Many thanks to Mike, who posts on the basenotes men's forum, for permission to reprint his reviews of the upcoming releases from Serge Lutens:
The first, Cedre, is in the internationally-distributed collection. It is a lovely, sweet and heavily ambered version, about as far away from the fresh, "hamster cage" note often associated with this wood as it is possible to get. I detect cinnamon, apple, tabac, perhaps carnation too. Very resinous - those Serge diehards who whinged that their idol had strayed too far from the orientals when creating the magnificent trio of Chene, Daim Blond and Miel du Bois will see Cedre as a return to form.
If Cedre is a delight, albeit one with a familiar feel, Borneo 1834 is an altogether stranger beast. It is the next addition to the Exclusive collection. Dark, dark woods - I think ebony (l'Occitane once made a soap with this note) and mahogany - on a lush, smoky patchouli background.
It is very exotic: Hints of rubber, of coffee, of cocoa bean, cannabis resin, perhaps incense, plenty of patchouli, with the atmosphere of one of those intricately carved wooden boxes people bring back from India. It's much more mascline than Cedre, but I can definitely imagine it on one of those well-bred boho girls holding court in Notting Hill surrounded by tribal gri-gris and travel whatnots.
Hmmm, could I pass as a boho girl holding court in Notting Hill? Update: see a review of Cedre, and a non-review of Borneo 1834.
You can certainly pass for someone elegant and sophisticated, with eclectic tastes. Hey, why am I talking about passing?! You are indeed that.
Thank you V! We'll see if you still feel the same after we meet in person, LOL!
I think you're more of an updated Sloane Ranger. All you need is a marriage of convenience with a needs-to-breed royal. Good luck with that! *and thank you for the SL news*
Ack, please, please don't make me breed with royals! *runs away screaming*
Do you know of any other scent that uses cannabis extract? Coffee and cannabis = Amsterdam to me. But then again, the Dutch once ruled Borneo, so I guess it would fit. Interesting.
Is this new scent being promoted as for men, unisex or women? Sounds…uh…a bit masculine and forboding for my tastes.
Nope, that is a new one for me! Will be interesting to smell it, although since it is in the exclusive line it won't be any time soon for me.
Hi B! I think SL positions all his scents as unisex, although from the sound of it the Borneo might be hard for a woman to pull off. We shall see! I don't know what the release date for Borneo is. I think Cedre is supposed to come out in September.
The Cedre sounds less scary to me than the Borneo. I note with trembling hope that the dreaded word 'cumin' did not get mentioned in the mini-review, which either means that the reviewer is cumin-immune, or that Serge is going to leave out his scary spice! N
Cedre sounds fabulous, then again I also thought that Miel de Bois sounded better than it smelled!
Agree on both counts…Cedre more likely to please me than Borneo, and happy not to see cumin mentioned! But this is one line where I really feel like I must try everything.
Same here! But keep meaning to give it another chance. It definitely wasn't love at first sniff.
Oh goody, too more woods-heavy SL scents to try! I too was underwhelmed by Miel de Bois, but these sound delish.
Cedre does sound like a winner! Borneo probably won't be my thing — patchouli is not my favorite note.
BTW — picking up my Sous Le Buis tomorrow, so thanks again! That may be the best bargain I ever get.