Graham Chapman (King Arthur) and John Cleese (The Black Knight) in a scene from the 1975 Film

One of my favorite Monty Python bits is the battle between King Arthur and The Black Knight in “Monty Python and The Holy Grail”. For those unfamiliar with it King Arthur battles The Black Knight methodically hacking off a limb with each strike leaving The Black Knight eventually limbless threatening to bite King Arthur to death. When it comes to perfume there are many who see IFRA, and their ingredient restrictions, as King Arthur and some beloved perfumes styles, like chypres, as eventual limbless shadows of themselves like The Black Knight. Probably the single most discussed and debated restriction was that of oakmoss since it was such a key component of chypres. Particularly over the past couple of years we have seen many perfume houses take up the challenge of making an oakmoss-free chypre. The success rate of this endeavor has been dismally low but there have been some bright spots. The most recent bright spot comes from Oriza L. Legrand Chypre Mousse.

Oriza L. Legrand is another of the old perfume houses which have been recently resurrected. I really liked the effort that was put into the line in re-creating these early fragrance recipes for today’s tastes. With Chypre Mousse perfumer Hugo Lambert had his work cut out for him when one of the key ingredients couldn’t be used anymore. The choice he made was to return to the earth, and forest, for his inspiration. As a result Chypre Mousse has a wonderful mustiness reminiscent of a forest floor after a heavy summer rain.

M. Lambert starts Chypre Mousse off with a coterie of wild things as fennel, clary sage, and mint combine for sense of green growing things at the height of their fecundity. This opening takes my breath away especially because if the mint is out of balance I am often reminded of dental products. In Chypre Mousse the mint is an equal partner to the anise-like quality of the fennel and the clean green of the clary sage. They really mesh so well together that it is only when I allow my analytical brain out of the box that I can find and focus on the components. The green theme is deepened with galbanum and clover before M. Lambert uses an acerbic violet leaf to slice through the density with a sharp knife. The base is full of the notes which make up the alternatives for oakmoss; a pinch of pine, a dollop of vetiver, a soupcon of leather, a swirl of labdanum, and a fabulous earthy mushroom.

Chypre Mousse has ridiculous longevity, well over 24 hours, and equivalently impressive sillage. Four sprays lasted one whole weekend in November.

For all of us, including me, who are worried about the survival of the chypre despite the best efforts of IFRA as King Arthur; Chypre Mousse replies as strongly as The Black Knight does at the end of his battle, “I’m not dead yet!” M. Lambert has crafted a fabulous velvet smooth example of a chypre that suffers not one whit for the lack of oakmoss. Long live the chypre.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Fragrance & Art.

Thanks to Fragrance & Art we have one sample of Chypre Mousse to giveaway. This is an International draw. To be eligible leave a comment naming either your favorite chypre or your favorite Monty Python skit. The draw will end January 22, 2014.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor