Reviews of Serge Noire (2008)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

Serge is a type of weave pattern popularly used by fabric makers in the 19th and early 20th century. This little nugget of information may seem unimportant at first but as I delve deeper into the philosophical aspects of the scent, I realise just how crucial its role might have been in the 10 years it had taken Lutens to compose SERGE NOIRE.

I agree with some of the earlier reviewers - this may not be the easiest of scents to appreciate for it is almost like an abstract painting, known intimately only to the artist. But many would no doubt agree Serge Noire is one of the most evocative from the Lutens line, drawing upon the wearer's own life experiences and memories to make this scent his or her very own. Therein lies its magic.

In my mind, Serge Noire offers a noir (dark) reflection of life's very own 'serge' or tapestry, woven from bitter disappointments (camphoraceous gunpowder, peppery incense) and heartbreaking losses (smoky ashes). But against such a bleak darkness, a resilience of spirit (resins, cistus labdanum) allows a glimmer of hope (cinnamon and benzoin) to shine right through. Sure, that might sound phony-baloney to some of us but hey, not everyone has similar artistic sensitivities.

Forget what you know of Serge Lutens' fragrances for this is truly one of a kind - a perfect scent for meditation and introspection, even as I contemplate the unravelling of my personal 'serge noire'...

A complex blend of incense, dry woods and spices. I like it!

Cloves! ... and very ashy and dry honeyed cedar, incense, and spices (prominently cinnamon) that feel like they're smoldering right in front of you, only to have the entire composition fall apart on itself, and it's a beautiful sight and smell indeed.

Contrary to expectations, Serge Noire is definitely no strict variation on either Gris Clair or Encens et Lavande.

It's a very dry, woody and ashy composition with almost no sweetness whatsoever – the scent certainly does conjure up shades of black and greyish brown. If I had to choose another Lutens creation that could be paired with Serge Noire, it would probably be Chene – both of them are quite unorthodox and uncompromising woody scents.

However, although it's probably one of his most challenging releases for quite some time, there is still some déjà vu about Serge Noire. At first it wasn’t obvious but now it most certainly is – Serge Noire is a darker, richer and moodier version of Gucci pour Homme. Also, the pencil shavings association is still there but far more subtle, with the incense brought more to the fore.

Why it’s taken ten years to create this is still beyond me, but I’ll award it a thumbs up just because it’s their best release within the last two or three years.

[Original submission date: 26 September 2008]

Cinnamon and cedar. Its pretty air freshener smelling as is Daim Blond which I smelled this along with. This smells nice as a scent, but I don't think it would go that well on humans.

Well, they got the “noire” right, at any rate. Even within the first few minutes of wear, Serge Noire establishes itself as a dark, dark scent, with a dense blend of spices, incense, and aromatics that even suggests some of the big, burly masculines of the 1970s. The composition resolves into a bold, rasping accord of peppery spices and incense that’s held together by a huge dusty cedar note. The impression is one of simultaneous heat and darkness.

Notably absent is any of the familiar Sheldrake-Lutens stewed fruit and syrup accord, so Serge Noire is dry as well as hot. With all the spices and cedar, Serge Noire gets me thinking about Shiseido’s Basala, which I believe Sheldrake may also have worked on. The two scents are cousins, if not siblings, though I remember Basala as a somewhat richer and more rounded scent.

All of these impressions come within the first hour of wearing Serge Noire. Soon after that, the entire structure collapses like a house of cards, so that only the dry, dusty cedar remains. The development, if you can call it that, is one of the most bizarre I’ve ever encountered. The fragrance shrinks away so fast I can actually smell it imploding. It’s not clear to me whether Serge Noire’s transformation is an inherent property of the fragrance, or due to my own olfactory habituation. All I can say is that over the course of five or ten minutes all of the spices and incense that comprised Serge Noire’s heart are crammed into a cedar box and the lid slammed shut on top of them. Utterly baffling.

