Collection Homme Thé Brun (2005)
by Jean-Charles Brosseau

Strong tea leaves and lemon. Almost minty. Rather bland otherwise.

The initial smoky tea note is quite nice, bearing some resemblance to CdG's Leaves-Tea and Annick Goutal's Fier, but in a matter of minutes it settles into a sweet, powdery and rather unimaginative drydown (just like the other two men's offerings by Brosseau, at least on my skin). Overall, too timid and generic.

This beauty - created by Pierre Bourdon - is part of the Collection Homme, the other two fragrances being Atlas Cedar and Fruit de Bois. True to its name, it recreates the scent of a pot of Russian tea, one with more than a dash of lapsang souchong. The smokiness is quite apparent but does not totally dominate the scent as it does in Tea for Two. It is more submerged and gives a very well rounded, very well composed fragrance. Very nice, indeed!

Most unusual scent -- this one definitely intrigues me. Imagine a faint citrus lingering behind a veil of smoke and dark tea, perhaps Lapsang Souchong or a similar brew. Very dark and brooding at first, with heavy emphasis on the smoky notes. Dries down to a lovely tea scent -- by far the strongest I've ever smelled.

This is, I'm sure, what a 19th century Chinese teahouse must have smelled like. All I need now is a Mandarin sitting across the table from me, smoking a black bamboo pipe and stroking his long, white beard as he speaks. Very evocative stuff, but not for everyone. (You must be a tea aficionado, or at least a fan of tea notes in fragrances, to appreciate this gem. If you like Bulgari Black and/or Silver Mountain Water, you'll most likely go crazy for Thé Brun.

Average longevity (four to six hours), with good sillage.

I was glad to see, too, that this house has finally come out with men's scents, as I had said for years that Brosseau's Ombre Rose was one of the best buys out there on the women's market.

Very, very good stuff, this.