PUREDISTANCE
Aenotus (No. 09)

2019

PERFUMER
Antoine Lie

lemon
orange
yuzu
mandarin

petitgrain
mint
blackcurrant

musk
oakmoss
patchouli

Aenotus is definitely not my favorite style of fragrance and therefore, won’t join my personal favorites from PureDistance either. It’s yet another one with top-notch quality from the house, but perhaps not the easiest one to justify the price for, as it feels more like a callback to familiar fragrances than most others in the collection.

With the citrusses being the stand out facets here. It’s not overly citrussy (for lack of a better word); not in the way a juice would come across. It’s much more on the side of lemon and yuzu than mandarin and orange to my nose and the citrus leans heavily into the rind, the bitterness, petitgrain, the green facets. It almost tickles the nose and I can see people finding it retro smelling / outdated a bit. I feel the same way about it as I do with Acqua di Parma Colonia Essenza for example.

All underpinned by this hefty mossy base, but whereas the brighter aspects are chypre, for a moment I do get a hint of sweetness, that reminds me of the coumarin or tonka bases of many fougeres. That type of flat, not quite creamy, but smooth sweetness. Subtle enough though and it fades as well. I think the aromatic side remains forward; mostly moss and some leftover petitgrain bitterness for most of the wear.

As mentioned, great quality, but not really up my alley.