Mikeperez23 has written my thoughts on Serge Noire very accurately! I will add to his review, that SN reminds me of how the final crackling embers of a bonfire smell, and for all the notes of smoke, spices, and honeyed woods it possesses a remarkable balance! After giving this one some quality wear time, I can tell you it is extremely dry and the wood notes dominate. I would also suggest this particular fragrance be worn a minimum of 3 times before casting judgment.

Clove, yes. I get that. I also get burned wood as well. I like this one, but not enough to want to buy a bottle. Some scents are pleasant, and this is more than that, but when you compare it to the likes of Chergui and Fumerie Turque, well, it leaves you a bit wanting from the Serge Lutens line. If I had never smelled Chergui or Fumerie Turque, maybe I would have given it a consideration to buy a bottle. I will give it a thumbs up, but it will not be one of those that jump out for me to recommend.

First time i tried this I was actually scared by it. It seemed to have a huge opening, dry and inensy. When I tried it several months later it seemed mush more tamed. Come to think of it that's probably because i ve smelled Musc Ravageur in the meantime. Where MR is sweet cinammon and vanilla SN is dry cinammon and clove. The second driest SL after Gris Clair.

The head and middle are brilliant -- delightfully peppery, neither cold nor hot, and slightly bracing (for something that's non-watery). I like this sort of fragrance, more straightforward than coy. But the drydown is pure church incense that's dry as dust. I suppose that's part of the appeal of this fragrance, but I couldn't quite stand smelling like old church.

Hot, sweet, smoky and pungent. This fragrance teases with a delicious, syrupy cinnamon—mixed with deadly hot pepper! It offers a deep woodiness—but the wood is burned! The dual nature of this fragrance is fun. It’s not for everyday wear because it makes a bold statement. People who love incense, especially the smoke-producing kind, will find this most attractive. As time goes by, it does become more conventional

Yeah, I get the clove cigarette vibe.
For too long, though, this just smells like cheap cinnamon incense.
I had high hopes for you, SN!

I just got a sample of this. It smells alot like Padparadsha (Satellite) which I own. I did a side by side comparison. Serge Noir has sweeter notes, where as Padparadsha is drier and woodier. It's the sandalwood that puts them so close to each other.

Serge Noir is very nice, but you can save alot of money by getting Padparadscha instead.

Smoky, incensed and slightly sweet cedarwoods. Hmm... smells like someone's burning a bottle of Declaration and 2 MAN! Towards the end, it ends up smelling like ash but not like cigarette ash. I like the smell as it's truly unique but I'd never wear it daily, but highly formal times when you want to impress people up close as the sillage and longevity is lacking.

The other reviewers have, note-wise, described it very well. It's predominantly spicy (clove/nutmeg/cinnamon) with a bit of incense and an underpinning of cedar. Thing is, I can't figure out why he needed to do this when he just released Five O'Clock au Gingembre, and especially Rousse; I find Serge Noire to be quite similar to the latter, both in style and substance. It's nowhere near as bad as Tania Sanchez makes it out to be, and fans of spice should love it.

My husband dismissed it as "clove cigarettes", but the dark spices with incense make this persuasive for me. I find it somber but not melancholy.

One smell on the tester and I had to have this gothic masterpiece. A rich, spicy, woody wonderland. If this had been part of the CDG Incense range, it would have been the best by a long way. The best offering from this house for quite some time. Longevity and sillage are both outstanding. This will be amazing for the winter months.

The top notes are a blend of dry smokiness and resinous incense (not frankincense...well, shall I say not burning frankincense, but the incense resin itself and some other kind of pine based almost citrus spiked incense) - very dry. At the very edges of the incense is a wonderful spice accord. Not the candied 'Red Hots candies' of Rousse or the candied ginger from Five O' Clock Gingembre. No sweet spice. Rather, the smells of a fresh ground nutmeg pod.

As it dries on the skin, the scent actually gave me the impression it was 'warming' my skin. I even looked at my skin the first time I tested this, just to check that I wasn't having a skin allergic reaction to the scent (I wasn't). But, the olfactory impression of warm skin and spice is uncanny. There it was, buzzing atop my skin.

