and more intrusive. One might think, especially with BC, that one has just cut open an orange and is now sniffing at the juice-covered fingers. Cologne Bigarade is the reserved, older brother, for whom I can get more excited here, as it comes across much fresher. Just the act of spraying it on is dreamy, which is something all Malle fragrances have in common.

2.) In the heart note, the difference emerges that anyone interested in either of the two fragrances must definitely smell to make a decision. While Cologne Bigarade remains consistently fresh, subtly resting on the skin and providing a pleasant feeling, Bigarade Concentree becomes very floral. The scent conveys warmth, which must be attributed to the rose, and therefore makes it, in my eyes, definitely more of a spring and autumn candidate. The actual summer scent is definitely the Cologne. Ellena surely tried to simply amplify CB, as it appears quite weak in terms of performance, but a completely different scent with BC has emerged. Whether that was intentional or not is another question. But for all "fragrance diminutors" and "scent note sniffers," or for those for whom this small criterion is particularly important.

3.) What remains is a fairly similar dry-down, which comes across as strongly woody for BC in terms of fragrance ratios, while CB stays true to its freshness.

I think this brief commentary is sufficient as a little info. Anyone who has Cologne Bigarade should not automatically forgo Bigarade Concentree. The test must be done.
CB is indeed different, different from BC :-)