La Fenice pour Homme The Merchant Of Venice 2016

Gran Teatro La Fenice is featured on the very beautiful packaging. So when it comes to the enchanting women's fragrance and the top note of the men's fragrance, yes... definitely! Last year we were still standing on Strada Nova in front of this great boutique, but we had already walked 20km and were just too tired to go inside... okay, the 2 new Gran Teatro fragrances weren't available at that time, but in hindsight, I really regret that. On the fantastic website, you can take a cool virtual tour... you can see what you are really missing out on... quite casually with the iPad!
Yesss... the top note is really outstanding, it mainly consists of mandarin and violet, fresh-spicy and masculine. In spirit, the bottle was already purchased last week at Breuninger, "unfortunately" I later passed by the new Tom Ford stand (altar) and Vert d' Encens, otherwise it would already be in the collection. I certainly wouldn't have regretted it with the later development of the fragrance, but unfortunately, it can't quite maintain the pace and the wave of euphoria of the first 5 minutes... at least not until the end.
Alongside the very fresh and invigorating mix of mandarin and violet, a pinch of pepper joins in, nothing prickly or even sharp, but the fragrance gains a slightly masculine foundation and especially depth, taking away a bit of the fresh summer-water touch. Through green herbs from the herb kitchen (I would have guessed more on coriander than on basil), the fragrance exudes a wonderful aroma that allows for deep breathing. Slightly sharp and a bit reminiscent of aftershave, but nothing ethereal... not a home-meditation scent for quiet moments, but an invigorating masculine all-rounder that is uncomplicated to wear. Besides the wonderful top note, the second star of the fragrance is clearly the cedarwood (it reminds a bit of Himalaya by Creed!). It may be somewhat staged in a blatant way, in the sense that the brand cannot deny its focus on predominantly feminine scents "Shit... this was supposed to be the men's fragrance, quickly add the cedarwood... then no one will notice";-)! At least that's how I imagine it, because the wood is not as perfectly integrated as everything else in Gran Teatro, as the directional change comes too suddenly for me, at least on my skin.
However, this should not diminish the overall work, as the wood smells wonderfully spicy and masculine... so they have already reached into the right (men's) shelf;-)!
Thus, the fragrance lingers until the end, no more mandarin, just two major opponents: violet and cedarwood... it doesn't quite reach the grand theater level, but it remains a great all-rounder fragrance that, in its opulence and richness of facets, cannot quite keep up with the women's fragrance, but there is still enough scent left for the man.
Two things are certain, when the peak summer is over, it will find its way into the collection (but only if I don't see the Tom Ford stand) and if I ever come to Venice again, I will definitely go into this great boutique too!
Longevity for me was between 6 and 7 hours, which is absolutely okay, the sillage is strong in the first hour and still very decent afterwards.

EDIT 01.12.17
Now I know what the fragrance reminds me of in phases, Fahrenheit light, but without being diluted, rather finer and more elegant. I can also stretch the longevity to a complete office day and it is absolutely signature-worthy!