When I have Christmas parties at my house, right before the guests arrive I usually grab a few whole cinnamon sticks and whole cloves and boil them in a shallow pan of water - to fill the house with a fresh spicy scent. Once I left the pan on the stove idle for too long. I rushed in, the spices burning and sticking to the hot pan because it ran out of water. I am reminded of this smell, the first hour of wearing SN.

The honey notes come and go, in amidst the incense, spice and resins. Not too strongly, and almost imperceptible at times - but still enough to link the scent to my impression of a Serge Lutens scent. The honey's skillfully blended and it's not sweet. It's one of my favorite parts SN.

The longer one wears the scent, the more sweeter the spice starts to become. It starts to really smell like cinnamon at this point (yay...I love cinnamon!!) but because it occurs at this stage of the dry down it is a subdued and restrained sweetness. Not candied or syrupy but 'textured' and skin hugging.

I enjoyed the longevity of the scent. Almost five to six hours later my skin smelled up close, revealed the incense: dark, filled with hints of ash (less smoky than Avignon by CdG...more warm), almost raw. However my skin, smelled from far away, revealed the spice and oleoresins: freshly ground, nose tickling..

In India, ground nutmeg is smoked. Imagining a burning, nutmeg scented, hand rolled cigarette. I am certain wearing Serge Noire comes close to replicating this olfactory experience.

This scent is amazing.

I have to say that this is a masterpiece of creation. This smell is so unique. I ve never smelled something like this before. Its sweet too me. It smells like coal to ne after while. Very very well blended. Use this for special locations.

HA!
I knew I was not the only one who though about the resemblence; gucci ph and lutens' chene, thanks trebor.. kinna gucci ph or visit by azzaro meets chene, no doubt. Dry, very dry dark funky inky top notes that fades to a mixture of chene dry cedary oakwood concept sweetened with a rich chord of amber and sweet, dark balsams and incense. Ok its maybe much more than just that, but after 30 minutes of application it feels like gucci ph. Perhaps richer and less sweet but still very gucci ph. Anyways..Good, maybe. Great? no so sure. I mean the top notes are truly original in luten's twisted way, but the rest is...well you already know what I think.

Serge Noire starts of with the spiciness of cinnamon bark, and the dryness of the dark rich woods combined with a large dose of camphor. These notes work together work to create an opening that is quite assertive. For the first hour or so I was thinking how linear this scent was; the opening notes seemed to linger on the skin getting rounder and less sharp as time went by. Before too long the wood and cinnamon were joined by incense and amber, with just a touch of smokiness in the mix; notes that last until the end.

Serge Noire has great longevity; it is about 13 hours after I applied it conservatively and it is still going strong. It is not a sillage monster by any means, but it does make itself known to those in your immediate vicinity. Overall, this is a really well crafted and very likable fragrance, one that will most likely find a home in my wardrobe in the near future.

Serge Noire opens with a blast of something camphoraceous, and (maybe it's just me) a bit of body sweat. Then it's cinnamon for a bit, followed by incense and dark, slightly smoky woods. Later, there are hints of labdanum and castoreum. (Yes, maybe that's the slightly sweaty note that gave a nod at the beginning, or was it an unspecified spice note, something like fenugreek? — remember the opening of Santal Blanc?). This scent seems to be made entirely of base notes; nothing of citrus, florals, herbals, or any of the others that typically inhabit the upper levels. In spite of that, this is a winner: dramatic, surprising, yet a bit melancholy in its preponderance of darker tones. I would say it's one of the better recent Serge Lutens offerings.

This one takes it time before it starts to shine, Serge Noire is all about the drydown.
To me at least the top notes are very boring, and for awhile it seems like this one hasn`t got any volume to it....
...but the rich and long lasting insence drydown with a dash of cinnamon and gun powder is quite delicious and addictive. Very dry woody, it reminds me of the chinese insence sticks that I have a huge bunch at my home.

This isn`t that dramatic fragrance to me though, and for sure not the most interesting or original Lutens creation.

Am I the only one who was expecting a bit more??