Reviews of Bigarade Concentrée
by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle

This is possibly Jean-Claude Ellena at his best on men's cologne. A trail-blazer, iconic, different, unique among citrus scents -- this is bitter orange at its superb best. A dialectic of a fragrance, its hesperidic top notes express an icy freshness unlike any other, tempered by a touch of rose -- which dries down to a warm base of sumptious cedar and hay. A class act. C'est un parfum tres soigne!

Bigarade Concentree is one of my top-five favorite perfumes but then I must disclose that I am a huge citrus fan! (Other citrus loves are: AG Eau d'Hadrien, Fath Green Water, Mona di Orio Lux, Fresh's "Sugar" (not Lemon Sugar) and Chanel Eau de Cologne). And, I am a huge JCE admirer. I first smelled Bigarade Concentree at the Editions de Frederic Malle store in Paris on the Left Bank on a cold November day and had to have it.

Yes- Bigarade Concentree smells like a pungent tangerine at first but then if you leave it on and smell it a little more, the cumin and cedar notes start to peek out and it then calms down into a luxurious, warm citrussy smell. I would love to smell it on a man - I think it would have such class, such as how Guerlain's Vetiver always smells perfect on a man to me.

In short, Bigarade Concentree is a superb fragrance and it never fails to make me happy or get me jump-started! Full bottle worthy - always.

I've described this as the scent of an (imagined) orange grove, heavy with ripe fruit; the damp breeze laden with sweet pollen, and the light scent of the living woods. This opens with a golden shimmer of citrus, becoming smooth, beautiful and full-bodied. It is sweet in the way a ripe but unpeeled orange smells sweet, not sugared or confection sweet. The spiciness is gentle, emerging late in the prolonged drydown. I find this lasts easily through the work day, 12 hours+, at least 3x longer than the Cologne - which I find this superior to in every way. I have disliked every JC Ellena fragrance until this one, which I find so enthralling that I wish I could afford the ancillary products. It is the apotheosis of citrus fragrances, and the artisanal redemption of 21st century fresh fragrance from aquatic barbarism. In real world terms it is something that can be worn everyday, in any climate, in nearly any social circumstance. Real world haute couture.

A dirtier, more orange-y cousin of Givenchy's Eau Torride. A handsome frag, and more easily unisex than Eau Torride. Not so much of a "celery" note, either -- that part made me a tad nuts with ET.

Longevity should be better for the price, though.

Cab driver eats an orange? I disagree, but that description is not far off. I'd say it is something more like a very classy person decides to play tennis everyday and then not bathe for a week, before dipping himself in a vat of Hermes eau d'orange verte concentree. When he emerges and the hermes dries off, I think he'd smell like this. The orange is very sharp, very bitter, and mixed in with something sweaty, dirty and sultry. The scent is very different, nevertheless I'd actually put it in the same family of personal, "bodily" scents like Rochas Femme or McQueen's kingdom, despite the fact that this one "smells" much better and is much more wearable by men or women.

Certainly worth a try, but as I said in my review of Vetiver Extraordinaire, this one as well probably won't be understood by friends and family who aren't big fragrance fans. They'll probably just ask you why you didn't bathe before "eating an orange." Like all the Malle I've tried, this one too is VERY personal.

"Cab driver eats an orange."

That's both funny and accurate.

Bigarade Concentree is now one of my favorites. I have grown to like the initial and short lived abrasiveness. Soon it dries down into a quite pleasant subtle peppery citrus/floral.
The longevity is fair, you will have to renew it for the evening out. Of my small collection, this is the most distinctive, and I have grown to like it. Terre D' Hermes is better overall in my opinion and less expensive, but this is the more dangerous, slightly evil twin.

The bitter orange note is excellent. I think this is a much better—and certainly more subtle—presentation of the bitter orange concept that was done by Ellena in Cartier’s Déclaration. The synthetic aura of Déclaration’s bitter orange note IS GONE! It is now a thoroughly beautiful clear note. It is, indeed, an intriguing note, and it is phenomenally longer lasting than other citruses that I’ve encountered. This one is done right! The rose is used beautifully, too, and adds a necessary depth to the citrus accord. The dry down is a very pleasant and addictive ‘woody’ accord—not a heavy wood, it’s a light, rustic, natural hay / cedar combination that still retains echoes of the original bitter orange note. The woods in the dry down are the perfect foil for the orange note—the rustic ambiance is exceptionally appropriate as an ending to this fragrance. For the citrus lover, Bigarade Concentrée is an answer to a prayer—a genuine citrus—masculine, wonderfully alive, beautifully balanced, that lasts and lasts and LASTS.

Picture a CSP scent with a soul. Fabulous scent. I can't say enough about this one. Fresh orange blossom and citrus that positively sings in hot and humid weather. While the lasting power is typical of a citrus scent, this one is beyond words and the best of its genre. Amazing scent.

Grant, I don't know if it's appropriate to copy and paste my review of Bigarade Concentree from the Cologne Bigarade page. The Concentree version did not have its own listing when I reviewed it. Here goes, just in case you think it's okay to do it this way. (Also, the reviews credited to "Sandy" and to sandyw7592 are from one person: me.)
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Nothing short of brilliant. This is a beautiful, refreshing, utterly compelling fragrance. Balanced somewhere between the classic and the eccentric, Cologne Bigarade is like nothing else you've ever worn - all the more surprising, as citrus is a standard element men's perfumery, and has been for a few centuries. (Citrus bigaradia is the botanical name for the bitter, or Seville orange.) The description on Frederic Malle's website does not claim that the bigaradenote, or essence of bitter orange, is new to perfumery, but that Jean-Claude Ellena wanted a true bitter citrus fragrance, and that this cologne uses a new formulation as the basis for it. It may be this new formulation which allows the citrus note in this scent to be so striking: it's clean, strong, bright without being sweet, and amazingly persistent. The citrus note seems a little more prominent in the Concentree version, (which I prefer slightly over Cologne Bigarade). The Cologne version gives more prominence to the rose note, I think. The combination of citrus, rose, cardamom and, of all things, hay is what gives this fragrance its complex, herbal, slightly strange character. Try it in hot, humid weather. In short I love this. I'd give it a whole fistful of thumbs up if I could!

A very zesty, edgy citrus. Does not strike me as femine at all. I get a subtle herbal note when it finally dries down.

Normally, I shy away from citrus scents, as I find them one-dimensional and fleeting. Not worth spending my hard-earned money on, IMO. Bigarage Concentree is the exception, and I've learned to expect nothing less from Frederic Malle. BC is sparkling and fresh, without being soapy or sweet, and actually has fantastic staying power for a citrus-based scent. It also doesn't hurt that Jean-Claude Ellena is one of my favorite perfumers, and I find it very hard to dislike any of his work. With summer fast approaching, I imagine this will be one of my staples.

A tad feminine, but perfect in the spring months. Perfect for when you're outside in nature, when I smell it I think of a walk in a French Garden.