Chypre-Siam Rogue

Chypre-Siam goes on skin with a mandarin orange, lemon-lime hybrid smelling kaffir lime accord, with early hints of floral jasmine rising from the perfume's heart. As the composition moves to its early heart, the lush white floral jasmine becomes the focal point, with slightly powdery co-staring yellow floral ylang-ylang and significant mossy green oakmoss rising from the base, bolstered by the subtle underlying support of multiple culinary herbs. During the late dry-down the florals gradually recede, leaving the oakmoss to pair with moderately powdery benzoin and slightly sweet sandalwood, with the composition turning leathery late, derived from a touch of (possibly real) civet joining in through the finish. Projection is excellent, as is longevity at 12-15 hours on skin.

Wow... Chypre-Siam is a stunner. It is so classically structured with pre-IFRA restriction nonsense ingredient types and amounts that this vintage perfume lover would swear it came out of the early 1900's if I didn't know better. The juice is a gorgeous mossy-green, foretelling the tremendous jasmine and oakmoss driven chypre concoction that has perfect balance from top-to-bottom. Perfumer Cross has many different successful compositions in his repertoire, but Chypre-Siam is the one he probably should be most proud of. I suppose if ignoring the IFRA, one could yield a convincing chypre, but getting the complete balance down is far from easy and I am sure Chypre-Siam was a labor of love that could have taken years to perfect. As a grateful wearer, this writer can only thank Mr. Cross for using his obvious talent to keep the true classic chypre alive and well. The bottom line is the $150 per 100ml bottle Chypre-Siam is a completely successful resurrection of the classic chypre, while still adding new wrinkles to the mix, earning a "near-masterpiece" 4.5 out of 5 star rating, and a super-strong recommendation in particular to lovers of classically structured perfumes who lament genre destroying IFRA restrictions.