Méchant Loup (1997)
by L'Artisan Parfumeur

Anise! it screams! then Nuts! some spices and we have mechant Loup....i'd back SirSlarty's feedback on this one. it is light indeed. if you feel smelling like Hazelnut shells with anise, then look no further. i'd pass. boring to the core. I cant believe this is a scent by the great Bertrand Duchaufour...

I had a beautiful surprise after to have received from boutique L´Artisan my first Méchant Loup. Its calm and very pleasant wolf.
If you like "Cedar" notes buy it and appreciates a good fragance on you.
Very "masculine" and powered.

The first impression I get from this is the licorice/anise smell. It's fresh and exciting to my nose. The softness that comes later in the woody and creamy notes is lovely too, but the spicy elements are what make this one for me. The unexpected (and barely noticeable) myrrh note in the base is astringent and bitter enough to keep this from turning too sweet on my skin. There is a bit of resinous aroma there as well. And the cedar and sandalwood make this a characteristically "masculine" spicy woody-oriental. Very nicely done, and very versatile too.

Why everybody that disliked this perfume expected to find just the sweet aroma of hazelnuts and honey is beyond my understanding. This is not just about an ordinary wolf, walking around the forest, to be photographed and added in the endangered species list. No, sir. This is a mischevieous one, he bites and scares little Red Riding Hoods. He is a rough one, run with the storms - this is why his fur is wet - and has a dark side. In other words, he is the attractive bad boy!

A slightly bizarre scent with clear changes from top to base. The initial accord is surprisingly gourmand and spicy, like eating a curry in the middle of a wet, muddy forest. A couple of hours in, I get less of the spicy, turmeric-like notes and more of the cedar smokiness. This phase, between hours 2-3, is my favorite as the scent has a wonderful, warm, outdoors-y character with hints of wet fur and Autumn leaves. Then, all too quickly it's gone. By the 5th hour or so, this has faded to a dry-down akin to several L'Artisan scents, on me at least. Timbuktu, Dzongkha, Passage D'Enfer, Mechant Loup - all smell alike on me after 5 hours. There must be some regular L'Artisan basenote(s) that does this, but I haven't quite identified it yet. It sounds crazy and unlikely I know, but I did a test with the very dissimilar Passage D'Enfer on one wrist and Mechant Loup on the other. After 5 hours, I couldn't tell which was which. This makes me sad! So... a great forest-like scent but as with several other L'Artisans needs frequent reapplication to retain its true character.

From reading all the reviews here, I thought i would be greeted with a beautiful blend of hazelnuts and honey behind a woody backdrop, which sounds great to me. I DO get these notes, but it's hard to distinguish them most of the time because a black licorice accord keeps beating me over the head without mercy. This might be good for some; personally, I can only take anise in very small, controlled doses (and it helps when it's being overpowered by a series of other notes). It's a shame, because in the brief moments where the licorice gives me some olfactory fatigue, the true beauty of this scent shines though. If the licorice was gone, or even controlled, this would be worth of picking up a bottle. As it stands, I'll give it a neutral because as far as I can tell, I'm the only one to ever experience this excessive licorice phenomena. Plus, even with its faults, it doesn't smell *bad*. Just not my cup of tea.