Reviews of Patchouli 24 (2006)
by Le Labo

I’m a die-hard patchouli lover, but I don’t like the interference of the smoky note in here. Paired with a slightly sweet base, I find the juxtaposition of acrid and syrupy to be off-putting. The patchouli is subordinate, the sweetness buzzes around like bee that has lost it’s hive, and everything submits a billowing cloud of smoke.

This is not a patchouli fragrance. However, if you enjoy smelling like "Katenschinken" (a heavily smoked North German ham) it is just the right perfume for you. Since I dislike Lone Star Memories and Bulgari Black intensely it's no surprise I can't stomach this one either. The other notes in this are entirely irrelevant, if you don't have a huge love affair with excessively sooty smoky birch tar and, like foetidus, I can't stand the stuff except as an accent in more complex leather compositions, such as the far superior Knize Ten. Extremism for its own sake, recommended for leather-clad demons from the eighth circle of hell (where those dwell who do violence to others and themselves).

I have come to realize that I really hate birch tar. Too much for me in this fragrance: These are not the kind of animalic notes I like…I’ll take civet and indoles, but they can keep their birch tar away from me. This smells horrendous to me. Patchouli 24 has incredible lasting power; I can smell it twenty hours after application, even after scrubbing, but I actually like the fragrance once the birch tar wears off … I can even smell the patchouli, and it’s an excellent patchouli fragrance – without the birch tar, that is.