Essenze - Madras Cardamom 2019

Essenze - Madras Cardamom by Ermenegildo Zegna
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8.0 / 10 76 Ratings
A popular perfume by Ermenegildo Zegna for men, released in 2019. The scent is spicy-woody. It was last marketed by Estēe Lauder Companies.
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Main accords

Spicy
Woody
Oriental
Gourmand
Earthy

Fragrance Notes

CardamomCardamom Brazilian coffeeBrazilian coffee AmbroxAmbrox Citrus fruits absoluteCitrus fruits absolute Pink pepperPink pepper VanillaVanilla VetiverVetiver Virginia cedarVirginia cedar BergamotBergamot

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
8.076 Ratings
Longevity
7.569 Ratings
Sillage
6.771 Ratings
Bottle
7.972 Ratings
Value for money
6.120 Ratings
Submitted by Franfan20, last update on 10/09/2023.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to
Cardamom Coffee (Perfume) by Lush / Cosmetics To Go
Cardamom Coffee Perfume
Café V by Olympic Orchids Artisan Perfumes
Café V
Bois d'Hiver by Ex Nihilo
Bois d'Hiver
L'Être Aimé Homme by Divine
L'Être Aimé Homme
Vanhera by Laboratorio Olfattivo
Vanhera

Reviews

5 in-depth fragrance descriptions
9
Sillage
9
Longevity
9.5
Scent
Hitchslap

106 Reviews
Hitchslap
Hitchslap
Helpful Review 1  
Cannot find the words........
Holy Cow, this is so beautiful!

¡Tan bueno!

Such a great start of cardamom/coffee which then morphs into a delicious vanilla combination.

In the background you have bergamot and ambroxan add a stable classy foundation.

I understand other reviewers when they question the validity of the asking price on this Zegna line, for most but not this one.

This fragrance conveys the higher stratum the Zegna clothing line holds in the fashion world.
0 Comments
8
Pricing
9
Bottle
6
Sillage
10
Longevity
8
Scent
Drseid

820 Reviews
Drseid
Drseid
3  
Highly Capable Cardamom...
Madras Cardamom opens with a very brief blast of sharp citrus bergamot that quickly couples with powerful nose tingling warm cardamom spice with a moderately sweet coffee-like accord undertone before transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the warm cardamom spice from the open slightly softens, remaining in relative strength as the moderately sweet coffee-like accord gains potency as it becomes co-star, with significant just slightly synthetic smelling polished cedar wood support. During the late dry-down the cedar wood remains, shedding its detectable synthetic qualities, as remnants of the now significantly diminished coffee accord join with soft, non-powdery vanilla that becomes the star through the finish. Projection is good and longevity outstanding at over 20 hours on skin.

During my latest trip to Las Vegas I tried to hit the usual suspects to see if there were any relatively new releases of interest. Most of what I sniffed that was relatively new did not impress enough to merit further attention, but my trip to the Zegna store yielded a number of pleasant new surprises with its generally perpetually impressive private Essenze line, and Madras Cardamom led the pack, earning it a trial on skin for the day.

As soon as you spray Madras Cardamom on skin powerful warm cardamom spice asserts itself big time. It would be all too easy to have the spice get completely out of control, but the perfumer, Marie Salamagne, deftly uses a very unique smelling sweetened coffee-like accord to counter the warm spice without letting the sweetness go too far either. When cedar shows up in support, it first starts off with a bit of a synthetic bent but never in a bad way, only turning more natural smelling as time passes. By the time the perfume reaches its late dry-down the cedar, coffee and now vanilla all combine seamlessly to form an extremely pleasant smelling lengthy finish. It is safe to say that of all the new releases I tried during my Vegas trip Madras Cardamom was the most impressive. That said, I am a bit surprised at how much I love this one, as its semi-gourmand fragrance profile is definitely not a natural fit for my preferences. I can only credit some really good blending techniques by the perfumer to come up with such a winning concoction that won over this sweetness averse writer to even buy a bottle of the stuff. The bottom line is the $250 per 100ml EdP bottle "excellent" 4 stars out of 5 rated Madras Cardamom is a superb example of a semi-gourmand that exudes refinement and class, able to even win over wearers that generally dislike the category, earning it a strong recommendation to all.
0 Comments
8
Pricing
6
Bottle
6
Sillage
6
Longevity
10
Scent
Iatik

