Eau de Citron Noir
Hermès (2018)

Never have I bought a backup bottle so fast. This stuff is incredible. A burst of fresh, full-bodied lemon that almost immediately turns moody and weird, like a storm cloud interrupting an obnoxiously sunny day. If there's such a thing as "goth citrus", it's this. Fresh cut grass and smoky black tea shroud the lemon, morphing into a mouth-wateringly tangy and dry sourness; I'm assuming this is the "black lemon"/noomi basra accord, having yet to taste this exotic ingredient (although I've already ordered some from the House of Bezos, just to try). The spookily tenacious drydown is a dark cedar/incense thing that feels like enough of an evolution from the smoky citrus that an obvious use of woody aromachemicals doesn't feel out of place, although there seems to be disagreement on that point. I think it all works; apparently some of you sniff a whiff of Ambroxan and are ready to smash plates, but I think it's deployed appropriately here, and I'd genuinely rather smell someone who's bathed in Eau de Citron Noir over even a hint of Dior effing Sauvage.

Your mileage may vary, but I think this is one of Christine Nagel's most compelling works for Hermès. Take a familiar concept - lemon cologne! What could be less original? - and turn it on its head with a creative twist, while keeping the whole production palatable and wearable. (As avante-garde a creature as it might sound, EdCN is the kind of thing your dad might wear if he were looking to update his wardrobe while not going entirely outside his comfort zone.) I genuinely hope this sells, and is never discontinued. And PM me if you want someone to take that bottle you blind-bought off your hands.

A bright, cheerful lemon and citron, rind, pith, zest and all, puts Eau de Citron Noir in line with other in the Hermes Eaux de Cologne series. Splendid and invigorating, I can't deny the pleasure I derive from this—to a point. I do find the wisps of smoky black tea to be a unique twist, however, all else becomes wispy and it all quickly collapses into something thin and unsubstantial.

If only that delicious bitter citrus could've been extended with some perfumer trickery for just a little bit longer...

Eau de Citron Noir by Hermès (2018) is an addition to the expanded eau de cologne range of Hermès by perfumer Christine Nagel, who has effectively done the commercially-smart thing by gearing it towards men's mass-appeal fare without Hermès needing to ostentatiously-launch a "blue frag" pillar line. Hermès if nothing else knows how to cheat the system the same way Cartier does, by subversively sneaking the shamelessly-trendy cash-ins as ignorable flankers to more-respected lines like Pasha de Cartier Edition Noire (2013), or in this case the extended color-coded cologne range riffing off of the original Hermès Eau de Cologne/Eau de Orange Vert (1979). If you're still interested after reading all this, there is actually more than meets the eye with Eau de Citron Noir, but not much more; and I feel overall that most long-term Hermès fans will be disappointed in Nagel as they perennially seem to be, like they were with Jean-Claude Ellena beforehand, since the brand stopped living in mid-century perfume vibes after he became their first house perfumer.

This fragrance tries to be a bit more natural in the citrus selection than your standard blue post-aquatic fare, crossing streams somewhat with the very-expensive Roja Dove Elysium Parfum Cologne (2017) of the preceding year, giving Eau de Citron Noir a bit of an ironically "downmarket alternative" vibe for collectors that pay attention to "thee of the haute-bourgeoisie" segment of the men's fragrance market. The rest falls into dark, smokey territory gleaned from Acqua di Giò Profumo by Giorgio Armani (2014), which is also nice and offers a bit of an alternative to the rest of that scent's very obvious Acqua di Giò pour Homme (1996) DNA. Lastly, a bit of the scratchy and prickly overdosed ambroxan and fake-woods melange of Dior Sauvage (2015) is present, just not dosed to offend like Demachy did for that fragrance. Wear time is pretty long with sillage being stronger than much of the Hermès eau de cologne range, but not extraordinarily potent. An attempt to be classier at the same low-hanging fruit game will be seen as such even by the less-traditional Hermès fans, so ultimately Eau de Citron Noir is for the average Joe lucky enough to find the rather rare Hermès counter where the range can be tested.

I think you know where the best use for this is going to be, and I also think Hermès sees this as the one-size-fits-all shoe to fit guys that don't want the timeless modern-classic green chypre feel that is Ellena's Terre d'Hermès (2006), nor are ready for the cyberpunk Dior Eau Sauvage (1966) re-imagining of Nagel's Hermès H24 (2021). Squarely aimed at the "I want my cheeseburger but more upscale" crowd who likes the idea of wearing Hermès without actually smelling like they're wearing Hermès, Eau de Citron Noir comes across a bit cynical to me; especially considering Hermès offers it in a jumbo 200ml splash as if to suggest "this is your Hermès replacement for any of the other designer's big blue signature fragrances for men", and that lovely incense note called "Buddha's hand" in the market copy won't be enough to dissuade me otherwise. Still, this is likeable and wearable; so if you cast all expectations aside, close your eyes, and not think about the name on the bottle, you will walk away with one of the more-unique blue fragrance interpretations out there. Thumbs up

I can see what they were trying to do with the smoke, but I just get a bitter burnt lemon. One of the worst fragrances that I've smelled from Hermes.

I got a little sample of this with some purchases, and i sprayed some on, and was quite surprised how much i liked it. The tart citrus opening reminded me a lot of goutals eau de hedrien, but it was softened and dare i say darkened by... something.

After reading the other reviews i learned that the 'something' was tea and woody amber accords. Which for the life of me i would never have guessed. And therefore the many reviews before mine calling this a synthetic mess.

I thinks thats an overstatement! Taking into consideration the philosophy behind the line of hermes eauxs... this is a very good citrus frag, thats super light and easy to wear, that does have elements of dark, but not in the literal sense dark, just slightly gray to soften the sharp citrus opening.

I would happily wear this and in the dxb weather i cant have enough citruses and eauxs. It definately doesnt stand out as groundbreaking or complex development... but i dont think this line was meant to.

There are better citrus frags (bermotte 22 for eg), there are better eau de colognes (neroli portofino for eg), there are better references for the tea note (bvlgari im looking at you!) And plenty of better woody colognes.

Given that im not sure if this is full bottle worthy for me yet. Perhaps i have to give it several more wears to find out! But untill then... im surely enjoying my 3.5ml sample.

The lemon opening on the top notes is quite bright and agreeable. Not super-bright, but a bit uplifting nonetheless.

The heart notes add a very light Darjeeling-style tea impression, and I mean “very light”: this one makes the gentle tea note in Tom Ford's Gucci Pour Homme II appear like a powerhouse experience. Additionally, I get some white florals thrown it.

The base in constituted of a nonspecific woodsy impression that is rather thin and bloodless.

I get moderate sillage, adequate projection and five hours of longevity on my skin.

A nice summery creation, with the start being not bad at all but somewhat unexciting, whilst the rest is too generic and synthetically bland to entice. 2.75/5