Chanel Pour Monsieur Concentrée (1989)
by Chanel

Chanel Pour Monsiuer Concentrate is probably one of the most underrated fragrance ever. it ozzes class and packs lotsa punch and variety in a chamaleon like quality. What appears to be a coriander based opening accords with a lush backdrop of citruses and green; soon morphs into a eerie white smoke derived from spices giving it a very powdery approach. the mid accords is gritty and refiend at the same time. It settles to a lovely base of clean & sweet vetiver with hints of opoponax (which would remind one faintly of Lagerfeld classic.) it's like this scent gets stronger with each passing hour. especially till it reaches basenotes. it's mid accords is one of finest eg. of what a fine perfume is supposed to do. which is? which is, it should be able to memerise it's wearer with it's sheer nature and it's element of surprise. it took me 15 wears to finally "understand" this fragrance. The trick was, i sprayed some 8-10 sprays. mostly on chest and arms.
in other words, it's a spicy green scent which is tranparent yet, smoky with an incense like feel. powdery to the core in the most elegant way with hints of vetiver and the classic touch of opoponax. it doesnt smell anything like the original, except for it;s green character. this ones much more full bodied and direct and opposed ot the classic which is thinner and much more restrained.

Sorry to be a naysayer on this one, but the best I can say is that I found it somewhat less boring than Dunhill Edition. There are finer citrus frags. There are finer " gentlemen " frags. Jacques Polge may deserve The Nobel Prize for chemistry but this one's unspectacular. I won't compare it to the original Chanel PM which so many of you assure me is the last word in elegance, since I haven't had the pleasure. Reading the notes it appears that the concentree version has a vanilla base, for whatever that's worth

Very lovely fragrance indeed although it is not very strong or long-lasting. The citrus opening is debonair and well-rounded. The middle notes are a tad animalic for my taste, but the base is musk, vanilla, and amber, which lends to a very soft, refined feel. Upon first application there is an antispetic note, possibly anise, that quickly softens and gives way to nice, elegant, and delicate fragrance. I find Monsieur Concentree to be similar to Mouchoir de Monsieur and Jicky without all the wonders of animal excrement they embody.

For those looking for similarities between Chanel pour Monsieur Concentree (C) and Chanel pour Monsieur (ChPM), let me say they are very different.

Both are leather chypres, ChPM is a sound creature of its times: gentler, subtler, I would even say denoting class because of an eau de cologne character that is absent from C - a common attribute in many men's fragrances before spicy / woody / animalic notes proper of women's scents were to be popularized among offerings targetted to the opposite sex; take, ie. Cabochard, 1959 and its male counterpart, Aramis, 1965, and compare it with Eau Sauvage, 1966.

Thus, C is pungent, harder, still gentlemanly but not as classy as the original, something that does not affect it at all in terms of its attractiveness.

Besides, Mr. Polge did a perfect job twice, on the shape of Chanel pour Monsieur Concentree and that of Tiffany for men. Both were launched in 1989, and both share many notes in common: unfortunately, I can not make a hand-in-hand comparisson, but judging from memory, I do not find many differences between both.

This is definately what I would call a "gentleman's fragrance". Not as in old, but in mature, sophisticated and wordly. I'm ashamed to say that when I first tried this, I didn't like it due to the opening blast and probably because I had just smelled 10 other colognes. Recently when I was looking to add another cologne I thought of the other reviews I read here (btw one of the very few colognes to have only 2 negative comments) and decided to sample it again. This time it smelled much better to me. After making the mistake of choosing Fuel For Life instead, I immediately took that back and grabbed this.

The lavender note in this one is far more toned down than FFL, intelligently blended with vetiver & vanilla for a soft but masculine scent. Don't be fooled though, this is very strong and long lasting. 4 or 5 sprays is the max you should ever apply. Even when wearing out in the heat & humidity it perseveres. This is the third Chanel fragrance I've owned and each one has been excellent. You can't go wrong with masters of fine fragrance. I echo the comments of others that this is one that needs no hype or ad campaigns, those in the know will own it.

I give it a thumbs up!!! PM & Anteaus are my 2 favorite Chanel fragrances. I normally don't like a lot of vanilla in any Cologne.
I'll make an exeption w/ PM. I can understand all the positive remarks on this. I give it a Thumbs up!!!!