CARON
SANTAL PRECIEUX (2021)

2021

PERFUMER
Jean Jacques

Elemi
Pink Pepper
Turkish Rose
Geranium
Rose

Sandalwood
Papyrus
Milk
Cinnamon
Cumin

Leather
Labdanum
Amyris

Caron has relaunched its brand in 2021 (after it has been bought up by a new owner I believe), with beautiful bottles, some new releases and some old releases in a new presentation (unfortunately with a massive price hike). I tried a couple before and liked the scents, but was underwhelmed by the performance so far. Santal Precieux is one that eluded me before sampling it, but it could be one of the better ones.

It opens very warm and spicy. It’s woody straight away, but also almost gourmand; it has a pastry quality to it and a lot of spices (cinnamon). It smells of baked goods and a wood workshop at the same time.

There’s a tinge of cumin, making it slightly less ‘safe’, but not overly so. It’s mostly a dry, sweet and warm woodiness. Caron lists a warm milk accord, but to me it’s more powdery and dry, than milky.

I really enjoy the gourmand element of Santal Precieux; at times it reminds me a bit of Masque Milano Lost Alice, although more woody and less of a rollercoaster. As it dries it grows a bit nutty and there is a slight burnt quality that I didn’t love as much.

The wear with the Caron is relatively simple, but smooth and the performance seems to be a lot less underwhelming than my initial impression of especially the several tobacco releases.

Unless you’re absolutely against any presence of cumin, Santal Precieux is a straight-forward, but lovely sweet sandalwood fragrance that I was pleasantly surprised by and it has re-re-sparked my interest in the Caron line.