Poivre Samarcande Hermès 2004

I have tried quite a few out of the Hermèssence line, and I have a huge respect for Jean-Claude Ellena. His compositions for Hermèssence aren't always liked by everyone.

That being said, I'll give my impressions of Poivre Samarcande. In a nutshell... what this fragrance is all about, is Iso-E-Super. This goes a long way towards explaining why people love this scent. If you look at the top five fragrances with Iso-E-Super, they are:

1 Molecule 01 (escentric molecules, 2005) 100%
2 Perles de Lalique (Lalique, 2007) 80%
3 Poivre Samarcande (Herme`s, 2004) 71%
4 Escentric 01 (escentric molecules, 2005) 65%
5 Terre d'Hermes (Hermes, 2006) 55%

So I think with people saying they get a great amount of compliments with this scent is due largely to the high presence of Iso-E-Super in the composition.

What I will say is that it is a very nice scent, the pepper mixed with the hints of oak and paprika etc. does give it a very nice, refined vibe. What really makes this special is the combination of the above with Iso-E-Super, which gives a linear, woody almost "flinty" vibe which stays throughout and stops this from being just about the pepper.

Overall, I don't think this is bad in any way in terms of smell, but the problem is, as with Molecule 01... if you spray this on, you won't detect it on yourself, so you'll have to "assume" that it's there and it's doing it's job.

Personally, whilst I do appreciate it as the art for what it is... I think you could just buy Molecule 01, or even Ellena's own Terre d'Hermès or Déclaration, which will do a similar job to this but for less in my opinion.

In the typical style of JC Ellena, this pepper is tame and so very smooth. The sillage and lasting power are minimal, which is consistent with the Hermessence collection. Apart from the black pepper, I really cannot isolate any other notes. It reminds me of other male fragrances in character, which is to say this is not original. With a name like Samarqand, I don't see any reference to spice markets. It is all about the pepper without creaminess, sweetness or depth.

Poivre Samarcande opens with a gargantuan blast of black peppercorn supported by cumin and maybe just the faintest hint of fiery red pepper. The pepper and cumin remain into the heart notes, but luckily settle down to more manageable levels. There is also a hint of supporting cedar wood to bolster the scent up a bit. And that is pretty much it... Pepper, cumin and cedar; very minimalist like most of the Hermessence line. Projection is minimal to below average and longevity is average.

I am not really enjoying Poivre Samarcande much, I confess. It just is too simplistic, and I don't like the cumin in it at all. The scent pretty much stays linear throughout which also does not drive any new interest. I guess this is just another disappointment from one of my favorite noses, Jean-Claude Ellena. I find when he hits, there is none better, but his misses can be pretty bad, and there are plenty of them. This is not a complete failure, but it is not noteworthy at all and at these lofty prices anything less than that is unacceptable. If I want a superior pepper scent I would easily go with Piper Nigrum from Lorenzo Villoresi for less money before buying this. I give Poivre Samarcande a middling neutral and a 2.5 out 5 rating.

This is the ultimate "can't keep my hands off my boyfriend wearing a flannel shirt in our cabin" scent. I don't get much spice or green pepper, but oh, do I get clean, dry cedar with subtle background notes.

It's masculine, long-lasting, smooth, and obscenely attractive. It's an Hermes masterpiece.
Sillage is barely noticeable, but all the better to bring your woman (or man) close to you to discover how incredible you smell.

Pure pepper, freshly ground from the mill, is what greets my nose at the opening of Poivre Samarcande, with nary a twitch or sneeze, but with a subsequent wave of crunchy umbellifers. This crunchy caraway hovers just beneath the stratosphere of pepper with the spice cabinet wood closer to the skin's surface.

This demonstrates Ellena genius: this is everywhere but by no means an abrasive fog. The cook for the duchess in Alice in Wonderland is NOT screaming "pepper, more pepper!" This is not a pepper soup, naturally. This is black pepper haze with one of the best uses for Iso E Super ever encountered. It actually exalts the tiny, pepper love taps as they float in your sillage.

Further on, there is along with the indispensable cedar, what I discern as oakwood absolute, drier, from the robust Quercus robur, smelling delightfully of lichen-covered abandoned wine barrels, a bit malty, but not sweet. The most 'sophisticated' and 'refined' dustiness falls closer to the skin as the pepper melts into the woods and there's a feeling of sublime satisfaction. I refuse to discuss performance just because it's a Hermessence; it trivializes the experience.

Awesome stuff!