Eau Du Fier by Annick Goutal, 2000

Opens with only a second's worth of a just barely perceptible fresh mint before turning into a smokey burnt rubber accord with a mild tea undertone. The rubbery birch bark is by far the dominant note and it overpowers everything else on my skin (as an aside, I can definitely understand the comparison SirSlarty made to BBQ Chicken). Projection is minimal, but longevity is excellent. I wish I could say this one appealed to me, but the birch bark is just too much. Eau du Fier just does not have enough going on to keep my interest long. It, like Cuir from Mona di Orio makes the error of just being *too* smokey, instead of using the smoke to complement other notes. I don't hate Eau du Fier, but I definitely don't enjoy wearing it and can't recommend it. 2 stars out of 5... Not good.

Eau du Fier is an uncompromising scent for those who love smoky birch tar in a dry, non-animalic setting. I have been thinking about why I love this scent, in the context of Off Scenter's review below. What is remarkable to me is the top and mid-note lineup of this fragrance: bitter orange, mint, osmanthus, clove, tea. All of these are easily discernable in the development of the scent. What Eau du Fier is not: sweet (vanilla, tonka, amber) and animalic. The result is often perceived as synthetic (rubbery, etc) by those who do not love the coolness of the blend. But for those who are looking for birch tar in an absolutely unique context, this scent satisfies. In many ways, this can be seen as the bass version of something like Lutens Daim Blond, which also combines apricot (osmanthus) and suede leather (in fact, I have tried layering the two, which extends each scent by an octave in each direction). Along with Sables, one of the best Goutal fragrances.

This is a transcendental scent.

Smells like smoked BBQ chicken. It comes off as really salty and nasty on my skin.

Along with Sables, this is the only Annick Goutal scent which I find interesting.

Very good. I love the smell of smoke, and this one delivers that in big time.
The smoke of Eau du Fier is kind of sweet and sticky. Like if you took a cupful of smoky tea and add spoonful of flowery honey and another one of some kind of jam, cherry or maybe apricot...

Highly interesting blend, and very sadly now discontinued. Shame, indeed. We need more bold scents like this.

Tea, indeed, and then some, rounded off by a faint flowery/dry accord. To my nose, this is pure Lapsang Souchong, although I'm willing to agree it can bring to mind rubber or ski wax. But that only makes it all the more interesting. Eau du Fier definitely stands out. A very fine scent overall. For more burnt rubber, try Series 1 - Leaves - Tea by Comme des Garcons

My wife dislikes this scent as it reminds her of liniment or some other medicinal odor. It does smell of mint on me but only for about 30 minutes, then it develops into a truly comforting leather and tea scent which lasts and lasts. I'd get this again.

Bought at A. Goutal in Paris..... told that they will stop production of Fier at the end of 2005. Love this. Very spicy, earthy, tea, tar, and green. Mellows big time. Excellent!