Number 3 / Le 3me Homme / The Third Man (1985)
by Caron

Opens very floral with dark spices. Lavender/spice > floral/amber/woody >beautiful amber tonka drydown. Powerful open and midnotes. classy. Makes you feel underdressed. elegant. Two sprays max until you get to know it. One of my top ten.

The best male fragrance from Caron in my opinion. 'Pour un Homme' is a pretty much straightforward lavender (not my cup of tea), Yatagan (way too harsh for me) and L'Anarchiste (alright if you like a mixture of blood oranges and copper -- a bit weird). The lavender is strong in the top of the Third Man, but bearable -- the floral middle is ok, but not exactly subtle -- in fact the whole fragrance is a bit pushy. No, really I could bypass the first 3 or 4 hours quite happily. The drydown is where it's at and the metamorphosis is quite astonishing -- it's like a different scent. All the basenotes combine to produce a drydown that is breathtaking and flawless in it's beauty.

May 2007:

I have a huge problem with Caron’s men’s fragrances. My problem? I tried Yatagan first. How any fragrance house could adequately follow Yatagan’s magnificent savagery is hard to imagine. The outrageous animalism of Lutens and Sheldrake’s Muscs Kublai Khan? The ethereal beauty of Dominique Ropion’s Carnal Flower? The briny austerity of Creed’s Erolfa? The barbaric opulence of Montale’s Black Aoud? Caron’s answer was The Third Man.

The Third Man opens with a potent, but fairly standard lavender and bergamot accord, underscored by just a hint of woods and smoky leather. The middle notes include a very sharp cedar, some lush vanilla or tonka, and a hefty dose of carnation or clove on top of the persistent lavender. I sense some rose at the heart, too, accented by a deep fennel seed or anise note. The drydown is mostly moss and woods, with lingering anise and a distinct vanilla/musk counterpoint. The result is an outstanding fragrance, but very heavy and opaque, in the manner of Creed’s Santal Imperial and Bois du Portugal.

Temperamentally, The Third Man is the exact opposite of the wild Yatagan: rich, and cultured, but also utterly conventional. Me? I’ll take Yatagan.

September 2009:

Wearing The Third Man today, I am reminded how very good it is. I have been unduly hard on The Third Man for not being Yatagan, or even L'Anarchiste, but to tell the truth, this scent is just as successful in filling its admittedly more conventional brief as either of those other two. What ultimately makes The Third Man special for me is the drydown, with its perfectly judged balance of vanilla, moss, and warmly animalic musk. In fact there's almost something of a classic Guerlain structure in those base notes. Promoted from a neutral rating for its beauty and utility.

I think if you give anything enough tries you could end up liking it. I purchased a small 2 ml decant of this among others from Sir Slarty. I decided to try it based on his brief discription on Crystal Flacon. Anyway, I have probably sampled it 3-4 times before tonight. I thought it was unbearable until now. I think that as we progress we learn new notes, evolve, and learn to appreciate them. I can't tell you how amazing it is to re-visit something you didn't like only to be floored and wonder "how the hell did I miss this". I don't agree with the negs on this one, but then again I would have given it a neg not too long ago. I'll admit the opening is a bit brash and can be overwhelming. But, as with most things in life, good things come to those who wait. After about 30 minutes you are left with a truly beautiful frag that really IMO doesn't resemble that initial blast. I wouldn't wear this out too much or even that often for that matter. But there are times when we wear scents for comfort or just to take us somewhere else. This is one that now fits the bill. The rose and vanilla really do it for me on this. I def get the reference to Egoiste (one of my all time favs) as one review mentioned. I don't know if it's bottle worthy, but only because I wouldn't wear it enough to warrant a bottle. I think a nice 30 ml decant would be just perfect. Give it a try and give it some time...

This is probably the only ‘80s scent that I’ve seriously considered adding to my wardrobe.

The sweet floral-woody composition has aged far better than most of the men’s releases from the same decade. I find its sweetness quite alluring and never cloying, with the floral notes providing an almost berry-like presence during the drydown. Unfortunately, I haven’t really tested it enough to determine its longevity but its sillage is reasonably moderate. This is an extremely well-blended scent and more than deserves its classic status.

However, a part of me fears that I would easily get bored of this. Therefore, with the smallest bottle being 125ml, I’m still on the fence about purchasing it. However, I’m still giving it a thumbs up because it’s such a wonderful and unique ‘80s release.

[Original submission date: 10 April 2008]

The film was better.
Ah! the 80's And what did that decade produce, old man? The cuckoo clock--no wait, that's from the film . . .

Ok 80's powerhouse scents like Santos de Cartier (original formula), Francesco Smalto , Pascal Morabito Or Black, Versace l'Homme, Esencia Loewe-- and stinkers like Quorum.

Chypre, Fougere, Animalistic! The Drakkar Noir decade. Bring the outdoors home The Hills are Alive---and it's very frightening.
Will Fern and Oakmoss take over The World?
This one is light for its time, not bad at all but nothing to write home about, old man. Though I suppose by today's bland standards some would consider it quite bold. Good drydown.