Patchouli Leaves
by Montale

My initial impression of Patchouli Leaves actually annoys me in retrospect. I asked myself, "who would pay $200 for patchouli oil that I can buy for $10 at that "decorative glass pipes" shop downtown?" Please... I roll my eyes at myself. This is an intoxicating, bewitching fragrance, and I would feel very confident in recommending Patchouli Leaves to someone looking for the ultimate patchouli fragrance. While patchouli is what it's all about here, it is combined so artfully and seamlessly with its supporting notes (especially amber) that it remains interesting to the end, without becoming overly complicated or bogged down.

I am happy I received a decant of this in a glass vial so that I am able to see how deep, dark, brown, oily and intense the fragrance looks, because that's how it smells, too. Opening with that big, round, enveloping, oily, earthy patchouli that we all know, it slowly morphs into something much more interesting, much more delectable. Experiencing the amber and vanilla interact with the patchouli in this fragrance is like viewing two opposing colors on opposite sides of a spectrum which bleed into each other as the colors mesh in the center. We start with patchouli and end with a slightly vanillic amber and are able to experience every beautiful moment of the transformation in between, like watching a cell divide. To all of this add the resinous qualities brought by cistus... yum! I notice the fragrance literally, all day. And while the little metamorphosis to which I referred earlier is most noticeable up close (as is the cistus) I can detect these changes throughout the day without having to actively sniff my arms. That is great!

I love patchouli so this fragrance REALLY does it for me. If you are an amber and/or patchouli lover, Patchouli Leaves is not to be missed.

Powerful and flawlessly handcrafted blunt patchouli scent. I love it although it’s probably not the most compelling patchouli scent I have tried.

I love the way the supporting ingredients are engaged with patchouli making the structure very creamy (dark) chocolate-like.
I see why someone can see this smelling quite medicinal too and even hippie-ish (Aaargh!).

Simple, rich and round scent that is on the butch side – definitely. It lasts forever, and I mean it….It just doesn’t seem to vanish from the skin at all if you don’t shower.

Patchouli Leaves makes me think of resinous, gummy dark chocolate plate that has a brown velvet winding sheet.


Wonderful stuff.

I love this juice! On me, it starts out with a very surprising coldness that one one else seems to have mentioned. In fact, it's like a big scoop of Mint Chocolate Patchouli ice cream on me for the first 5 minutes. It develops quickly and warms into a loamy patchouli within 15 to 30 minutes on my skin, but it starts out as patchouli wearing a winter coat of bracing green (mint and/or lime and/or lavendar) and dark chocolate-oak boots. Granted, this feeling of coolness is very fleeting. It begins morphing almost immediately into a warmer patchouli and amber brew with a touch of vanilla. This patchouli/amber/vanilla dry down lasts for hours, continually warming until it becomes less about patchouli and more about amber (about 12 hours later). During the patchouli/amber/vanilla drydown, I somtimes layer other scents on top. (My favorite combo is PL with Gris Clair by Serge Lutens. My 2nd favorite combo is PL with Neroli by Anick Goutal.)

Personally, I can detect more amber than patchouli in this!

The opening notes of amber and mint smell like a cross between Piper Nigrum (but with the mintiness lasting a lot longer) and Ambre Sultan (but less harsh and medicinal). Since I wasn't too keen on these two, this seemed like a good compromise. However, the déjà vu continued into the drydown.

Although this is a deep, resinous and warm scent (which was surprisingly enjoyable to wear) it soon developed into a rawer, slightly sharper and intense version of Tauer’s L'Air du Desert Marocain. As I already own this Tauer creation, I really can’t see this as bottle-worthy (and nor would I consider it to be superior). However, amber lovers may find something very appealing in this.

[Original submission date: 25 May 2008]

Like eating dark chocolate with your lover under a tree after it has rained.

I got a sample of this last august and wore it almost everyday that autumn while walking my dog in the swedish woods. This smells like the woods. Sweet, dry, powerful, earthy, serene. And it has the most beautiful deep brown colour. However, there is a lot of amber here. A LOT. Sometimes it resembles Ambre Sultan a bit too much. Not enough patchouli for me but still a very beautiful fragrance that works amazing is the autumn.