Reviews of Chergui (2001)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

Serge Lutens is one of the most highly acclaimed fashion houses, so obviously I had very high expectations from their fragrances. Chergui was my first experience with Lutens, but it wasn't as earthshaking as I was hoping. Certain notes remind me of Givenchy's Pi... very sweet and vanillic, but Chergui is richer and deeper. It's not a bad fragrance, for sure, but to me it seems more like a designer creation than one I would normally expect from Lutens, namely a complex, unusual niche fragrance.

When I paid this kind of money for a fragrance, I want people to smell it. Fullstop.

The only good thing about this is that it smells nice...hence the neutral rating.

Zero sillage and projection on my skin. I should have invested in Opium PH, which is THE eau de parfum for men IMO.

I'm jealous of those who experience discernible spices in this because that is what I was expecting, and sort of hoping for. But from start to finish, Chergui is silky and smooth on me, rich, enveloping, and initially a bit powdery. Though not at all the experience I'd set myself up for, Chergui has done anything but dissappoint me. Though the fragrance itself is a dark rich brown, I see it in my mind's eye as more of a light cream/tan. There's something luxuriously rich in Chergui, like the sensation of milky tea with honey and vanilla, and this dense, creamy sweetness is the element that intensifies the most on me as I wear it. It is one of those non-gourmand delights which make my mouth water without necessarily conjuring images of dessert. I think the dry sweetness of hay and tobacco mixed with the luscious creaminess of iris and amber is very alluring but has me wondering what this has to do with hot spicy wind gusts. Whatever the case, Chergui, gently intense, rich without being stifling, threw me for a loop. It is fantastically delicious but perhaps not in the way you might have been expecting.

Rousse’s bigger brother; thinks it’s tough but is no more than Chief Constable of midWales [ for US readers = sheriff of a suburb of Seattle]. You can still detect the Lutens sweet accord at the root of it all and the freckles are just as visible as in Rousse though it has coconut and cumin matting on its chest in a frail attempt at bristles; it has less of a story to tell than Rousse and once it’s got started it just stands in the corner, sweating a bit at the armpits, talking about leather and how the freemasons do excellent charity work.

Rich, creamy, woody, heavy on the amber. I was told that I'd like this scent if I enjoyed the amber of ck Obsession. Well, I do enjoy the opening of Chergui but it feels like it fades quickly. At it's base, it's certainly a Lutens scent as I've felt like I've worn it before (I've tried many other Lutens and I like this). For me, this house has it's huge ups and downs but never a so-so scent. While classy, this one doesn't do it for me. Great for a romantic cool fall winter evening with a beautiful lady.

Chergui's opening is all deep spices and woods, accompanied by a lot of amber. And I mean A LOT of amber. The spices in Chergui are so well blended that the individual notes are hard to distinguish, but I'm pretty sure I catch coriander, clove, and black pepper in the mix. However, amber waves (and they're not grain) wash away the woods and carry away the drydown, though the final stage is lent some counterpoint by the faint cries of the drowning cloves and black pepper.

To my sorry nose, Chergui shares a base that's very similar to several other Lutens scents, including Arabie, Fumerie Turque, and Ambre Sultan. It starts out as a rich and interesting spicy oriental, but winds up overwhelmed by the out-of-balance and overly sweetened amber accord.

No hay or leather, etc for me (sigh.) Just expensive Syrup. Gum. Resin. Wax. Unguents. melted ice-cream. Messiah-annoiting oil, perhaps. Lingering and rich and, if you are at all heavy handed, oppressive. It will grow on me no doubt but when even the decants are expensive, I want easier gratification.
Glad I just got the decant.

a little bit too much "chicha toffa" for my skin
but good in the air in my private boudoir (2/3 sprays on the curtain)

Chergui is by no means a terrible fragrance, but it's so painfully not my thing that I have difficulty formulating anything worthwhile to say about it. A nice resinous quality paired with an overwhelming, and ultimately distracting, syrupy sweetness. Strictly for those who like to smell sticky.