Top Notes 
Mandarin orange
Pink pepper
Bergamot
Heart Notes 
Orange blossom
Cedarwood
Base Notes 
Tonka bean
Amber
Vetiver
09/20/2025
Omnipotato
338 Reviews
Omnipotato
3
Pleasant signature that is not worth the premium
Lucius is essentially a fresh, spicy, slightly creamy citrus sitting atop a woodier Baccarat Rouge 540 Eau de Parfum accord. Note that I am not saying these two fragrances actually smell similar, but Lucius does have same the ambrox/ethyl maltol/hedione/evernyl combination. It's well done but it doesn't take rocket science to add a nice citrus atop the BR540 accord, and apparently Town & Country has done practically the same thing (I haven't tried that one so I can't do a compare/contrast), and Kalan to a lesser extent. The drydown of Haltane is also practically identical, which is another masculine BR540 take, but Lucius introduces the citrus opening as opposed to the spicy fougere of Haltane.
Lucius opens peppery and citrusy, with the sweetness of the ethyl maltol coming through right away. A few minutes in it really just smells like citrusy BR540, but then the woods start to come in. Cedarwood and vetiver provide a nice masculine bookend to the opening citruses, preventing the "floral" (really just hedione I think) and sweet notes from taking over. "Amber" here is just code for ambroxan, and tonka bean is not noticeable as a standalone note, but I'm sure the coumarin is doing a bit of work here to round things out.
I think Lucius would have been good as a designer flagship release. It fits the zeitgeist, the unisex sweetness of BR540 contrasting with the more traditionally masculine citrus/pepper opening. It's a really nice signature, it just feels too designer for niche, too niche for designer. I guess the closest designer version of this would be Bleu de Chanel L'Exclusif, which is the same idea but much more "transparent," and its amberwood base is a lot more traditional department store fare than in Lucius.
Quality here is decent but even on discounters this is sitting at over $300. And I'm over here saying this would be a good (but not earth-shatteringly brilliant) designer release, which I'd expect to pay ~$150 for retail. So definitely not remotely worth the price. Haltane is available for under $200 (granted, 75ml vs 100ml) and it's similar quality, and I think an even better scent, I'd stick to that one.
Lucius opens peppery and citrusy, with the sweetness of the ethyl maltol coming through right away. A few minutes in it really just smells like citrusy BR540, but then the woods start to come in. Cedarwood and vetiver provide a nice masculine bookend to the opening citruses, preventing the "floral" (really just hedione I think) and sweet notes from taking over. "Amber" here is just code for ambroxan, and tonka bean is not noticeable as a standalone note, but I'm sure the coumarin is doing a bit of work here to round things out.
I think Lucius would have been good as a designer flagship release. It fits the zeitgeist, the unisex sweetness of BR540 contrasting with the more traditionally masculine citrus/pepper opening. It's a really nice signature, it just feels too designer for niche, too niche for designer. I guess the closest designer version of this would be Bleu de Chanel L'Exclusif, which is the same idea but much more "transparent," and its amberwood base is a lot more traditional department store fare than in Lucius.
Quality here is decent but even on discounters this is sitting at over $300. And I'm over here saying this would be a good (but not earth-shatteringly brilliant) designer release, which I'd expect to pay ~$150 for retail. So definitely not remotely worth the price. Haltane is available for under $200 (granted, 75ml vs 100ml) and it's similar quality, and I think an even better scent, I'd stick to that one.
Merlotsupern
IllParagraph
Silviu
Viktor1989
Ineed1936
Dixieland88
