Cedrat Boise Mancera 2011

The fruity, bitter cedarwood theme is, in my nose, one of, if not the most attractive scent blends in modern perfumery. With Cedrat Boise, the game begins with blackcurrant, which is also skillfully used in other Mancera fragrances. Anyone who has smelled the synthesized raw material in concentrated form wonders, after waking from a coma, how such a perverse smell can smell so good in small amounts. At least that's the case with the blackcurrant flavor.

Over the course of several hours, the initially barely noticeable wood note intensifies into this typical bitter to slightly smoky aroma. Very sexy! However, I always have to hold back and not apply more than three sprays, otherwise I experience a perception gap that lasts for several hours, and the smoky aroma at the end gets lost. One of the fragrance components temporarily knocks out my olfactory receptors when the dose is too high. Then, under no circumstances should you switch the bottle, otherwise you risk triggering an acute "batcheritis".

I find the many fruit variations in the different openings of this genre interesting, which can be found on the broad market. Always somehow different yet similar. I have a few from this direction in my collection and enjoy wearing them all. Citrus power in Armaf CdN, citrus-mate in Vilhelm's Black Citrus - which is more bitter than Jever beer - red berries in Steve McQueen's Mythic - a rarely occurring but very appealing variant - and then the pineapple. However, I only have that as a clone - almost an Eclat - because the royally overpriced short-livedness turns "pine apple" into "pain apple" for me.

The pineapple combo seems to trigger a psychotic repetition tick in some neighborhoods, with an avalanche-like amplification effect. Buy as many variations as possible blindly, write a critique, sell further. If someone writes a comparison with the supposed king and proclaims a renewed act of majesty insult, several more will follow within a few weeks. There are definitely more comparative opinions about Cedrat Boise alone than there are fruit varieties in perfumes. The one from ElWedo further down is really helpful. I quote the one true wannabe king of all time: I would rather go pineapple farming in Alaska than read another comparison.