The fragrances in the Les Absolus D'Orient collection are created from the quest of the most noble raw materials. It is an invitation to a journey of the senses with unique oriental fragrances. These warm and heady fragrances bring together all the power and beauty of Orient.
Epices Exquises is a unisex amber spicy fragrance that launched in 2022. Created by Thierry Wasser, it features top notes of cardamom, angelica and pink pepper; middle notes of black pepper and coffee; and base notes of sandalwood, agarwood (oud) and patchouli. It is the evocation of a sensory journey. Thierry Wasser has captured the essence of an irresistibly ambery fragrance: the spicy aromas of cardamom coffee. Like the warm and exhilarating wisps of this coffee, Epices Exquises blends a warm, full-bodied and delightful base, tinged with black pepper and woody notes of oud, patchouli and sandalwood, with refreshing, subtly overdosed facets of cardamom, notes of pink peppercorn and green and fresh angelica. A sublime and surprising contrast between hot and cold in an explosion of fine spices.
"With Epices Exquises I wanted to re-transcribe the surprising scent of the irresistibly spicy cardamom coffee I'm given every time I visit the Middle East. This coffee's unique blend of spices fills my memory with deliciously contrasting sensations: at the top, fresh accents of cardamom mingle with a warm, peppery, delightful base. It's an intoxicating fragrance." Thierry Wasser, Guerlain Master-Perfumer. Epices Exquises is an eau de parfum, edp.
Fragrantica: I smelled this yesterday at Corte. After smelling all the latest designer releases I had to go to the Guerlain display to calm my senses and enjoy some real perfumes. This fragrance stood out for me, absolutely beautiful. It's like a little sibling of Patchouli Ardent which still floors me with its complexity and magic. You have to like spicy fragrances to enjoy this, but the blend is smooth, relaxing, and just an amazing value. A love for me.
Fragrantica: One of my favorite favorite favorite perfumes. The spices all come together, and create a slightly sweet yet dark scent. The sillage is amazing, people used to tell me they knew where I was because of this perfume.
Fragrantica: Absolutely beautiful. Takes me back to my trips to the Middle East: Cardamom, Coffee, and Oud. Warm, spicy, but not too spicy. It’s just a great Cardmom scent!
Fragrantica: This is absolute beauty and class. Dry masculine grownup spices and woods. The coffee is subtle. This is in the same family as Houbigant Bois Mystique and Creed Royal Oud. Superior to both and unique to both. 9.5/10
Fragrantica: The opening blast is just incredible, spicy & woody. cardamom with green angelica based on sandalwood & patchouli. Yes, the opening resembles the aroma of the arabian extra mild roast cardamom coffee. the sandalwood here is crisp without the floral jasmine rose infusion that's usually used in the syrupy santal accords & the patchouli here is leaning more herbal & clean definitely not dense or chocolaty. For this scent profile this smells really natural & ethereal, an easy wearable experience, pretty unique & classy vis-a-vis the other designer releases that all smell alike out there. There is a harsh note far in the drydown similar to all in the same line im not a big fan of this harsh oud smoke like note tbh.
Fragrantica: It’s a masterfully blended oriental woody fragrance that gets me plenty of complements. It actually carries a very complex spice accord throughout the bases. Aside from the dominant Angelica and the beautiful piercingly fresh cardamom, you’ll find a cinnamon and vanilla notes. Also, the coffee brings some sourness into the opening, but the sandalwood and agar wood are blended with violet/iris accord making it less oily and more powdery. There’s a smart use of cashmeran musk which is also used to balance the harsh opening I believe and surrounds the agar wood accord with a warm veil of softness. I’d recommend it more for a colder weather, unless you want to feel sticky and sexy on a summer evening. It’s well balanced and thought-through and at the same time it leaves a long lasting impression so could easily steal a spot of your signature scent. 9/10
Fragrantica: When we read 'coffee inspired fragrance' with a strong coffee note our minds takes us to something like Starbucks, Nescafe or even strong Turkish coffee. However if you have ever frequented the Arabian peninsular you will know that when you order coffee, what arrives is a rather tiny cup of very boiling hot brown watery liquid that smells almost entirely of green cardamom (often accompanied with dates).... It almost feels as if your are consuming a heavy green cardamom tea drink but without any tea. This fragrance is a pretty good approximation of that type of coffee but instead of being hot it's top notes have a cooling effect whilst the base notes do add some warmth. When discussing this fragrance at the Harrods Guerlain counter I was told this was designed to be a very much fresher fragrance than the rest of the line and therefore is more versatile as noted in many of the reviews below. It's good stuff and I highly recommend.
