Roadster (2008)
by Cartier

Notes:
Top: Spearmint, Bergamot
Middle: Peppermint, green notes
Base: Patchouli, Vanilla, Cistus labdanum, Cashmere wood

Roadster is a modern aromatic "mineral" fougere by in-house nose Mathilde Laurent. A fougere without lavender, Roadster is an exercise in precise engineering of a minty fresh note, but the composition as a whole leaves a bland taste in my mouth.

As already mentioned, 2/3rds of Roadster is an impressive display of a well engineered mint blast which foregoes any overly minty mentholy connotations and presents the fresh and cool aspects of mint without any frothy toothpaste flashbacks.This effect is constructed by spearheading (pun intended) Roadster via a spearmint note (which is sweeter and less minty than peppermint) ..this flows into the heart notes accompanied by a green galbanum like note, and then the peppermint takes over. Peppermint has a higher menthol content than spearmint, and at this point in Roadsters evolution, the accompanying green notes tame it from the get go. The spearmint note is long gone by then, but the streamlined peppermint stretches the sterile coolness of the composition well into the drydown. With all that said, the first half of Roadster is a bright, cool, non-generic minty green accord.

Then there's the second half. The drydown is a disappointing and mediocre dry woods display with a droplet of vanilla ..the dryness mainly due to a forced labdanum note. The generic gene of Roadster is in full flow here, and you can almost see the $$$s being funelled to the bottle designer. Ironically, for all of its attempts early on to avoid the "generic designer juice" label, Roadsters backend could actually be amplified by the spicy-floral accord doing the rounds on the various designer releases. But you know what, it doesn't matter. Roadsters pleasing minty top notes will draw in your average dudes who just want to smell good ..and they will stay for the generic drydown that they have loved all these years. Mission accomplished.

Rating: 6.5/10.0

Mint Patchouli. Roadster utilizes one of those very rare "new" combination of notes that combine magically well and wears well too. It is a minty cool breeze through dry slightly sweet woods. The opening smells mostly of mint but as the woods come up it reminds me of a woody mint tea. The magic part of this fragrance is the drydown where patchouli and mint reinforce the cool lightness of each other and cover a warm slightly sweet wood finish. It could be slightly gourmand for some, but to me the charm is the light coolness of the patchouli as it is lightened by mint. Very nice.

Fragrance notes: bergamot, mint, vanilla, patchouli, fern, vetiver, labdanum, cashmere wood.
I found two very distinct phases here. #1 is odd, a chocolate-vanilla-candy smell. Slightly synthetic, and also like stale After Eight mints. I'm disappointed there are no citrus notes (at least none I could detect). 5 minutes later, this burns off and we get to phase #2. This is a cool, dry and (to my nose) light herbal fougere. There are hints of patchouli, fern and grassy vetiver, and an interesting salty note. I like this phase. Some have complained about the mint, but after the first phase it is not an issue. I'm pleased that it is dry and an herbal fougere (an interesting style, and one not in vogue at the moment). Later in the dry-down, there is a vanilla-fern note that is pleasant but a little too vanilla to endear itself to me.
Thus, I'm not bowled over by Roadster, but I do give it kudos for being mostly dry and having a distinctive style.

I have been a fan of fragrances with mint, for quite some time now. Mint is prominently featured in many men’s fragrances and I think it’s a ‘love or hate’ note. Either one enjoys the bracing, vivified effect from this sharp, pungent herb – or it negatively conjures up olfactory images of aperitifs, mouthwashes and toothpaste.

Roadster, the new men’s fragrance from Cartier (by perfumer Mathilde Laurent [Shalimar Light and Cologne du 68 by Guerlain]), marketed as a mineral fougère - mixes notes of bergamot and mint with vetiver, patchouli, cashmere wood, cistus labdanum and vanilla. I’m not sure if Cartier (or the men out there Cartier is trying to sell to) fully understands the mineral fougère categorization. Nonetheless Roadster, smells wonderful.

The top notes are dominated by a soft, yet instantly recognizable ‘green’ diffusion of galbanum. I admire this entry (being a fan of ‘green’ fougères like the classic country cologne Devin by Aramis) and can appreciate the oh-so-smooth transition to the next herbal explosion of mint. Mint is tricky (sharpen it too much in a lackluster scent and it radiates menthol), but this mint is subdued, slightly cool to the back of the nose when sniffed and slightly foamy. I’m reminded of the smell I taste, when swallowing mint infused bottled water.

Unlike some mint fragrances that tingle and cool my skin when applied (Booster by Lacoste by the masterful Jean Kerleo; the limited edition Feuille Verte by Creed; Eau d’Orange Verte Refreshing Body Gel by Hermes) – Roadster’s cooling properties happen only in my nose. It eschews the typical ‘sport’ vibe of mint and uses it in a more sophisticated, modern version of ‘fresh’. This makes sense, since Cartier chose to release this scent right before autumn and the arrival of cooler weather (when a cooling mint fragrance wouldn’t be appropriate).

The base notes are slightly woody (very faint) and sweetly vanilla prominent. Ms. Laurent’s past work for Guerlain shows in the dry down. Complex, blended, subtle whiffs of the fragrance combine with the mint, vanilla and woods in a very unique accord: a fresh baked, delicate vanilla and cream pastry with a steaming hot cup of herbal mint tea. I found myself catching whiffs of myself all afternoon when I first tested this – inwardly smiling.

I see references to L'Instant Guerlain and Fahrenheit 32...very true...I would say much closer to Beyond Paradise by Estee Lauder. So much so I had to go smell the B Paradise just to make sure. It is obvious however that the folks at Cartier are better perfumers...roadster wears better than those listed, and I would gladly give up my bottle of B Paradise for Roadster.

As a fragrance though, I was not totally impressed...I don't know what the notes are but there is a cool sensation that projects a cold aura that I just don't like. Some say its mint, but I don't get any standard mintiness, just coolness. Acceptthefacts mentions grassy greenes...I second that.

To sum it up, it is green cold grass with the usual Cartier finess and quality. Maybe it serves a function in hot weather, but it is not for me.
The bottle is very nice as everyone noted.

Roadster strikes me as a commonplace “fresh” woody/fougere composition, not all that far removed in structure from the whole Cool Water crowd. It reminds me a bit of Fahrenheit 32, in that it uses a minty note to replace some of the usual calone and violet leaf, but then it also reminds me of at least twenty other fragrances.

For what it’s worth, I prefer Roadster to the Dior because it doesn’t contain much (if any) of the cloying base material that fouls Fahrenheit 32. Besides the mint, Roadster distinguishes itself to some degree by using drier woods than many of its ilk. That’s not enough make it revolutionary, or to excite me, but it’s still a plus.