Le Labo The Noir 29

Mostly dry and warm, like cedar shavings or the inside of a wooden drawer. Underneath that, sharp and peppery, more like cracked pepper than baking spice.

It opens on fig, bay leaf and bergamot, moves through cedar, vetiver and musk, and settles on tobacco and hay.

• fig: green and milky at once: the leaf and the unripe fruit rather than the sweet dried version
• bergamot: bright citrus peel, sharper and greener than orange. The note that makes Earl Grey tea smell the way it does

It lasts well and sits close to the skin after the first hour.

Built from the note listing and the measured performance figures. We have not smelled this one.