Parfum D'Habit by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier, 1988

Balance and strict moderation in the dosage of elements in the way that the woody and resinous notes, the leather, the incensey touch and the rooty-earthy ingredients are placed in a sublime and perfect balancement. What does it mean? It means that this assertive, unsociable and discreet fragrance is hardly ranking and placing in a specific genre and that is ancient and modern at once. Each note, furthermore, expresses itsel in its moderate, almost apologetic facet evoiding each bombastic and fiercing kind of behaviour. The opening, under my nose, is a bit aggressive and dusty with a blast of citrus, earthy notes and pine's resins whirling in a dusty-incensey cloud coming from the background. Few time later the raw feel of the juice starts fading towards a averagely bodied silkiness made of dry sandalwood, resins, a touch of balsams and leather. The leathery feel is prominent above all due the clever usage of amber and a whiff of vanilla that soften the roothness, levigate the woodsy resins and let the yard free to the leather with its smell of leathery goods as purses and jackets. The outcome is a woodsy and leathery dry down with a touch of incense and smoke and with a sort of old  clothings kind of undertone. Its assertive but at once charismatic incensey temperament reminds a bit the one of Trussardi Uomo whose the watery lavender starting and the heavy complexity make the smell a bit dated in comparison with the more modern and strict minimalism of Parfum d'Habit. Longevity and sillage are more than good.