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Collection Classique

Fougère Bengale Parfum d'Empire 2007

7.4 / 10 192 Ratings

A perfume by Parfum d'Empire for women and men, released in 2007. The scent is spicy-fougèreartig. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Spicy

Fougère

Woody

Green

Animal

Fragrance Notes

Oakmoss

Hay

Lavender

Honey

Tonka bean

Woody notes

Animalic notes

Assam tea

Blond tobacco

Patchouli

Spice bread Vanilla

Vanilla

Perfumer

Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

Videos

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Ratings

Scent

7.4192 Ratings

Longevity

7.9151 Ratings

Sillage

7.5143 Ratings

Bottle

7.5138 Ratings

Value for money

6.957 Ratings

Submitted by DeGe53, last update on 11/23/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Collection Classique collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Sables

1740

Eau Noire

Hurlingham

L'Art de la Guerre

Fourreau noir

Reviews

13 in-depth fragrance descriptions

02/24/2015

ColinM
516 Reviews

ColinM

Top Review 6

French Mediterranean

Fougère Bengale opens with a nice, rich, powerful, kind of dark and almost intoxicating blend of spicy-resinous notes, almost boozy initially, a tad sticky and cleverly mixing an Oriental feel of candied-spicy sumptuosity with a Mediterranean herbal inspiration – which is possibly the nicest trademark of Corticchiato’s style, I personally think he’s particularly good in “revisiting” the classic French opulence with a shady Mediterranean feel. At the very heart of Fougère Bengale lies a powerful, incredibly aromatic, thick and warm herbal-tobacco accord comprising nuances of hay, licorice, aniseed. A light floral breeze provides the right amount of liveliness and “fresh air”, together with a sweet and graceful tea note (perfectly melting with licorice) and a subtle yet detectable mint-balsamic feel. Fantastic drydown rich in tobacco and, again, sweet-balsamic nuances of licorice and aniseed, just more woodier, overall quite dark but still with a touch of floral grace. I feel the tribute to fougères too, although this is not a fougère at all and has quite nothing to do with traditional fougères – I only think it’s more a matter of small subtle echoes (tobacco, woods, lavender, herbs...). Evidently close to some Lutens works as well, like other scents by Parfum d’Empire, but somehow more austere, more green, and also more simple. Honestly I don’t think the materials are that great here (just a feel), but Fougère Bengale is overall surely pleasant, refined, rich and sophisticated with its peculiar sort of Mediterranean “gloominesss”. A bit linear, but you won’t get tired of smelling it.

7-7,5/10

08/06/2012

7Scent

Coutureguru
237 Reviews

Coutureguru

Helpful Review 7

Tiger! Tiger!!

I am fascinated by Fougère Bengale! In the space of a day I have gone from loathe to like ... which is very uncommon for me.

Upon first trying this on paper, I pulled up my nose and hastily dismissed it. The overwhelming stench of curry wafted off the paper ... and while I like eating it, curry is not necessarily what I want to smell of. The sales assistant tossed a sample in my bag "just for good measure". I tried it on my skin a half hour ago and ... well ... it's very, very nice. How perplexing!
Now, curry is not listed as a note here and scouting around I notice that many other reviewers also smell it. I can only conclude that this effect is created by the patchouli/tobacco/pepper combination. Immortelle is cited as being included elsewhere, but not having the faintest idea what it smells like, I can't comment on that.
The important bit here, is that on my skin, I don't really get curry per sé, more just a spicy warmth flooded with delicious, dry, hay like notes, loads of green tobacco and lashings of sweet, sweet vanilla. The Oakmoss is there, as is the Lavender ... but if you like Tobacco then this is the one for you ... it's reminiscent of lovely blond pipe tobacco ... just gorgeous!

This fragrance has a Rudyard Kipling-ish gentleman-on-safari feel to it ... and I'm quite astounded that in my current (heavy feminine florals) frame of mind, I like it as much as I do.

Go figure!?!?!?

05/19/2025

8Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

AlexD76
110 Reviews

AlexD76

1

Not the classic Fougere Scent

Fougère Bengale from Parfum d'Empire is a daring, aromatic fougère combining fresh English lavender, warm hay and aromas of honeyed blond tobacco. The gingerbread and patchouli round it out perfectly to conjure the wildness of Bengal. Another very good fragrance born from the hands of Marc Antoine Corticchiato

09/24/2025

Jujulalu
23 Reviews

Jujulalu

le plus beau parfum de la gamme

Echantillon recu hier soir, avec wazamba. Je trouve de facon générale que les parfums d'empire sont assez "vieux" dans leur composition. Ils sont travaillés et on voit qu'il y a du travail dans la composition mais je trouve personnellement qu'ils manquent d'une touche "sexy" ou jeune.

Fougère bengale est de loin mon fougère préféré, sombre, résineux et assez rond, c'est un parfum qui marque, je trouve juste qu'il ne reste pas longtemps sur peau mais sinon c'est un 10/10

03/16/2021

8.5Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Bloodxclat
34 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Bloodxclat

Top Review 37

The World in the Bottle of the Corsican

Marc-Antoine Corticchiato. The Corsican has the gift of often starting his fragrances harshly and painfully.

Here we have a real punch to the face with pure immortelle - wild, herbal, spicy, dry. This harsh curry herb note that digs into the nose.

The spook lasts (really!!!) only a minute, then wonderfully fresh and airy lavender notes and a bit of sweet wood / anise come in. The scent immediately shifts to a Mediterranean herb garden. Airy, spicy, fresh. Tea joins in - freshly brewed, slightly bitter black tea with a malty note.

Up to this point, a great Mediterranean herbal scent. Then comes the transformation à la Corticchiato.

Moist, steaming hay bales. Along with a dark, heavy tobacco note that works wonderfully with the hay. A great unity. The whole thing skillfully settles under the spiced Assam tea and gives a dark, moist, spicy ambiance. The tobacco is effectively earthy in nature.

We are no longer on Corticchiato's Corsica, but the scent made me think of the Eastern Oriental Hotel in Penang / Malaysia. In the 1920s, many illustrious guests stayed here, from Rudyard Kipling, Karl May, to William Somerset Maugham and so on.

Hermann Hesse wrote from here:

“In Penang, on a hot, humid, glorious evening, we were first met by the bubbling life of an Asian city… We gazed in amazement at the colorful appearances of street life in the Indian town, the Chinese town, the Malay town. Wild, colorful crowds of people in the always crowded streets, a sea of candles at night…”

By now, when the oak moss & patchouli kick in, we have arrived in the depths of Malaysia. They complete the exotic framework, the scent feels dense, moist, spicy, earthy, lively, exotic, foreign. Camphor-like and also unsweetened, dark cocoa nuances spread. Like a night in tropical Penang.

Even a night in Penang eventually passes, and the relentless tropical morning sun dries the streets. The drydown remains with spicy tobacco, hay, patchouli, and the revived curry herb from the beginning. But everything is a bit drier.

Longevity is about 10 hours, the sillage is relatively strong - not too much is the motto here.

I find the scent very exciting. The balance between Mediterranean & exotic is beautifully done. Typical for Corticchiato. The whole thing never feels too heavy or too dark to me, but is beautifully lightened by the herbs and the bright, shimmering lavender. The tobacco is never smoky or ashy, but rather dark, moist tobacco leaves with a bit of earth attached.
At times, the scent slightly reminds me of Lutens' "Borneo 1834".

One should not be averse to the special scent of immortelle - the herb often derided as "curry stew" is optimally used here and fits like a real punch to the nose. For fans of exotic spicy scents & tobacco, this is a journey to distant lands.

Very evocative, so to speak!

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