L'Essence de Must de Cartier (2000)
by Cartier

A spice-laden juice that has more of the oriental or aromatic fougère about it than any other genre (because of the tonka bean in the base, I guess).The top is largely citrus with a good dose of anise, the heart a warm and unusual accord of cinnamon and ginger, and in the base quite a pronounced woody air with sandalwood, cedarwood, vetiver, and patchouli. Except for the absence of floral notes, the Essence version of Must pour Homme seems recall the feminine version rather than the other masculine offering. This strikes me as a cool-to-cold weather scent, primarily because of the hearty spice accords, and at the same time it seems to suggest an evening or slightly more formal context than the plain Must pour Homme. The longevity and sillage are fairly tenacious, and the development, while somewhat limited, does tend to play out to a woodier place than where it starts. I find this very pleasant, a bit bracing and energizing, and an overall good thing. Kudos to Cartier for this!

Ginger and cinnamon that creates an illusion to anise. Neat. Slightly minty, too. I smell the same cedarwoods that Declaration has and if Roadster is minty, I wou;dn't be surprised if it's similar to Must Essence.

I love this scent. But there is a problem, as a room spray - it's fantastic, on paper - it's amazing. On my skin, however, it turned into baby powder and made me gag. Even though I can't wear it i still happily keep my bottle and use at a room/linen spray in the autumn/winter, it is a really great spicy oriental that is somehow fresh at the same time. I want to give it a thumbs up but due to it's reaction on my skin I just can't, sorry.

L'Essence de Must de Cartier Pour Homme made me sit up and take notice. I almost always end up seriously valuing Cartier fragrances, but it usually takes me many wearings to come to that appreciation. L’Essence de Must was different for me because it was love at first sniff: So fresh and yet so richly Oriental; spicy with an unusual ginger / cinnamon accord; a soft but rich patchouli holding the background depth. It has a lush woody drydown — cedar, patchouli, and vetiver — smooth and deep and long lasting. The whole scent is just so terribly enjoyable, and it is the longest lasting Cartier I’ve so far encountered — lasts even longer than Santos Concentree. L’Essence de Must de Cartier is an altogether excellent and enjoyable scent.

Very different from the classic must, tough launched during the same year. I would rather compare it to Santos, say, its less elaborate, more down-to-earth, less aristocratic, more raw and extroverted relative. The first impression is herbal yet not grassy or green- herbal in a medical sense of the word, somwhere in between thereapeutic tea, cough syrup and cooling mint-scented ointment. For the ones who find this note unimressive and offputting, once this rather hard and blunt outer core is gone, a woody-aromtaic note near to perfection is awaiting, reserved yet firm under layers which would, at first, leave one to suspect very little of this fragrance's potential. Tough not as refined as in Bois de Portugal, Z-14, Rocabar or , again, Santos, the woody note in here is harmonious and adding that certain something just when the scent was about to turn generic. Luckily, this never happens, as this aromatic accord is a more human and enjoyable take on e.g. Amen's vile sandalwood-incence stick flavoured metrosexual syrup or a few gourmand Orientals like Le Male who seem not to make up their mind between being a girly boy clubbing scent or a decadently French-made niche Oriental quivering with bare and costly essence of prohibitive rarity. Must Esssence seems to have both outdone these fragrances and solved their dilemma: while a slight note of partly edible partly androgynous experimentation is present in the drydown, it is so discreet and so much appesed and even dettered by more aristocratic and conservative ingredients ( tough equally gourmand , but in a very different, more old-style slow-food, expensive cigars and grand cru wines' style ) they are hardly worth mentioning. What remains is the opulent woody drydown plesant in almost all Cartier masculine scents, however less Oriental than in Pasha, less mysteriously goth-dandy of untypical and highly refined extravagance, also less powdery and winter spices scented than Declaration.

Very like the feminine original, IMHO. (And that's a GOOD thing!)

Rich, luxuriant Oriental, with just enough sweetness to make it an obvious cousin of the women's original and yet not become cloying. Also somewhat related to Guerlain's L'instant Pour Homme, and also something else (just can't say what right now) that I've worn before. Hmmmmmm . . . .

WARNING: I find this a very, very dressy scent, and think most would. It's far more at home in the boardroom than the pool hall. (Just a note of caution for those who might wanna put on a pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt before donning this fragrance.)

I strongly prefer the Essence version to the EDT version. Wish I knew how to find a sample of the Anis Verte version, though.