Nuit et Confidences
Goutal (2017)

From the beginning I get a gentle sweetness; it is the sweetness of an frankincense with a soft white pepper strewn over - all this is given a bright light with a lashing of bergamot.

The drydown adds a vanilla and a tonka that both add sweetness, and I was waiting for the cloying of the sweet aromas to suffocate me but - no, all these usually heavy notes remain restrained and very well-behaved.

The base presents a foundation of white musks, which blend in well with the other components, and a subtle whiff of caramel makes a brief appearance towards the end.

I get moderate sillage, very good projection and nine hours of longevity on my skin.

This scent for warmer autumn days is very smooth and all the ingredients are restrained against all expectations, making this a spice-cum-vanilla combination wearable in the office; something that cannot be said of many other products using the same ingredient. These, however, and a bit on the generic side at times, especially the base. Overall not particularly titillating, but an unexcitingly pleasant creation. Overall 2.75/5.

Beautiful. Sweet but not cloying. Very well blended. I'm enamored with this one. The fans of Annick Goutal pre 2015 probably won't like this tho, as it is quite a modern composition.

A solid 9/10 in my books.

Nuit et Confidences is basically a boozy vanilla on my skin. It starts with boozy, even a bit syrupy plum pudding, an aspect that also frequently appears in boozy amber such as Parfum d'Empire Ambre Russe and Hermès Ambre Narguilé, for exemple. The creamy, sweet vanillin soon surfaces, along with a subtle tobacco touch, probably a facet of tonka bean. But the boozy plum fruity aspect is still the dominant element compared to creamy vanilla.

The fragrance is fairly linear on me. The combined effect of boozy plum, creamy vanilla and a soft touch of smoky wood and tobacco, strongly reminds me of Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vanille and Le Couvent des Minimes Eau des Missions. Nuit et Confidences appears more fruity and more youthful than the Guerlain, while Eau des Missions has a deeper resinous undertone than the Annick Goutal offering.

Nuit et Confidences has a heavy to moderate sillage, and lasts about 8 hours on my skin.

Although technically I don't find anything alarmingly jarring to my nose in Nuit et Confidences, I can't help considering it redundant and unremarkable. Boozy vanilla/amber is such a crowded genre, that one can find anything ranging from budget friendly to high-end offering, from frilly fruity gourmand to handsome smoky tobacco. In comparison, Nuit et Confidences lacks the nuance and has a relatively strong emphasis on the fruity boozy plum, which leaves me the impression that it's engineered to exploit the gourmand trend and make a quick sale.

I would recommend it to those who is on a quest for a gourmand boozy vanilla, mostly because its price is more approachable than a few high-end options. However, style-wise, it's a completely different animal from the other Goutal fragrances before 2015. Therefore, I would not recommend it to fans of Goutal's previous releases.