Perhaps the most anticipated part of the recent Sniffapalooza Spring Fling was the special preview of the Robert Piguet Nouvelle Collection. Joe Garces the President and CEO of Robert Piguet Parfums gave us an exclusive preview of all five new fragrances authored by Aurelien Guichard. We had two hours to experience them and then he packed them back up until they are officially released in July. That release is going to be done in a very interesting way; every store is not necessarily going to get every fragrance. Mr. Garces really believes an involved sales associate is the key to success in the niche market and so he is asking each of the stores all over the world to choose which one or two they think will sell best in their city. That means in most cases only a couple of these fragrances will be available in the store near you. Luckily through a number of ways I got my hands on enough of all five for me to give each a good sampling. Through that process I came to believe another thing Mr. Garces mentioned in his Sniffapalooza presentation; the notion that all five of these fragrances won’t be for every perfumista. His goal was to make a collection which will have one fragrance which you believe you have to have because it speaks to you. After my time with them I found his statement to be mostly true but being the promiscuous perfumista that I am I found two I believe I have to have.

Mademoiselle Piguet is M. Guichard’s attempt to make a Robert Piguet for the younger perfume lover. Mademoiselle is for that younger woman who thinks her mother’s Fracas or Visa are too much. Mademoiselle is the lightest of this new collection but that does not mean it lacks power. M. Guichard reaches for a less potent white flower, orange blossom, to be the core of this. He uses a citrus top layer and a tonka bean base. The citrus gives way to the orange blossom, at first reticently, before it takes over more of the heavy lifting. By the time the tonka makes itself known the orange blossom has made its mark.

Bois Noir is a Robert Piguet for those of you who love wood. This being a Robert Piguet fragrance these are some of the best sources of fragrant woods; along with M. Guichard’s assured hand it makes Bois Noir a festival of opulent woodiness. It opens with one of the lightest woods, gaiac. The gaiac lilts on top of things before a creamy sandalwood darkened with patchouli takes over the heart. A really pungent cedar like a fresh sawed plank cuts to a sensual base of amber and musk. After a walk in the dark woods it’s time to find someone to cuddle up in front of a fireplace with.

Mr. Garces regaled us with a story of his first experience encountering oud in the Middle East, his reaction was he smelled like…um….not good. What he recognized was that if the oud could be tempered a bit it might be something special. M. Guichard clearly shared that optimism and so Oud was born. To set the table for the oud itself M. Guichard pulls out a fascinating trio of saffron, myrrh, and gaiac to open things. Patchouli arrives simultaneously with the oud and M. Guichard uses it to enhance the earthier qualities of the oud and it makes what should seem familiar something less pedestrian. Vetiver in the base keeps Oud from dropping into an abyss and is a welcome contrast in the closing moments. All together Oud definitely smells…um…really good.

As I said in the beginning I like all three of these fragrances but there were two which I just couldn’t keep from smelling on my wrist for the whole rest of the day.

Casbah is a name loaded with imagery from Charles Boyer asking Hedy Lamarr to accompany him there in the 1938 film Algiers to The Clash musically promising to Rock The Casbah. M. Guichard rocks the casbah by nodding to its romantic mysterious image. Black pepper, nutmeg and, the botanical source of musk, Angelica root create a heady spicy slightly animalic opening. Then M. Guichard packs the hookah with the slightly narcotic tobacco leaves before adding an awesome iris to go along with it. It is this iris and tobacco heart which captured mine. Incense and vetiver make up the base notes and they arise seamlessly from the heart. Casbah is all that I am looking for in a spicy oriental and the strong presence of iris is what makes it special to me.

The other standout for me was Notes. Notes is the first fougere with Robert Piguet on the label but I hope it will not be the last. I suppose I should stop being surprised at how versatile a perfumer M. Guichard is but if I needed further convincing Notes would be the final argument. Notes is a completely modern fougere and it is exhilarating. It opens on a prelude of orange flower, clary sage, and geranium. The green of the geranium, the light floral quality of the orange flower, and the crisp herbalness of the clary sage send Notes up the scale right from the start. M. Guichard maintains the heights by using oakmoss and tonka to connect to the green and slight sweetness in the top notes. The base uses costus and vetiver again to provide uniquely sweet and green aspects respectively. Classic fougeres are often slight fleetingly lasting compositions. Notes is something which carries more heft to it and that is what makes it a classic Robert Piguet fragrance, even if it is the first of its kind for the house.

All of the Nouvelle Collection have above average longevity and above average sillage.

I want to encourage all of you who love perfume to find a way to try this entire collection as I concur with Mr. Garces that there is one fragrance in here that will call your name…..or maybe two.

Disclosure: This review was based on samples obtained during Sniffapalooza Spring Fling and decants purchased from Surrender to Chance.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor