Caron had a decidedly uneven time through the 1980’s. That is not to say that there weren’t some memorable fragrances from the House of Caron during that period. One of those was the 1981 creation by Jean-Pierre Bethouart, Parfum Sacre. The date of the introduction of Parfum Sacre is even a bone of contention as many references list it as originating in 1990. After visiting with Diane Haska, the Caron Ambassador at Phyto Universe in New York City, there are clear indications that it really was released in 1981. Parfum Sacre was a spice and amber laden rose fragrance that surrounded the central rose note with a warm enveloping spicy grouping of notes. It was surprisingly light for a fragrance full of intense notes. When I first smelled Parfum Sacre it was an opulent fragrance. A few years ago I was with a friend and thought Parfum Sacre would be a perfect choice for them. When we strolled up to the counter and sprayed it on strips I was shocked to find this version of Parfum Sacre to be a wan imitation of the original. Once again the heavy hand of IFRA and their regulations had squeezed the lush juice out of a memorable fragrance and neutered Parfum Sacre in the process. Because of that disappointment my level of skepticism with the new 2010 release Parfum Sacre Intense was very high. What I found, instead, was a perfume House which found a way to pay tribute to the original Parfum Sacre and somehow create a new fragrance that allows it to surpass the current formulation of the original.
Richard Fraysse, the current in-house nose at Caron took the lightness of Parfum Sacre as a starting point and chose to live up to the adjective on the label. In Parfum Sacre, M. Bethouart succeeded by reining in the strong notes and holding them down. In Parfum Sacre Intense, M. Fraysse succeeds by doing the exact opposite. M. Fraysse uses a similar grouping of strong notes and he seems to delight in letting them off the leash to run their course. This makes Parfum Sacre Intense a much headier experience than its parent fragrance and it makes it all the more interesting.
The top is piquant pepper, zesty cinnamon and acerbic coriander. This trio bursts out of the box ‘con brio’ and it is a great combination of spices. They swirl around as a deep rose and jasmine appear. The spicy aspects of rose are exposed by the original triptych of spices from the opening. The jasmine pulls out the lush floral aspect of the central rose and adds an indolic depth. The base leads off with a full-throttle sweet myrrh which emerges from the floral notes and as the resinous quality of that myrrh takes hold it allows Parfum Sacre Intense to finish with the same intensity it began with.
Parfum Sacre Intense has above average longevity and above average sillage.
IFRA has run roughshod over many of my favorite fragrances and there are many which have not survived the process intact. The House of Caron has found the best way to move forward is to nod to the past but charge into the future. M. Fraysse has done that at full gallop with Parfum Sacre Intense.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Caron.
-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor