Le Boise by Ginestet

Ginestet is to wine as Frapin is to cognac and just like Frapin, Ginestet have now launched a line of fragrances. Le Boise is their only masculine so far and and shoud be "a tribute to Bordeaux wine aged in oak barrels, to the wood and to that skillful combination of matter, skill and know-how". To me it's mainly cedarwood with a slight (very slight) boozy accord on top and a tiny dose of vanilla. It sits somewhere between Gucci Rush For Men (but way more refined) and Heeley's Cedre Blanc (but slightly harsher). Not bad but it's gone in a minute...

I have to be upfront and say that I wore a sample of this to work one day and the most beautiful and sexy woman in the office took me out in the hall and wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. She said the smell was driving her crazy. When I told her it was just a sample, she said that I needed to buy a bottle. So I did. (I admit she and I had some history) So I own a bottle of this stuff. I would have to call it a straight up cedar scent, even though the description on Lucky Scent says its inspired by oak wine barrels. I get the hint of vanilla. I don't get the wine accord. This is a nice cedar, the bottle seems somehow less potent than my sample and this scent fades fairly quickly. It is somewhat pricy, you can get nice cedar fragrances for 1/2 the price. So I can recommend this, but it is a must to try it and compare to other cedar scents you already like. You may choose to spend less. The wine bottle, wooden box packaging is nice but not that big a deal. I keep it in the box, because it is a tall narrow bottle and could easily be knocked over. Oh, and nobody else has smooched me over this stuff since then. .

This is a delicious, wonderful woody fragrance which I would compare to, say, the discontinued Gucci Rush For Men. It opens with soft wood notes: at one time in my life I enjoyed woodworking in my home shop and when I first applied Le Boise, I swear I could smell an intermingling of cedar with little wisps of oak. Not everyone enjoys those woody smells, but this one is done in a gentle, sweet fashion. I wish I could smell the wine that others have referenced, but unfortunately I don't. Incense, maybe. Wine, nope. Then Le Boise quickly begins its drydown and the woody notes begin to give way to musk. It's all very nice, but when then the show ends quite abruptly. Maybe 2 hours and then it's just a memory. (Hmmmm, doesn't this also sound similar to Rush?). Still, I give a positive rating because those two hours are time spent in heaven. The bottle is simply the coolest. It's a miniature glass wine bottle which is detailed to look quite authentic. The bottle itself is protected within a well made hinged wooden case. Very creative.

Absolutely love this one. At the top end the dry cedar / oak note with a slight 'wine' tinge is glorious. Dry and smooth.
Midway of this trip - a little incense begins to seep through and it begins to remind me of Straight to Heaven & Pure Oud (somewhat) by Kilian.
However, it's downhill from there - not with the scent itself but its lightness meaning no staying power and no sillage.

More intensity and longevity and this would be a keeper. Higher dosage levels MAY help I suppose.

A dry, crisp cedarwood and incense. It's nice and my type of fragrance but I would rather have something with a bit more character and longevity.

One of the best packings ever made! It`s absolutely gorgeous!

Sadly, the scent is quite disapointing : Very linear and simple blend of cedarwood and light musk, with slight touch of white pepper and insence. Reminds me very much of Gucci Rush, although Le Boise is more quiet and refined.

Le Boise`s biggest hurdle is serious lasting power issue. It sucks.

My husband is a home winemaker, and before you scoff, let me direct you to his state fair awards, including best-of-show. Because we don't have French oak barrels here in Wisconsin, he splits pieces of wood from American oak logs, chars them over an open fire (this disinfects them and renders them similar to wine barrel interiors), then drops these sticks into the glass carboys that hold his wines so they may impart their tannic flavor. I'm keen on tannins, and that's probably what caught my attention in Le Boise. Truthfully, the wood is more cedar-like than oaky, but it flatters the white wine quality I clearly detect in LB. This wine, er, I mean fragrance is crisp and sweet, and a really cool change of pace for any fragrance wardrobe.

It starts out with a strong insense note and a light spice to it. Then it becomes more woody and the pepper note comes out. It screams pepper and dry woods. It is similart to Gucci pH withouth a powerdery sweetness. It is very good if you like pepper and insense.