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Mitsouko Parfum de Toilette vs extrait

post #1 of 5
2/11/10 at 6:23am
Thread Starter 
Hey all,

Received a bottle of Mitsouko PDT yesterday. This should not be confused with the EDP as they differ in their concentrations with the PDT slightly stronger than the EDP.
The PDT is absoultely glorious compared with the extrait, even though my vintage extrait is one of the best I own. It is extremely wooded, with way less citrus and a rounder fragrance than the extrait. Of the 4 different concentrations, this one recalls a morning walk in a dark damp forrest on a chilly autumn morning the best. It is dark, resinous and cold, while the extrait is a warmer chypre with a spicier heart. Compared with the extrait that has a very pronounced labdanum base, the PDT is all about the heart notes. The scent doesn't seem to evolve, choosing to rather hover in the mid-section. The muted top notes (esp. neroli) along with its basenotes makes the PDT an almost linear scent as opposed to one having a pyramid.
I believe the PDT is almost impossible to find these days. It was made in a concentration somewhere between a parfum and an EDP as we know of today. They discontinued PDTs and replaced then with the lighter EDPs. IMO, the PDT is the better balanced version of them all. I could easily wear this one till the very end of my days.
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post #2 of 5
1/21/11 at 3:05am
I absolutely agree with you! I think Mitsouko PdT is now my favorite concentration, and I am wearing the modern extrait today compliments of a fellow BN'er. (I have tried Mitsouko vintage EdT, parfum, EdC). It's rich and gorgeous and your description of its construction is excellent.
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post #3 of 5
1/21/11 at 5:36am
It's been said before here on BN, but I need to stress it again: Guerlain's initial PdT fragrances was not "stronger" or "better" versions than the EdP fragrances that replaced the PdT a few years later. The EdP fragrances may have undergone big changes since the late 1990s, but the first batches of the EdP was EXACTLY THE SAME JUICE AS THE PDT. This is stated by several independent sources, and from comparing my own first-batch PdT bottles (of different scents) with first-batch EdP bottles I can testify that the two juices are 100% identical.

I stress this, because there's a constant tendency to idealize Guerlain's (and other house's) perfume past as "stronger" and "better" (well, in many respects it was).

An 1980s powerhouse invention as it is, the PdT/EdP was naturally a totally different scent than the soft, basenotes prominent extrait: much more full-bodied and blooming, trying at once to be "dry oakmoss-patchouli-peach" and "lush citrus-jasmine-rose" - a purist would call it a bastard, but I love it too, because it - more than any version - manages to smell at once ablaze, mouldy, and tender, like sunny peaches and decomposing forest floor.
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post #4 of 5
1/21/11 at 7:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. G View Post

An 1980s powerhouse invention as it is, the PdT/EdP was naturally a totally different scent than the soft, basenotes prominent extrait: much more full-bodied and blooming, trying at once to be "dry oakmoss-patchouli-peach" and "lush citrus-jasmine-rose" - a purist would call it a bastard, but I love it too, because it - more than any version - manages to smell at once ablaze, mouldy, and tender, like sunny peaches and decomposing forest floor.

Would one achieve the same effect by layering extrait with EDT or was the PDT a really different animal?
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post #5 of 5
1/21/11 at 8:38am
Different animal. You know, that 80s powerhouse PdT/EdP concept was about being STRONG, both in terms of longevity and projection. The extrait is "strong" in terms of longevity but not projection, the EdT is the opposite: strong in projection but not longevity. With the new version, Guerlain wanted both, which means that all layers seem "pumped up" and made extremely much more lush and colourful, hence the balance is altered. If you just layer extrait and EdT, you get a quick strong projection followed by a long lingering skin scent of beautiful oakmoss and peach. The PdT/EdP just keeps oozing of all things and smells much more citrusy, peachy, spicy and rooty all the way through. You won't get that soft lingering extrait-effect with the PdT/EdP.

As I said, I love this strong rendition, but a Mitsouko purist may say that the black chypre effect has been artificially pumped up or "revamped", maybe even "vulgarized". I guess it depends how dry you want your chypre. The PdT/EdP is NOT dry. But it's lush and saturated and, well, lovely.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Reminiscent View Post

Would one achieve the same effect by layering extrait with EDT or was the PDT a really different animal?
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