L'Eau Rare Matale 06 by Parfumerie Generale, 2005

Not a very strong or aggressive scent, LEau Rare Metale speaks softly, stays close, and moves carefully. The top notes bergamot, white floral, sage seem very soapy to me and they carry too much of a leathery ambiance for my taste. Leather isnt listed in the pyramid, but I think the leather-like note may be caused by the birch note that is listed. The soapiness is not bothersome but the leather / birch note, as light as it is, is too strong for my tastes. Not soon enough, the offending note is replaced by a smoky black tea note. This is much more to my liking, and, as gentle as it is, the scent continues to be a quite dark in feeling. Usually I like darkness, but here I cant help but feel that the subtlety of the fragrance conflicts with its darkness. This is a goblin bee that will not state its sting I guess I like my darkness to be more tangible and less eerie. There is an excellent cedar sweetness in the background that beautifully completes the middle accord. The base is light and inoffensive too light and not enough offensive as far as Im concerned: It needs more substance and presence. Certainly not a bad fragrance, but, in all, theres too much that I have a problem with in this one. I cant find the love.