Poor, beleaguered patchouli. Once considered luxurious enough to scent Queen Victoria’s linen closets, patchouli now prompts people turn up their noses and mutter “head shop.” Of course, we fragrance lovers are smarter than that, right? We know patchouli’s woody-herbal aroma lends depth to chypres and earthiness to orientals. Sure, patchouli is that extra something that takes a fruity floral from boring to vile (take that, Calvin Klein Euphoria), but it’s also the soul of elegant fragrances such as Serge Lutens Borneo 18341 — and Parfumerie Générale Coze.
Coze, by Pierre Guillaume, launched in 2002 and has notes of canapa sativa seed oil (i.e. cannabis), pepper, pimento, coffee, ebony wood, chocolate and bourbon vanilla pods. If the list of notes brings to mind a Montale Patchouli Leaves café mocha, think again. Coze is as dry as a brown Necco wafer.
In fact, to get a sense of Coze, imagine that Necco wafer, but crafted by Pierre Hermé. The chef has mixed a pinch of lavender with the cocoa powder, and he’s stored the wafers in an old wooden box with coffee dust in its corners. The mixture approximates tobacco, but is more minty-woody. I can’t pick out any pimento. For such a potentially dessert-like fragrance, Coze is austere.
It’s also fairly linear. What you smell after a few minutes on skin is what you get throughout the life of the fragrance. That seems to work for Coze, though. Instead of being a big, symphonic perfume with crashing cymbals of gardenia and an emotional string section of jasmine and rose, it’s an easy-to-hum folk melody you can’t believe you haven’t heard before. I find Coze firmly unisex.
Sometimes I want something interesting but not serious to wear. I can imagine spritzing on Coze in the fall for long walks. Coze would blend well with the scent of books, coffee shops, and fires, too. I could see alternating it with Annick Goutal Duel for those days I want to smell earthy, warm, and easy, without smelling cliched or overwhelming. Coze’s biggest drawback for me is that it only lasts a few hours before I have to press my nose directly on skin to smell it.
And let me say it one more time: it doesn’t smell anything like hippies.
Parfumerie Générale Coze Eau de Toilette costs $100 for 50 ml. For information on where to buy it, see Parfumerie Générale under Perfume Houses.
1. It’s hard to believe now, but the first time I smelled Borneo 1834 I thought it smelled like old socks. Now I could drink it for breakfast.
I LOVE the brown Necco wafers! Great review. Do you know, I don’t think I’ve smelled this one, and I love patchouli – even if it *does* smell like hippies!
Soap in my shower right now is Aura Cacia Tranquility, which is patchouli based. Love it.
P. S. My “interesting but not serious to wear” scent is Patch 24 – another non-hippy patchouli.
That one’s almost a non-patchouli patchouli to me. But it’s a good one.
I used to love the brown Necco wafers, too, although it’s been years since I’ve had one. I’m sure they’re still around somewhere, though. When I smelled Coze, it was so familiar to me, but I couldn’t pin it down. Then I remembered: brown Necco wafers!
Patch, whether dry, herbaceous or gourmand, is one of my favorite notes. While lavender can be a challenging note for me, the coffee might sell this for me to at least want to sample it. Oh and… *holds up bottle of Euphoria like a lighter at a rock concert* I’ve got your back, honey. *cradles bottle*
The lavender I note–and there’s probably no lavender in Coze!–is just an herbaceous facet of the patchouli, so no fear.
Euphoria thanks you for your protection, I’m sure!
Coze actually smells like Old Spice on me. Admittedly it’s Old Spice with very quality ingredients… but Old Spice nonetheless. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’d try to spray this on my boyfriend, but he still hasn’t forgiven me for the Secretions Magnifique incident, and won’t let me come anywhere near him with perfume.)
I don’t blame him for shying away after the Secretions Magnifique episode!
Secretions Magnifique incident…. the poor guy!
No kidding!
Miss Kitty, it must be true love if an SM incident couldn’t drive him away!
Please, help. I am not American and have never smelled Necco wafers. I looked them up and found pics and description. But still no idea how they smell..
They smell sort of like dry cocoa powder, but more muted, and with a hint of something herbal that approximates–but isn’t–mint. I hope that helps!
Thank you! I will have to smell them anyway
I always thought that that note (approximates but isn’t mint) was clove.
Yes! You must be right.
Wow, I was just recommending Coze to Ann over on Perfume Posse! It’s my favorite patch. I tried Coromandel, Borneo and Coze at the same time, and like Coze the best. It’s partly the canapa sativa, which really works with patch.
Also, I think Pierre Guillaume is not exactly underrated, but worth greater attention. I’ve been meaning to devote more skin time to getting to know his line. I really like his Rose Brulure, too, and there are many I haven’t even sampled yet.
I haven’t given him as much attention as I’d like, either. It’s so hard to keep up with new releases, let alone test older releases (but it’s fun trying to keep up, anyway).
I love this scent… it’s so warm. I first smelled this in Paris and almost took it home as a souvenir, but decided on Serge Lutens El Attarine instead. I still may buy some one day…
I wish Parfumerie Generale was easier to find in person, I am definitely interested in smelling more of the line. They do carry some scents (including Coze) at Osswald in NYC, which is worth a visit in any case.
I wish they were easy to find, too. That seems to be the case with so many of the niche brands I love!
I have never tried Cozé, but judging from your description I might like it a lot. The only fragrance from the PG line I have tried is Felanilla, which I enjoyed a lot. It is such a big line though, which makes it kind of difficult to know where to start.
I’ve only tried a handful, too. I do have a sample of Indochine, and I like that one a lot. In fact, maybe I’ll wear it tonight–it’s cold and rainy out, and a nice milky warm scent sounds good.
Austere but not serious, interesting but linear.
Oh this sounds like a bit of a patchouli paradox!
I’m fascinated by the canaboid note – which I think is in more places than care to admit to. It raises Balck Afgano onto a higher plane – and bizarrely – as you remark – like patchouli, not really very hippy at all these days.
Thank you kindly for the nod in this direction, this certainly sounds worth a sniff.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
If you do smell it, I’d be very interested to know what you think!