Fragrantica: Love from the first sniff! Definitely my favorite in this Guerlain series! In tight competition with Heritage as my favorite Guerlain creation of all time. Blended to perfection, it comes as one its own delicious scent, and not as a cocophony of idividual scents fighting each other for your nose attention. For me it is not bad, but rather very good thing that I can't detect as an individual note coffee, oud or even patchuli here. Only cardamom and peppers stand out, and even they as one amazing spice accord. On the opening and first 2 hours it mostly smells to me as freshly cut Siberian pine wood and spices (former cabinet maker here). So it kind of third corner in triangle with other 2 of my favorite perfumes: Serge Lutens' Fille en Aiguilles and Comme des Garcons' Avignon (all while smelling nothing like either of the two). Epices Exquises definitely less sweet than Serge Lutens and has no smoke of Avignon. After 2 hours cardamom becomes more prominent, and at the third hour it becomes even more so one whole scent where no intividual accords sticks out. It lasts 9-10 hours on my skin, with 2 hours of strong projection and 4-5 more hours of moderate projection before becoming skin scent. It stays more than 24 hours on the shirt I wore when I used it day before. I think it is very versatile. I see it appropriate for any occasion, and although it is more of a cold weather type of scent, it can be used any time of the year, even on summer nights. Could even be used as an office scent if you go lighter on the trigger. To me it definitely leans toward masculine, but could be used by women as well. I think it is relatively safe blind buy for men.
Final verdict:
Scent - 10/10
Longevity - 8/10
Sillage - 7/10
Projection - 8/10
Versatility - 10/10
Originality - 8/10
Price for quality - 8/10 (if you catch it at discounters, 7/10 at retail price)
Fragrantica: Epices Exquises, translated from French means "exquisite spices". I knew, Guerlain never disappoints me, this is another unique from the orient series, but I would rename this one to "magnificent spices". This fragrance is different from the others in the series, it is really refined, a unique effort has been put into the composition, in general, some say that it is not as intense or long-lasting as others, but from experience I can confirm that this fragrance lasts more than 25 hours on me! In the morning when I take a shower, it smells like I applied it before entering the bathroom! I can't smell it a meter away from me, but I definitely got compliments because the fragrance smells very nice around the person wearing it. It creates a very subtle and delicate trail behind you when you walk, these are not fragrances for the "Bay Guy" because few people understand Guerlain perfumes in general, and few of these "bar millionaires" will pay the necessary amount for an authentic fragrance, they prefer to buy the same ones for BGN 100 and claim that they are using the original, but alas... In general, this composition has signature/ingredients from Mon Guerlain and Shalimar, the fragrance is shared / unisex, it will appeal to ladies who appreciate the real, natural and to men, be they bachelors or not, because the perfume also has its male part, the combination is very refined, delicate and gives a density that opposes competing brands. Recently a guy I also got a compliment from, he had sprayed himself with Montale- Arabians Tonka, when he said my perfume was very nice, I could feel how montale despite the intensity and their clashing chemical ingredients, couldn't drown out the Guerlain scent, just could not! My review is 10 / 10.
Fragrantica: O.M.G. After only few minutes it reminded me of the sadly discontinued Escada Magnetism! Very good indeed. Wearing it on a hot summer evening I feel a bit sticky and sexy. 9/10
Fragrantica: My wife and I were in Guerlain and I sprayed this on my hand. My wife was enchanted by this fragrance. She said it smelled amazing, and bought it for me immediately. She thinks it’s one of the sexiest fragrances she’s ever smelled. I have almost all of the Les Absolus D’ Orient line. Most of them are really her preference on men. She’s very much into the Middle Eastern style fragrance dna and Epices Exquises may be the most true to that style. It’s a spicy cardamom, coffee, sandlewood, oud, and patchouli masterfully blended. It’s definitely a cooler weather fragrance, which I always find interesting that we feel that way. Is it ever “cool” in the Middle East? But I digress. I’ve also worn it on summer date nights because she loves it so much. It’s worked fine in summer evenings. It could be a signature scent for a well put together person who dresses well. However I did wear it on a hot summer day on the days she bought it for me, and I found it to be just too much in the heat. This is a tall, dark, and handsome fragrance. I get 10-12 hours on my skin. The projection is monstrous for about the first 30 minutes, then it still projects about an arms length for another hour or an hour and a half. Then it becomes a scent bubble in your personal space for a long long time. It became a skin scent 9 to 10 hours in. If you like sweet fragrances, this definitely would NOT be for you. There’s virtually no sweetness. It’s dark, woody, and that cardamom and pepper is almost culinary. The coffee note is more of a note that makes the cardamom full of what I’d describe as “flavor”. It doesn’t really give off a coffee smell. The patchouli brings it all together into something that really is a masterpiece. If you want to stand out and you have a lot of confidence, this may be for you. My wife is very turned on by this fragrance, but her taste in fragrances tends to be on the dark and heavy side. So consider all of this. And this is niche. As is the rest of this particular line. It won’t be for everyone, but if it is, you’re going to fall in love with it. Standing ovation for Thierry Wasser.