12 Reviews
Iatik
Iatik
2  
Better then Intoxicated
You have to love the note of coffee, Cardamom. This is a very uplifting scent which you should spray as soon as you wake up. You get hit my notes of coffee , cardamom , vanilla. This scent will last you good 3 hours then you can move on to the next fragrance for the day.
It's a fragrance coffee & cardamom lovers will thoroughly enjoy. Personally for me its more uplifting then Kilian Intoxicated.
Madras Cardamom is not very sweet its good balance. You can spray it every now and then when you feel the urge to have coffee this can be a good replacement. It's a pity it's discontinued.
0 Comments
7
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
9
Scent
Leimbacher

456 Reviews
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Leimbacher
Leimbacher
Top Review 23  
Kawa-Kardamom-Bungaaa!!!
Cardamom is often used in the olfactory mainstream - delicate and gentle, sweet and pleasing. YSL's bestseller "Nuit de L'Homme" is the best example, which in my opinion cardamom owes a lot. But as in "Madras Kardamom" one has not yet experienced the mostly pleasant, yet not always somewhat erotic spice. I certainly don't, because I'm not a coffee drinker, where I think he's spread like a hipster over the last few years.

"Madras Cardamom" is right in your face right from the start - such pure, natural cardamom you may never have had in your nose before. That works out well, it is quite aggressive and only goes forward. Dark and direct. One not only smells the grains and aromas of the substance, one feels them almost formally in the olfactory bulb. The feeling is rare, perhaps comparable to Tom Ford's "Tobacco Vanilla", which achieves a similar effect. For cardamom lovers, Zelda might even have brought the Holy Grail to the start here. That knocks me over (positively). After half an hour, however, it becomes noticeably softer, rounder and warmer, losing a minimum of stability and wow factor. But he is certainly not alone with the highlight in the top note when it comes to perfumes. But the fragrance can also (more than just) please you. "Madras Kardamom" is a spicy-soft roller with which one quickly befriends and which certainly attracts some noses. But of course not everyone likes such a cloud of spices, even if it is "only" cardamom. Or perhaps cardamom, because in this country one is of course much "thicker" with cinnamon or vanilla. One could say that apart from concentrated cardamom it has little to nothing to offer - but it does that so powerfully, multi-facetedly and fatly that one cannot complain about it. A fragrance that has specialized and makes its thing almost perfect. A new benchmark in his relationship. You have to do it first.

Flacon: Parts of the flacons are noble, others, like the cheap plastic lid, in this price range but also cheeky and unnecessary
Sillage: initially penetrating in all directions, later quickly softer and closer to the body.
Shelf life: Quality Baby - 9-12 hours

Conclusion: what a beautiful, hardly sweet cardamom karate stroke. Anyone who likes the soft and bitter spice will almost certainly have a new reference. And I do. Hugely good!
0 Comments
7
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
8
Scent
Sajo

1 Review
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Sajo
Sajo
3  
A karak tea, please!
The scent of Ermenegildo Zegna reminds me a lot of my last stay in Doha. Sunny weather, a beard full of desert dust, drinking karak tea, which has become a national drink. Which consists of black tea, milk, cardamom and a priese ginger.

Get in the car in the morning and drive along the beach promenade. In the afternoon to the mall, in the evening through the old town past the souk, spices are in the air and everywhere you see Karak-Tea as a constant companion.

To the fragrance, strong high quality cardamom that then later becomes milder and is compounded with coffee. H/S are top. The definitely comes in my collection, as I love fragrances that I associate with people, places or incidents.
0 Comments

Statements

1 short view on the fragrance
Charilaos77Charilaos77 2 years ago
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
8.5
Scent
Very nice spicy frag. The gourmand dimension is fortunately limited to a moderately sweetened coffee note. Gentleman vibe!
0 Comments

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