Hyperessence Matale 12
by Parfumerie Generale

I had hoped for a "L'eau rare matale extreme" but this is a little too different and I'm not even sure it's stronger or more long-lasting. It's also distinctly black tea, yes, but not as fresh and clean as L'eau rare matale. It's more like flavoured black tea, though which flavour I'm not sure - I pick up both bergamot, jasmine and smoky notes. The leathery/rubbery aspect inherent in black tea scents is more pronounced than in L'eau rare matale, which I personally don't mind at all. I think I like L'eau rare matale a little bit better in it's refreshing simplicity, but they're both very nice.

Man I love this! After smelling this I need to test out the entire PG line.

To me this smells somewhat... salty? Like a lemon with salt and tea leaves on it but the lemon is just there for decoration. Oh and the whole thing was on fire and now is smoldering with smoke. And the projection is amazing due to its smoky nature. Fantastic on me I love it!

This fragrance is sour in an unbecoming way. If it were clearly a citrus scent, that aspect would be appropriate, but this is not really about citrus even though it contains a good deal of lemon. The lemon is paired with pepper, a note that I think is overused. This pairing leans toward dry and sharp, and the addition of cedar pushes it further in that direction. The result was nothing that I would spray all over myself.

Black tea – a bit smoky, but also clean and it comes across as fairly soapy to me – that doesn’t happen to me often, I don’t usually get “soapy” in an accord. The citrus enters in after the opening, but this is not your normal citrus, it’s more like a suggestion of citrus than citrus itself, probably because the cedar leaves bring a lot of green into the equation and overwhelm the citrus. The citrus(?) / tea accord is very attracting and it gives a unisex edge to the fragrance. I don’t get much of a drydown: a straightforward vetiver, maybe with a slight continuation of the cedar note. I don’t get the pepper. In all, Hyperessence Matale leans toward a casual sophistication and a clean, clear pleasantness. It is a pleasant enough fragrance and it has no sillage and longevity issues – its performance is nicely covered. It does everything right, but it is missing a hook – I think there should be more to it. It gets non-enthusiastic thumbs up.