L'Eau (1968)
by Diptyque

Nope, too much clove for me as well. I much prefer Eau Lente, where the clove is more restrained and works better with the rest of the composition.

WOW, this smells alot like "red hots" canides in the opening notes, however it dries down to significantly less cinnamon notes and begins to spicen up a bit. This scent has certain heat to it that makes it very sensual, sexy, and quite literally hot. It is unique and I have yet to smell anything like this, which, to me, is quite amazing. I like this scent very much, beautiful!

Diptyque’s first scent has a stupefying opening: it’s a blaring accord of cinnamon Red Hots candies and citrus rind that while blatantly artificial, keeps me sniffing just because it’s so utterly weird. As things progress the citrus settles down, the cinnamon candy mutates into cloves, and a soft rose emerges in the background, all of which results in a much more conventional carnation accord. At a distance L’Eau’s main movement is a pleasant rose/carnation over creamy woods, but smelled up close there’s still something harsh and disturbingly “chemical” about it.

Like so many of the Diptyque scents that have come since, L’Eau remains relatively linear once its core arrangement settles into place. As it wears on I feel that this represents Diptyque’s trial run at personal fragrances – which of course, it was. As such, I can’t say it was a promising first effort. Its oddness soon begins to look like clumsiness, with the clove note in particular being far out of balance. In retrospect it’s both remarkable and gratifying that L’Eau’s successors include such beauties as Virgilio, Eau Lente, and Philosykos. More an item of historical interest, I think, than a significant

Very interesting frag. It starts with heavy clove/cinnamon, but after an hour or so it melts into this japanese temple type incense (f.ex. Horyu-koh) - sandalwood lurking way behind other bold spices - which is right on the brink of being unpleasant. For me this scent is one of those that i've been searching without exactly knowing what i'm looking for. Definitely not for everyone. Love it in the rainy september nights.

Their very best fragrance, authentic and original. made from 16th c. pomander and pot-pourri.

Nope, me neither. Wwwwaaaayyy too much clove for me—Not that I dislike clove, but it isn’t my idea of a good choice for a long-lasting linear fragrance. A good, strong, aromatic clove note is capable of sucking the breath out of the body, and this note is as powerful as any I’ve experienced in a fragrance. If there are other notes in L’Eau, you can’t prove it by me…OK, I lied. I’ll admit that I smelled cinnamon for about seven seconds immediately upon spraying, but seven seconds doesn’t really count. This is a very simple scent for a person to make a purchasing decision about: If you don’t like the first twenty seconds, then don’t buy because it is strong and aromatic and it doesn’t change except for getting gradually weaker. If you like it, buy it—what you smell is what you get. As for me…no thanks. It’s a great scent for a potpourri, but it’s not my idea of a desirable EDT.