Timbuktu (2004)
by L'Artisan Parfumeur

A really solid vetiver based fragrance that isn't something new or very different at all, but it's a good one.
The opening is a little alchoholic! it's because of using a boozy note or just because of bad quality .... I don't know!!!
I can smell a dirty/earthy vetiver note mixed with some incense that give the scent a little smoky aroma and just a hint of sweetness and fruity notes in the background.
The whole idea of the scent remind me of "Terre D'Hermes" but something is crystal clear here. this one released two years earlier so this is the father!
As time goes by I can smell a little more sweetness and more fruity note beside that earthy vetiver and incense combo.
The scent is not that strong and potent. this can be someones signature scent and he can use it all year round. I said he because it's more masculine than feminine!
Projection isn't that great. mostly close to the skin and longevity is around 6-8 hours on my skin.
As I said a solid and classic vetiver based fragrance that personally I prefer "Terre D'Hermes EDT version" over this.

01st February, 2014

Perhaps I will need some time to fully appreciate this... for the moment, my first-try review is that the opening is really interesting, definitely bright and minimal but somehow still complex, like if the very heart of the scent is about to arrive. I smell a distant symphony of white accords, like when you are walking and smell something coming from far away - a field, a forest. However in a while it all vanishes, and the scent seems turning into a green, pleasant - but frankly negligible and ordinary - vetiver accord.

Update: yes, I needed some more time to get this. And I completely changed my mind! On skin it reveals all its magnificent uniqueness: it has a really clean and consistent structure, which is unbelievably "toned down" in a light, minimal, far, almost foggy scent... you need to press your nose against your sking to appreciate it fully. And it somehow looks it needs to "meet" skin to work, as on paper it smelled really plain, mono-note and messy.

Also, its evolution is equally superb, as it comprises a really wide range of smells - starting floral and fruity, then becoming more soft and somber, ending up dry and smoky.

16 January, 2014 (Last Edited: 24 January, 2014)

A Very Nice Bright Soft Spicy Fragrance

On the opening I get a bright uplifting incense note mixed in with a soft spicy pink pepper. Within this mix is a very subtle vetiver note just underpinning the soft almost cream like spice. This scent is complex in a very subtle and intricate way. The notes are weaved together so tightly that you only notice them when you go looking for them.

To sum up a very nice bright soft spicy fragrance that offers more than whats on the surface.

26 October, 2013

Fascinating, different, but just not great for me

This is extremely unique, as others have said. It starts off with a blast of Frankincense and not a great deal of anything else. Quickly, pepper and almost a curry like aroma come into the picture, which moves it quickly from very nice to this is interesting, but. At about the half hour point floral and an earthy vetiver become more pronounced. After a while, it becomes more balanced and the elements shift back and forth. It is really an interesting fragrance, and I would put it in the like don't love category, as there are moments that I just don't enjoy it, but others that I do.

_____

A few hours into this, I get nothing but vetiver. If you want a rollercoster ending in a soapy, yet slightly vegital vetiver, this one is for you.

29 September, 2013

mainstay for a decade

i've been wearing this for years, and have found it difficult to arrive at a qualitative assessment. mr. reasonable has absolutely nailed it. i particularly like the transparency qualifier. duchaufour is a genius at that, check out havana vanille, paestum rose and chypre palatin - heavy notes that somehow don't 'compress' and distort the mids in the scent pyramid.... i started wearing this 10 years ago and though my collection has expanded exponentially since, this one stays firmly in the rotation. why?

it never dominates the wearer yet always maintains a certain weight, almost as certain elements maintain an atomic weight; it is consistent, solid yet aloof. earthy, woody,sweet, dry (white vermouth - perfect!), incense-like but not incense (!) - universal. it is season-less, genderless, timeless in fact. in other words this number encapsulates the duchaufour ethic perfectly. that in itself makes timbuktu mandatory to try, if not to own.

07 September, 2013

Great unisex incense- vetiver

An oldie but a goodie. I have sampled Timbuktu before and I have always liked it. I like that it is not overtly masculine or feminine .

I have never smelt the green mango but I do smell the pink pepper. Kara Karounde is also in Beyond Paradise though I would not be able to pick it out on its own .

Timbuktu on me is a warm incense with spice and ends off as a slightly dirty vetiver. It's got a great tenacity really for an eau de toilette. This is good stuff.

Though I do not find it similar I think fans of Kyoto by Commes de Garcons may like this one.

Actually over and above these scents, I would still choose the dark and broody incense and spice in Serge Noire by Uncle Sergie.

Pros: Unusual Unisex
Cons: None"

14 August, 2013