Year: 2013
Notes: bergamot, coriander, cumin, Egyptian neroli, French orange blossom, jasmine, amber, oakmoss
Inspired by the music of French composer, Olivier Messaïen, Au Delà is billed as a floral-chypré.
Described as intoxicating, luscious, bold and rich, such adjectives doesn't align with one's own perception of it. With spicy-aromatic top notes and a honeyed citrus floral heart, it smells more like a neroli or orange blossom offering than an actual chypré. Maybe one is just being stubborn about what constitutes a chypré, these days, but one doesn't particularly care about the fragrance industry's attempts at moving the goalposts.
As for the florals, they're harmoniously integrated, with the jasmine being rich yet not overwhelming. Resting on a base of amber and oakmoss, the drydown is a tad sweeter with an understated earthiness. One also admires how the proceedings remain luminous and vivid throughout, without any rough edges – with a late-drydown that possesses an orange rind fragrancy, which interacts with sweet ambery traces of oakmoss.
Generally, it's well-structured, alluring and evolves with relative ease. While its performance is respectable, one would have preferred a little more oomph in this department. And although one refuses to acknowledge it as a chypré, it's still a reasonably good effort for what it is.
Described as intoxicating, luscious, bold and rich, such adjectives doesn't align with one's own perception of it. With spicy-aromatic top notes and a honeyed citrus floral heart, it smells more like a neroli or orange blossom offering than an actual chypré. Maybe one is just being stubborn about what constitutes a chypré, these days, but one doesn't particularly care about the fragrance industry's attempts at moving the goalposts.
As for the florals, they're harmoniously integrated, with the jasmine being rich yet not overwhelming. Resting on a base of amber and oakmoss, the drydown is a tad sweeter with an understated earthiness. One also admires how the proceedings remain luminous and vivid throughout, without any rough edges – with a late-drydown that possesses an orange rind fragrancy, which interacts with sweet ambery traces of oakmoss.
Generally, it's well-structured, alluring and evolves with relative ease. While its performance is respectable, one would have preferred a little more oomph in this department. And although one refuses to acknowledge it as a chypré, it's still a reasonably good effort for what it is.
