L'Eau du Navagateur (1982)
by L'Artisan Parfumeur

Supposedly the first fragrance to use a coffee note and it's there at the top for a nanosecond only. It then becomes a pleasant, smoky tobacco infused with some soapiness in the drydown. A thumbs up for the fragrance on this basis,although it's a well worn road now, but don't buy this expecting an alternative to New Haarlem, for example.

6th September, 2011.

This is often times one of my favorites in my ever-growing wardrobe. What is odd however, or maybe good, is that I get a quite different experience on different applications. I keep coming back to it because of its compelling concept of tobacco, rum and coffee. On the days it does not work for me this mix gives me the ashtray thing, with no rum or coffee. But the overall quality and mystery makes it an easy thumbs up for me. I report good longevity and moderate sillage.

20th May, 2011.

A smooth, somewhat otherworldly, green smoky wood. The first time I tried it, it seemed very weak, so I was about to review it as a lark, but now I find it to be of average strength. It reminds me of things like Preferred Stock, Pasha, Tsar, Kyoto, or Curzon, with that slightly waxy smoke component. While others add to this either dark and dirty greens, or musty fetid leather, Navigateur stays straighter, cleaner and clearer, with something that seems a bit violetty at first, changing over to a very honest, fairy-tale wood. I almost don't know what to say about it because it doesn't conflict with any of my do's and dont's of wood scents. This could easily find its place among the vaunted Comme des Garcons incense series, but don't tell anyone that it smells like Preferred Stock. (Or vice versa!)

27th April, 2011.

Very nice smoky, reminds me of the good things about whiskey.

BTW this entry ought to be updated:
http://www.artisanparfumeur.com/our-perfumes/l-eau-du-navigateur

14th March, 2011.

I love this. One of my favorite notes in a perfumer's arsenal is smoke, and this has it in abundance without it smelling like a forest fire. It has the birch tar smokiness of classic leathers such as Chanel's Cuir de Russie. The spices cut the smoke and result in a dense and rich blend of very fine quality indeed.

Superb longevity on me (10 hours) and a well-judged slender halo of sillage make this a real winner and to my mind worth the cash.

12nd February, 2011.

This opens with a fantastic coffee and potpourri that just seems to scream "Christmas Eve." Maybe it's just me, and whether or not you make that same connection doesn't change the fact that this opens as a wonderful scent. Of course, it's very weak, and quickly fades to a whisper of its opening. The wood, spice, and coffee are joined by a soapy accord that I can't identify. That takes the experience into much more fresh territory than I expected, but it was still nice.

I can't exactly give this a positive review because of two reasons COMBINED...

1)The drydown just sort of melds into a muted, blurry blend of coffee, wood, spice, and soap. There are no standouts and no dynamics. Turning the coffee up, scooping the mids, frequency shifting the treble, and perhaps having one of the spices stand out more could've really helped.

2)It's obscenely weak in both the longevity and sillage department.

26th January, 2011.