Fahrenheit Absolute (2009)
by Christian Dior

Fahrenheit Absolute is not as acerbic as the original nor is it nearly as sweet as Le Parfum, instead, somewhere darker, in between, more mysterious, yet comparably rich to the Le Parfum.

Including the characteristic violet of the Fahrenheit line, as well as myrrh, incense, and oud, Absolute balances the resinsous side of the myrrh and incense with slight dirtiness (though not animalic or medicinal, really) of the oud. The result is a blend that's really more subtle than either the original or Le Parfum.

Performance is quite good, not quite as good as Le Parfum but still very good. I like it about the same as Le Parfum overall but would be curious to do a side-by-side but I think the sweetness is the main difference.

7 out of 10

If vintage Fahrenheit is a biker's leather jacket, Absolute is one of those fashion items of thin vinyl. It looks convincing from a distance, but put them together and the difference is clear.

3*-

A underappreciated gem they said. A tragedy that it has been discontinued they said. A couple of years back one enthusiastic YouTube reviewer (in this particular case this person is always a warning sign) insisted that his viewers buy 5 bottles and put them away for the day they would double in price. Well at the time of writing that day has yet to come but I concede, the prices are rising.

The fragrance heads at Dior certainly saw the writing on the wall for Fahrenheit Absolute. What had arguably been a daring and original composition in 2009 began to falter as the niche market gathered steam and continued delivering a lot of great compositions amongst the constant stream of generic muck. In comparison, Absolute suffered from a monotone drydown that is seemingly composed of an unlisted note or two, something like cherry and almond and syrupy-like. Whatever this drydown is, it is resinous and sweet in a way that almond notes often are. This failed to please me after a promising, complex opening in the first 45 minutes. That opening is full of clean fruity oud, a citrus note that resembles grapefruit, a dose of pink and black pepper and a bitter incense note. Yes, this all has little to do with the note pyramid, and if it does, the order seems wrong. Myrrh is a listed note, but it fails to turn up for work.

The connection to the original Fahrenheit is typical for Fahrenheit flanker, the two are more like cousins than siblings, and it cannot be otherwise because the original is so perfect that anything smelling too much like it can only be inferior.

Performance is strong, and the first 45 minutes justify a sample. But leave those full bottles to flounder on eBay unless you are a Fahrenheit die-hard, because that drydown stands little chance of enticing you back more than a handful of times.

As a final note, there is a similarity to YSL's original M7. The shy use of oud, the cherry accents, they both have much in common and both suffered the same fate.

This is a decent Fahrenheit flanker. It smells like a syrupy sweet, modern perfume, on the dark and heavy side. It has grown on me over a few wearings, but it's not one for the full bottle collection.

This is, by far, the best of the Fahrenheit line. I like it better than the original. Granted I never smelled the vintage formulation, just the 2013+ "vanilla" versions. It is so much darker than Fahrenheit.

The best way I could describe it is the dark petroleum of Fahrenheit mixed with Van Cleef Midnight in Paris. If you like Midnight in Paris, then you should definitely like this one too.

Too bad it got discontinued, I will have to stock up on these as they will sure go for ridiculous prices in the near future.

EDIT:
Today, I found 2012 Fahrenheit which raiders of the lost scent blog claims to be the last batch of petroleum version and I do like that version better. So I would rate them:
1 vintage through 2012
2 Fahrenheit Absolute
3 2013 Fahrenheit