Coze 02 (2002)
by Parfumerie Generale

Weird, incongruous notes. Fine if you're looking for something strange, but otherwise go for somehthing more conventional. Coffee and chocolate, fine, add pepper--not fine anymore. Ditto pimento. Just plain strange.

This turns out all sour and balsamic on me -- with an opening that brings to mind other absinthe-type scents such as Nasomatto's Absinthe. On paper and cloth, I can somewhat see and appreciate its development -- but on me, this is an absolute scrubber. Absolutely no gourmand notes, slightly smoky, and very sharp with bracing woods coupled with a sour bitterness that pushes everything into the background. Sorry, but here is a first thumbs down for this highly favored frag coming from a big fan of PG's.

Like the inside of a treasured and ancient wooden box into which you, for some unfathomable reason, are storing sweets: mostly vanilla pralines and coffee nips. I find this fragrance, though quite masculine, very comforting and warm. Almost maternal in it's spirit. I enjoy wearing it for those reasons.

This is spicy, woody, and resinous: the deep, dark, smoky nature of Coze 02 shows itself immediately. I have encountered few scents that exhibit such a strong hold on opaqueness so immediately. What little hint of sweetness there is comes from vanilla pods, which, in themselves are more woody than sweet. I believe that the assertive note in the top and middle is the hemp note; it is remarkable in its exotic wood / green richness. I’ve always loved the smell of hemp. I can’t really pick out many of the individual notes that are listed in the pyramid – chocolate, pimento, coffee – because the smoky resinousness totally dominates the accord to my nose. I’m sure those individual notes are there, but they form themselves in a shadowy but compelling background. I love what I get – a resinous woody, spice bomb along with the warm bitterness of some deep, dark expresso. Strangely enough, for such a strongly dry and powerful scent, it has limited longevity. I just can’t get more than an hour and a half activity on my skin – a fact that greatly disappoints me because I love the murky, dusky nature of Coze 02. Thumbs up for the accords and a pox on the longevity.

Coze opens up all cozy: warm, dark, fuzzy stuff that you can snuggle up against. It's not overly sweet, and it contains some smooth, well rendered wood notes that are really quite attractive. From the first I smell some smoke in the distance, and in very little time this smoke moves forward to dominate the scent. The rich, mysterious, and shadowy woods meanwhile jostle among themselves in the background. The accord that results smells like a dark oak panelled room with velvet upholstered furniture and some logs smoldering in the fireplace.

The gourmand notes listed in the pyramid don't make much of an impression on me, which is all for the better as far as I'm concerned. When compared to a couple of other smoky scents, Coze lacks the depth and complexity of the equally smoky Fumerie Turque, but it's far easier to wear than the ashtray and burnt coffee grounds concoction that is Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier's Eau des Iles. It dries down to dark, spicy, mildly sweetened woods with some lingering smoke, and while it doesn't excite me much, I do think it's a pleasant scent for a damp winter's evening.

I just unearthed a sample I've had for a while, was smitten, and had to order a bottle. Coze starts off spicy and slightly herbaceous, quickly cools down to a white smokiness, and lingers for hours with hints of dark chocolate and vanilla (which curiously are dry here, and not overly sweet. I'm not a big fan of gourmands -- most are cloying -- but manages to be both restrained and seductive). Definitely unisex, in my view, but not for ingenues of either gender.