Fumerie Turque (2003)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

From the vax sample I couldn't do justice. One should have a full wearing from at least a decant to see every faces of it. As I'm getting older, my fond memories from my childhood in a nice small village do come back more and more often. This scent brings me back to the autumn evenings where the sweet and sour smell of the burning leaves would find its way to the courts, mixing with the cigarette smoke of my grandfather. There are rosebushes, too, the petals of which evaporating the last molecules of summer.
The calmness and the relaxation, which we so miss in our speedy everyday life - this can be found if you envelope yourself in this scent.

Wonderful opening. The current gives that sharpness to the opening honey accord – a sharpness that is needed to tone down that signature sweetness, which almost immediately is too much…almost. But there is a soft, textured element in the opening that gives it depth – I think it’s the jasmine, which is very soon replaced by a modicum of leather rising from the middle. This opening seems to be a little less Lutens than the usual Lutens fragrances. I find the opening more controlled in its honeyed sweetness. It is complex: its sweetness is in contention with some rougher, edgier, and more aggressive notes such as the aforementioned current and leather – smoked leather. And the opening is as compelling as it is edgy. The middle is rich and luscious with the smoked leather joined by the tobacco, and it holds for a respectable time. The drydown lacks the sweetness that the other Lutens’ scents present, and, come to think of it, I find the total fragrance to be much less sweet than most of the other Lutens offerings I’ve encountered.

As others have noted, Fumerie Turque is complex and very well constructed, and it pushes the envelope a bit. It has too much leather for me so I won’t be buying, but I do admire its depth and breadth. I also admire the Lutens consistency in providing drama and passion in these fragrances – creative variations on an easy-to-overdo theme... but hardly ever being overdone...

Wonderfully smoky, enveloping fragrance. Like Chene, but sweeter.

Fumerie Turque is my favorite SL fragrance by far. The honey, hay, tabacco, and leather notes are blended beautifully. Whenever I wear this I just cant stop smelling myself. This is a great winter scent that I believe everyone should have in their collection.

This review is under revision.

Fumerie Turque is Topkapi Palace in a bottle! Smoky & sultry leather-tobacco scent with a superb sillage.