Tsar (1989)
by Van Cleef & Arpels

Deep, strong, bright opening, dark yet semi-sweet heart, MANLY. You really have to spend a some time with this one, otherwise you might dismiss it at old, outdated, etc.
For fougere lovers, this is a traditional fougere, in all its greeness, with a bit of Thierry Mugler A*Men/Angel accord mixed in there. It is lovely to say the least. This is one of the ones you reach for when you want to express your masculinity to the point of no contest. Old world charm with enough bite to be relative still today...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This is an interesting take on the traditional aromatic fougere – instead of lavender and coumarin being center stage, we have a green woodiness providing a spicy edge. For me, Tsar is all about the top notes and the drydown. The top notes are spicy, woody and invigorating, giving the fragrance some bite. The heart, however, has an irritating, sour soapiness that I have never been able to get used to (it’s similar to the sour note I smell in Rocabar), but luckily it’s gone after an hour or so, leaving its excellent drydown to enjoy. I love the drydown because it’s basically a warm, subdued shadow of the excellent top notes, creating a sort of clean, greenish haze. Tsar may be spicy, but it is also a very clean-smelling scent. I don't detect any patchouli in this. Overall, Tsar is a fairly traditional fragrance, one I think truly qualifies as being timeless and a classic, but at the same time a fragrance with a bit of an edge. This is excellent.

This review is under revision...

I bought the newest version with the abstract leafy pattern on the box. This is a dark, heavy, murky green with some smoke mixed in, and I was really psyched to try it, but I just can't deal with it. There's something unpleasant about it to me, and I think it reminds me of the strange combination of makeup, talcum, old perfume and years of cigarette smoke that I remember from my grandmother's apartment. That rancid combo sits on top of nice herbal green ingredients, and gets a little less harsh as the day wears on, but it's just not worth my while to endure it during the top and middle. As much as I don't want to simply bow to what the public thinks, people might smell it and think "nobody has wanted to smell that way in decades," in an undesirable way (i.e. not "retro"). I'll have to see how Van Cleef itself treats me, but it's not looking good so far.

Coniferous heavyweight, but still green and crisp, sheer masculinity!

I love this smell, it's cool, calm, elegance, masculine and complex. I think it's not for everyone, but really smells perfect on my friend.