L’Artisan launched Méchant Loup in 1997. Like yesterday’s Dzongkha, it was created by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour; it is usually described as a “deep, spicy, woodsy scent” and the notes include pepper, star anise, licorice, sandalwood, honey, hazelnut, myrrh, tonka bean and cedar.

The L’Artisan website translates “Méchant Loup” as Big Bad Wolf, and it is very nearly just that. It has a kind of roasted hazelnut and burnt sugar accord that is vaguely reminiscent of Hermès Vetiver Tonka, but Méchant Loup is darker and richer, and the hazelnut mingles with honeyed woods, musty dried leaves and a touch of something that smells like whiskey and cigar smoke and old leather chairs…

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Dzongkha is the third fragrance in the L’Artisan Parfumeur travel series that includes Bois Farine and Timbuktu. Dzongkha was developed by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour, and was inspired by the Dzongs of Bhutan. The fragrance notes include peony, lychee, cardamom, tea with milk, vetiver, incense, cypriol (a grass used to make papyrus), cedar, leather and iris.

Dzongkha was one of the few fragrances that I was really looking forward to this year, and I am happy to report that it did not disappoint, in fact, I like it even better than I expected. It is heavily dominated by iris, one of my favorite notes; iris is listed in the heart and base notes but is evident almost from the first, along with sweet floral notes that I would never have identified as peony. For that matter, I wouldn’t have picked out the lychee either…

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