L’ENTROPISTE
DORIAN’S SPLEEN
2025
PERFUMER
Bertrand Duchaufour
whisky
caramel
coffee
dark chocolate
spicy notes
ash
smoke
‘Fed by an eternal melancholy, Dorian spices up his life as best he can, indulging in strong drugs and alcohol. Dorian doesn’t question himself. He feeds off his eternal boredom, with neither desire nor pleasure stirring any inner drive. His soul is consumed by a darkness where nothing can be imagined beyond it. Even his debaucheries no longer bring him any satisfaction.He knows he’s immortal, yet… It’s a rich whisky aroma, intertwined with the sweetness of caramel, coffee, and dark chocolate, that truly awakens our senses. Elegant and refined, it carries the sophistication of a dandy. Despite his attempts to spice up his life, Dorian’s dark soul eventually takes over. The fragrance evolves and transforms. Gradually, the delicate aromas give way to hints of ash and smoke.’ – L’Entropiste
While not a bad or uninteresting fragrance at all, Dorian’s Spleen was still a bit disappointing. As a fan of a lot of Duchaufour’s work (Amouage Jubilation XXV & Jubilation 40, Les Bains Guerbois 1978 Les Bains Douches being masterpieces for example), the L’Entropiste collection on first impression didn’t wow me. The one that felt most exciting was Dorian’s Spleen, but on skin, that excitement faded pretty much instantly.
The notes of fruits and chocolate that I expected after that first whiff, don’t translate as prominently during the full wear. Instead, within minutes I get dry coffee and spices; I would guess a lot of cardamom; which is a rather common combination.
I’ve learned that I’m quite sensitive to cardamom (or cardamom-esque spices); I find them to overpower a fragrance quickly and that is also the case here. Much drier than I anticipated and not as eccentric.
The fruitiness is what makes this fragrance somewhat unique, but it blends in with the darker notes; the way dried fruits mix in a lot of boozy, tobacco or gourmand fragrances. It’s not as much of a differentiating factor as I was hoping for.
Boozy notes seem to always be less pronounced for me than to others. I can picture booziness here, but I wouldn’t instantly pitch it as a boozy scent. It feels like your average amber-gourmand with spices, a hint of fruit and also a hint of booze; a sidenote rather than a clear direction or concept.
Overall; a fine fragrance for its kind, but I was hoping for something more unique, more conceptual, more refined perhaps. When one of the better perfumers of this era launches his own brand (which I was definitely excited for) and the one fragrance that seemed to stand out initially feels a tad mundane and not on par with any of his best works by a long shot in my opinion, it leaves a disappointing sentiment.