Chêne (2004)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

Chêne smells awful on me. I hope to think that it is just my skin chemistry, the sappy top note is just way too pungent and overwhelming. Once the top notes died down it is much, much nicer and a scent that I would like to wear but it is not worth it for the first few hours of harshness on my skin. I love other SL creations, but this one just isn't for me.

12nd December, 2011.

The reviews here seem to be written about a few different perfumes, and none of them are the one I am smelling. I admit I'm a noob, so maybe I'm missing something here, but I will call it like I smell it.

I have a bottle of Virginia cedar wood essential oil. It smells just like when you sharpen a good wooden pencil - because good pencils are made of it. I get little more than this from Chene. It's almost completely linear. It has a nice hint of that SL skank underlining the cedar for about the first hour, then the cedar takes over and gradually fades over the next 4-5 hours. As I write this it's 6 hours after application and it's mostly gone. The faint remaining scent has a touch of spice - anise, I think. It's just whispering now, so it's hard to tell.

It's pleasant - not a scrubber at all. Pencils smell nice, after all. It takes me back to my childhood. I can remember cranking away at a wall-mounted Sanford sharpener in grade school to make my number 2 pencils nice and pointy.

I just can't believe they sell this for $140. You could buy a lot of pencils for that, and still have almost enough money left to buy a bottle of Borneo 1834, or MKK, or Chergui, or Cuir Mauresque, or ...

Hey, I'm a big Serge Lutens fan. I have two and want about 10 more. Just not this one ever.

3/10

2nd November, 2011.

The fragrance has an woody opening chord mixed with notes of rum, giving a semi sweet tone to the fragrance, which in my opinion, is fantastic!

After a few hours, rum aroma gives way to a more resinous scent followed by oak which persists to the end. It lasted 12 hours on my skin.

21st August, 2011.

Chene is Luten's hidden gem. While it haven't reached the poularity of other masterpieces of the house such us Muscs Koublai Kahn, Ambre Sultan or Iris Silver Mist, it would surely deserve an higher status as one of the most wearable and balanced fragrances among the Sheldrake's compositions for the Palais Royal.

Chene opens moderately sweet (considering is from Lutens), slightly honeyed (beeswax) and oakwood driven. A boozy vibe is immediately detectable but it's perfectly blended to never be overwhelming. Cedarwood and oakmoss take over in the middle phase and in the drydown adding a sharp edge that's quite unusual among the Lutens yet the fragrance mantains an incredible balance and wearability. With its dark, deep, green and mossy allure, Chene perfectly conjures the image of a forest in the fall and became one of my favourite composition from this house. Highly recommended.

17th July, 2011. (Last Edited: 5th August, 2011.)

A beautiful and unexpectedly perfect rendition of the scent of fresh-milled oak wood. That's not a scent I ordinarily would have coveted, but once I sniffed this beautiful and unusual masterpiece I was immediately hooked, as in "Where have you been all my life?!?" Sampled via the encouragement of Basenoters, who were right yet again. It is easily one of the best of the Lutens line. A clever masterpiece. Sold as unisex, but it seems way more on the masculine side to me. So glad I shelled out the cash for this one. It's one of my best buys in a long time.

6th April, 2011.

Wow. I got a sample of this and when I tried it, I thought, "oak? I can't actually remember smelling a piece of oak, but this does not smell woody to me at all. is it me?" I struggled with this for awhile, knowing that I have pretty poor "sniffing" skills and was probably just missing something. Then one day - it was October - I went for a walk in my neighborhood. As I walked along, smelling the Autumn air and shuffling my feet through piles of leaves along the curb, it suddenly hit me. This smells incredibly much like a damp, earthy, oak forest, with leaves covering the ground and acorns strewn about. Magnificently evocative and like nothing I have ever smelled. I am not so sure others will appreciate the smell on me, but I would wear this one just for myself. Long lasting and high quality stuff.

20th February, 2011.