LES INDEMODABLES
PATCHOULI NOISETTE
2023
PERFUMER
Antoine Lie
Patchouli
Hazelnut
CEDARWOOD
AMBER
GINGER
PINK PEPPER
COCOA
‘This creation revisits a mythical fragrance ingredient: patchouli. It has been combined with an exclusive ingredient used for the very first time in perfumery: the ultrasound extract of Hazelnut from Piémont Italy designed internally using a 100% green extraction technology, and the world most qualitative origin of hazelnut! An accord which provides a delicate balance between the dark and rough side of patchouli with the incomparable soft praline facets of the hazelnut from Piémont.’ – Les Indemodables
I was excited to try this offering from Les Indemodables, a house that I greatly appreciate. Lucky for me, my brother has a bottle, so I was able to put it on skin for a quick test.
I have to say, this smells nothing like I imagined, not even close. Yet, it’s definitely a lot of patchouli. Hazelnut… to be honest, not so much to my nose. Of course patchouli, woods, they all have a connection to earthy, nuttiness, but I wouldn’t say that hazelnut would’ve come to mind if it wasn’t in the name.
What surprises me most is that it’s not all that dry or powdery. It’s a very wet scent to me in the first hours. Wet and resinous. Now resinous is something I know from several other Les Indemodables and in that sense, it fits right in with their line.
The sweetness here is interesting, because it’s there, especially in the first hours. It’s more prominent than I thought. Yet I don’t know how to describe it. It’s definitely not praline or vanillic. Maybe a hint of chocolate, but more so the bitter, berry aspect. Instead, I think what I’m smelling is a lot of the pink pepper. I do think it will lean sweet at first for some of the house’s regular customer base, although it’s most certainly not gourmand. After about an hour it starts to get really smooth, yet peppery spicy. It has the scent of spice, without the texture of spices.
There’s two fragrances that Patchouli Noisette reminds me of quite a bit and that’s Amouage Jubilation XXV and maybe more so D’Orsay IL N’Y A PAS DE BIEN NI DE MAL (T.J.). The Les Indemodables perhaps a bit more earthy than either, yet at the same time smoother.
After a couple of hours, Patchouli Noisette feels more earthy and loses a good chunk of the sweetness, for more more muddy and maybe even slightly suede-like drydown. It’s still mostly a spicy, woody affair.
The texture here is great and the quality as always with Les Indemodables is undeniable. Overall, this completely averted my expectations, but probably in a direction that I personally appreciate more.