Reviews of Patchouli Empire (2005)
by CB I Hate Perfume

On me, the dominant note is cedar (stirring unfortunate associations with hamster cages and bug spray) with patchouli in a secondary role. The black pepper is also evident, making the whole mix even dryer. The second time I tested this, I did notice a sweet honey note that came and went and mitigated some of the dryness when it was present. Overall, this doesn't wow me. Maybe -- just maybe -- I might like it better on a guy.

CG Pathcouli Empire smells as a proper oriental wood might smell as it transitions to the British Empire from the wilds of Indonesia. Tamed and civilized. A fine blend of patchouli's mixed with rich oiled woods and a bit of pepper. Might the wood be rosewood? or mahogoney?, or a blend of woods + patchouli - whatever the combination of dark woods the result is a nicely finished and oil rubbed wood of the Empire. I prefer this version of formal patchouli to the vanilla / amber patchoulis that are so common now. A thumbs up for a good proper patchouli!

You hear the term 'hippy patchouli' thrown around quite a bit, and I often wonder what these people's reference point is for this description. Is it from the descriptions of other fragrances as such or is it from a hunch as to exactly what this phrase refers to? My reference point for the term 'hippy patchouli' are years on tour and countless hours in the back of a 1970 Westfalia camper. Hippy patchouli is dark, pure, and singes your nose hairs as it covers the scent of everything from bong smoke to weeks of BO. The closest any niche fragrance comes to replicating that scent is Montale's Patchouli Leaves.

This is long and roundabout way to say that CB's Patchouli Empire is NOT a hippy patchouli. It starts out with a significant citrus accompaniment that cuts through the patchouli and balances it. There is also a salty element that I can't quite identify, but it's there. This citrus fades over the first hour, bringing the patchouli more into focus. It never becomes overpowering, and in fact as the citrus fades the entire composition becomes musky. I'm smelling patchouli through a cloud of musk. All in all this is an interesting interpretation of patchouli, but nothing overly interesting. A little more ooomph towards hippy might do this better, but still nice.

This is a strong "hippie" patchouli. There is something else mixed in with it. It is very strong too. There are other better patchoulis.

Very citrusy in the topnotes, although no citrus is listed. It's not quite the scent of actual citrus either, it's more like the citrusy feeling of some tea notes, or herbs like lemongrass. Yes, I'd actually guess this was a black tea scent if I didn't know better. But no tea is listed either, so perhaps it's the black pepper (I smell no pepper) or one of the patchoulis that has a citrusy feel. Apart from the citrus I get only patchouli, but it's not the dry, woody patchouli I love, it's more of a murky, musty hippie incense patchouli. The whole scent is weirdly medicinal, perhaps because of the "refreshing" (but not really) citrus/herbal topnote over an exotic, murky base, It smells like some aromatherapy oil more than any niche perfume. I don't hate it, it's fairly comforting, but not one of my fav patchouli scents.