Édition Rare - Pétroleum Histoires de Parfums 2011

Everyone knows the classic pyramid: citrus and freshness at the top, flowers, spices, herbs in the heart, and amber, patchouli, musk, woods in the base. Surprisingly, it can also go the other way around!

Petroleum from the Édition Rare opens with something I would actually describe as a typical base note: somewhat sweet, amber-like and patchouli-heavy, oriental and perhaps even vanilla-like. I was immediately reminded of scents like the opulent-floriental Anonimo Veneziano by Nobile 1942.

You have to get through that first, but then the character changes: it continues distinctly slimmer, more transparent, and indeed more ethereal. Dominating even into the drydown is a modern leather note that I perceive as aquatic, combined with dry smoky notes.

With this form of "aquatic," I think of the harbor basin-criticized Tirrenico by Profumi del Forte - with its salt and the not-so-fresh seawater smell that isn't for every nose. But don't worry, it won't be that bad here. This pale, aquatic leather is contrasted by transparent smoky notes. With the now widespread softening of the term "oud," one might categorize it under that. It might be closer to speak of dry amber or resin instead.

Petroleum is certainly not a beautiful scent in the traditional sense, but it is interesting: a reversed scent progression, so to speak "from behind," and that's rare. For that, I also forgive the radical change of character during the development - normally a deal-breaker for me.

Sea air and dry smoke can evoke threatening images: an ocean liner in distress, flames engulfing the upper deck - the last moments of the Titanic? But Petroleum is not that dramatic over long stretches. The pale, transparent character of the leather-smoke-aquatic has more to do with simple Danish design and Scandinavian coolness than with the expressionistic colors and heat of the South. A scent for Volvo drivers?

Anyway, niche can allow for such things. The wearer may create some distance between themselves and their surroundings with this scent, but that can also be desired at times. In any case, one should take the time for a thorough test before purchasing and critically ask oneself how long one wants to have this unusual combination around them at a stretch.