CARTIER
la panthere parfum

2020

PERFUMER
Mathilde Laurent

chypre accord
osmanthus
gardenia
apricot
musk

Panthere has always intrigued me, but aside from some quick sniffing in stores, I’d never properly tried it. As I was exiting a store, there was a table with a couple of Cartier fragrances with 50% off, so I grabbed a 25ml of Panthere Parfum for the price of 3 Happy Meals.

Straight away, this is more fruity on my skin that I would usually go for. The apricot and osmanthus (peach scent) combination starts off a little bit too basic and fruity for my taste.

However, there’s an immense classiness (like in most Cartier fragrances) that slowly reveals itself. It has a tingling feeling of oakmoss in the base, even though it’s subtle and I wouldn’t call it green. Perhaps more importantly, there is the slightest bit of skank in Panthere Parfum. A tangy, high frequency daring edge that you almost have to look for to notice it, but it’s there.

The combination reminds me quite a bit of Yanina Yakusheva Ravenna, which is also excellent. For me, this Panthere DNA would be even better with a stronger oakmoss presence or a bit more woodiness. As it stands it leans far traditionally feminine and it takes me a while to get into it. I’ve heard there are better concentrations of this fragrance, but this newer Parfum isn’t half-bad at all in my book.