Ombre Noir
Lalique (2017)

I echo sjg3839's sentiments. The fragrance initiates with a hint of spice and resinous qualities, swiftly transitioning into a woody, soft, and cedary profile. However, the performance is disappointing. While it's not the worst scent, it gives the impression of being a lighter version of Gucci Pour Homme.

Ombre Noir started out like a lighter version of Chergui by Serge Lutens, and I got that feeling for about an hour. It merged into a lighter version of Gucci Pour Homme in the drydown. Not an overpowering fragrance, at all. Could have used a bit more kick to it. 7/10

Lalique Ombre Noire EDP -

My first Lalique fragrance, and I'm very impressed. Very well blended and follows the note pyramid pretty much to the letter.

A burst of fleeting mint opens it up before segueing into cinnamon and a dry papyrus note that I find very satisfying compared to the usual generic run-of-the-mill pencil shavings cedar.

The tobacco here is more of an impression, but it works for me and never moves into the saccharin-sweet territory that so many fragrances with this type of profile do these days.

My last cut for this one would be whether or not it leaned unisex. Fortunately, no, so thumbs up! The overall wear experience was light and easy, so I could see wearing this all year with the exception of very hot or humid days. Longevity and projection are average with 4 sprays.


3/5 stars

Opens up with green tobacco leaves mixed with some smoky aroma.

I can clearly detect strong, black tea. Also - fig (rather leaves, not fruits), some woods. IMO it's a spicy fragrance, not a woody one.

The general feeling on my skin: it's a close cousin of Gucci's Pour Homme II (myrrh, cinnamon, tea, tobacco) mixed with Davidoff Good Life (fig,tea). I cannot detect alcohol (neither cognac nor any other) nor papyrus. It's smoky, just slightly as mentioned before. Myrrh, olibanum or mix - hard to say.

I can clearly smell dried fruits - dried figs and dates in my opinion.

Longevity is around 7-8 hours, sillage is poor to medium.

The resemblance with Gucci Pour Homme II is strong IMO. No wonder, it's the same perfumer. A nice fragrance, glad I bought it (blind of course).

Initially released with little fanfare, Ombre Noire seemed positioned (through name and bottle design) as a successor to Lalique's Encre Noire series. But after a short market run, Ombre Noire was relegated to the status of an exclusive release that can be only ordered from Lalique directly.

Ombre Noire is in some ways a natural evolution of the Lalique masculines that preceded it, but also feels like a late revisitation of some tropes from fragrances like Gucci pour Homme (the Tom Ford version) and Michael for Men (the 2001 release). It's boozy, woody, dry, and a bit serious.

The opening is quite green with pronounced mint, fig, and a slight boozy tone that gives it a rich, golden-brown shimmer. This gives way to dry papyrus, creamy resins, and cedar. There's a tobacco impression that the hay-like facets of tonka help produce, but there's not much in the way of sweetness here.

It's inarguably sophisticated and polished. If it had been more widely released a decade earlier, Ombre Noire might have been embraced as the inheritor of the GPH1 legacy. But it also lacks a clear signature effect, which is why it's a bit of a very well-made also-ran.

I don't get the mint as strongly as everyone else seems to. I mostly get a darker, smoother version of Encre Noir; spiced, woody, atmospheric. It's really really nice and totally suggests autumn at night. Kind of hard to find these days but I hear the Lalique site has it.