3
Helpful Review
Brilliant Black Tea...
The Noir opens with an aromatic fig and mild orange-laced black tea leaf accord with a slight supporting cedar wood undertone. Moving to the early heart, the aromatic black tea accord deepens, taking on a mild smoky tobacco-like facet with the underlying slightly synthetic smelling cedar wood also more prominent. As the composition moves through its heart the slightly synthetic smelling woods gradually fold into the aromatic black tea, never being completely masked, but very well-integrated to the point that they almost seem like another aromatic facet. During the late dry-down the composition shifts gears completely as the aromatic tea and cedar vacate, revealing smooth musk, gentle vetiver and a touch of vanilla in the base through the finish. Projection and longevity are excellent, projecting considerably well for over 12 hours on skin.
One of the most consistently excellent active perfumers today is Frank Voelkl. Apart from his stellar work elsewhere, Voelkl has produced most of Le Labo's impressive offerings with compositions like Santal 33, Ylang 49 and Iris 39. Now, we can add The Noir 29 to his list of winners. The composition immediately impresses with its brilliant use of fig to amplify the aromatic aspect of the featured black tea accord. Voelkl then brings out a similar slightly synthetic smelling cedar wood to the stuff used in his modern masterpiece Javanese Patchouli for Zegna. Unlike Javanese Patchouli where the smooth, dominant patchouli soaks up the woods primarily; in the case of The Noir, the synthetic woods are harder to hide and at first I thought they might be problematic. Luckily, after further review the answer is "No," as about a half hour or so into the heart phase the woods gradually get absorbed into the black tea accord. No, they are never obscured, but they become a key facet of the overall presentation, so skillfully integrated to the point that their slight synthetic nature becomes even a positive rather than a distraction, with an added tobacco-like facet providing a new element to counter them. The late dry-down is a bit of a mundane pleasant musky vanilla-like affair that won't set the world afire, but it somehow works as a nice change-up from the earlier aromatic wood-laced black tea. The bottom line is when I saw Voelkl's name associated with the $240 per 100ml bottle The Noir 29 I strongly suspected I would love it, and true to form it fails to disappoint with its "excellent" 4 stars out of 5 rating, earning it a strong recommendation to all.
One of the most consistently excellent active perfumers today is Frank Voelkl. Apart from his stellar work elsewhere, Voelkl has produced most of Le Labo's impressive offerings with compositions like Santal 33, Ylang 49 and Iris 39. Now, we can add The Noir 29 to his list of winners. The composition immediately impresses with its brilliant use of fig to amplify the aromatic aspect of the featured black tea accord. Voelkl then brings out a similar slightly synthetic smelling cedar wood to the stuff used in his modern masterpiece Javanese Patchouli for Zegna. Unlike Javanese Patchouli where the smooth, dominant patchouli soaks up the woods primarily; in the case of The Noir, the synthetic woods are harder to hide and at first I thought they might be problematic. Luckily, after further review the answer is "No," as about a half hour or so into the heart phase the woods gradually get absorbed into the black tea accord. No, they are never obscured, but they become a key facet of the overall presentation, so skillfully integrated to the point that their slight synthetic nature becomes even a positive rather than a distraction, with an added tobacco-like facet providing a new element to counter them. The late dry-down is a bit of a mundane pleasant musky vanilla-like affair that won't set the world afire, but it somehow works as a nice change-up from the earlier aromatic wood-laced black tea. The bottom line is when I saw Voelkl's name associated with the $240 per 100ml bottle The Noir 29 I strongly suspected I would love it, and true to form it fails to disappoint with its "excellent" 4 stars out of 5 rating, earning it a strong recommendation to all.