Yatagan by Caron, 1976

The review: Awesome in the opening. You receive a sour kick of herbs, pine resin and eucalyptus. Because its art, not bare nature, the beauty comes from the way the parts are put together. These aromas come knotted with lavender and patchouli. You get slight sweetness mixed with the bitterness. Middle notes are milder: A bunch of coriander assorted with wormwood, parsley and other herbs, like sage and caraway as Luca Turin says, and, yes, celery (celery belongs to the same family of coriander and caraway and has full rights to inspire love and poetry, as roses, daisies, carrots and broth do). The syrup grows a little in the drydown, from musk and sandalwood, unremarkable, even shy, with hints of powder and bubble gum Allegedly, this fragrance used to be bold all the way, but nothing lasts... I would do it again but just with the vintage. This is now safe after minutes, suitable for any occasion or stepfather: it is water, not liquor. The software is dazzling but the hardware is unsupportive: the juice is fatless and synthetic, without quality. The metaphor: It remembers me a cool morning in the forest, in my childhood. All was new for me and I touched, twisted, scratched, smashed, crushed, pulled up and tore every branch, root, flower, bud, sprout and leave that called my attention, most from the ground. Then my hands got sticky and fragrant. That smell, sticky also in my recall, is now Yatagan. The anecdote: At gym, after workout and shower, I was feeling great. That´s why, I suppose, I was heavy with the trigger over my chest, arms and back of the neck. I was facing the mirror and fancying about the putative changes that workout had brought to the naked torso. Then a guy, who passed behind me, returned and, with worry face, said to me: Do you smell? Someone was smoking pot here! Food for reflections: How was the development of this outstanding artist called Vincent Marcello? Who was the great designer of the segmented sword in the vintage flask? What happened to a brand with such a lofty past as Caron (a genuine past, not a made-up one) which now is so far and beneath from the seventh heaven of the top-notch? The method: As a bullfighter put it long time ago: disposition, courage and fear. I wear the fragrance on daily basis, until the last drop from the 125 ml flask, for understanding and enjoying purposes. I read reviews and threads; researched at produce counters and so on... Furthermore, I did a lot of introspection.

The first aspect of Yatagan that is very noticeable is lavender. Soft, mild slightly green lavender floats and charms all through this fairy tale dark woodland scent. The lavender opening permeates the entire fragrance and is the saving grace of Yatagan for otherwise it is all a pitch darkness of woody conflict of deep forest smokey balsam and woods with bitter green tannins, dried leaves. The lavender keeps all these smokey, dark greens and leathery resinous bits at arms length from each other like a referee in a back woods brawl between animals of the night. The mix manages to stay just on the sane side of wearableness. I like Yatagan, it is one of my favorites dark woods fragrances. I think it is a steal for the price it can be had for nowadays online, and it is the equal or superior of many other wooded fragrances that sell for 3 - 6 times the price. Yatagan has had several bottle label changes and the formula has been adjusted and is tamer than the earlier formula which focused on the bitter artemsia vs. tart juniper and my "new" three year old bottle is very balanced, more civilized than the earlier versions, which I could not wear due to their sharpness. That earlier bottle which I got ten years ago was given away to a Basenotes swapping friend - TVLampboy - who found a home for it in a give away contest years earlier in the bnotes forum. Folks were just looking for reasons to get rid of those old mankiller bottles of Yatagan, but I have come back to the Yatagan beast only to find that I thoroughly enjoy wearing it now . It is tamer and very wearable. Its dryness gives it usability through the summer and the bold characters makes it even more excellent during the biting cold weather. In fact the weather changes the perception of the fragrance where in bitter cold I notice the bitter green of the juniper and artemsia while in warm weather the smoke of the styrax is more to fore. The only remotely similar fragrance to Yatagan is the thoroughly modern Kinski by Goeza Schoen which followed the Yatagan formula closely, but without the lavender as a buffer. Yatagan has easily earned the designation of "classic" !