Patchouli haters — I used to be a card carrying member of the club — are probably not so numerous as they once were. Some of us perfumistas were undoubtedly desensitized by frequent exposure over time. But it’s also true that there’s just not so much to hate any more, now that “patchouli” invariably means a patchouli fraction, in which all the difficult bits have been removed via the wonders of modern science; these days, as often as not patchouli is virtually indistinguishable from other dry woody notes.¹ If you were born long after the days of head shop patchouli oils (and have somehow managed to bypass Thierry Mugler Angel and its many spawn) and your only exposure to patchouli came from recently launched department store fragrances, you might wonder what all the fuss was ever about.

Atelier Cologne’s latest, Mistral Patchouli, belongs to this brave new world of patchouli. It’s not just that it’s a relatively sheer fragrance, in keeping with the brand’s concept of the “magical freshness of cologne coupled with the lasting power of eau de parfum”, but that there’s nothing earthy or musty or heavy or otherwise demanding about the patchouli…

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