Carlisle Parfums de Marly 2015

I've always been a big proponent of the brand in general, with Herod being one of my absolute favourite fragrances of all time; but lately...well, I've been noticing an alarming trend.

Surely I can't be the only one who's noticed that many PdM fragrances tend to smell eerily similar to earlier releases from other houses? For example, Godolphin smells like Tuscan Leather, Darley smells like Le Male, Galloway smells like Lalique White, Oajan smells like Ambre Narguile, Layton smells a bit like Pure Malt (to me) and even the new Percival smells strikingly close to Mont Blanc Legend/A&F Fierce. To be honest, I was never really fussed, perhaps having been mesmerized by the substantial heft of the bottles, but the realization came back to me all the more intensely when I smelled Carlisle.

You see, after purchasing a decant a while ago, I sprayed the sucker on and could immediatly tell where people got the Herod + Oajan/Pegasus connection. Sweet, slightly warm apple, honey crisp sort of vibe. What can I say? - It's good. Not entirely rich or deep, but good. That is....until about 30 minutes in. Then something else happened. As the minutes and hours went by, I just couldn't help but get wafts once in a while and think, gee, I've smelled this before. In fact it's almost identical to something in my collection already (I'm sure you know the feeling) but....what....is it? My mind remained in a daze until I finally looked up the notes and considered what else I had that was similar. Nothing. That is, until I remembered the Oajan connection. BINGO.

It's 811 Absoluto by Mathilde Bijaoui for Giovanna Antonelli parfums. And yeah, although that one came out a few years after, the similarity is, once again, UNCANNY. Naturally, I was more than a little bit disappointed and left thinking whether progressive niche brands have finally fallen victim to the designer trend of just copying each other to boost sales. Surely not though....right? Surely?

Either way, I still think it's a wonderful scent, especially for the upcoming holiday season. The blend is very smooth and incredibly true to the notes. Fruity, slightly floral, slightly powdery, warm and sweet. And whereas 811 achieves the effect with tolu balsam, honey, cloves and pepper, Carlisle does it with tonka, apple, osmanthus and nutmeg. Both have a touch of florals and vanilla (with the former being slightly longer lasting, albeit sharper on the nose - that would be the honey), and both layer extremely well with other gourmands. But in the end, the scents are, well, more than a little similar...to say the least. The biggest difference comes in the price, which I won't quote here, but let's just say it's as substantial as the PdM bottles.

So there you have it. Needless to say, I'm still looking forward to every new release by PdM regardless of what they resemble. In fact, compared to some of their earlier offerings, Carlisle is considerably more mass appealing IMO. But you know, sometimes, it just pays to be aware. Let's just hope that we don't find ourselves in a future where everyone smells like Aventus. Yeah. YOU know what I mean.