Tsars come in all shapes, sizes and scents — from the gigantic, most likely musky-cumin-y-indolic-smelling Peter the Great (Unwashed) to the diminutive Nicholas II who had a penchant for fine French and English toiletries. Van Cleef & Arpels’ “fancy”-fougère Tsar was developed by perfumer Philippe Bousseton, and released in 1989. When I first smelled it long ago, Tsar was “too much” to bear (or wear); today, not many perfumes are too much for me, so I decided to give Tsar a re-try.

Tsar includes fragrance notes of bergamot, artemisia, rosemary, caraway seed, juniper berry, cinnamon, geranium, jasmine, pine, vetiver, oak moss, sandalwood and amber. Tsar begins with the scents of bergamot, artemisia (wormwood), juniper berry and a droplet of cinnamon oil. Quickly, one smells rosemary, pine and geranium leaf. Tsar’s opening is “green”, but NOT crisp or juicy; it’s smooth and polished. As Tsar segues into its heart notes, I detect creamy “white flowers” in quantity small enough not to annoy, or scare, manly-men. Tsar’s base smells of amber-y wood tinged “green” with moss.

What is Tsar’s overall effect? Imagine a scrubbed-clean gentleman…

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