Dunhill
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Cardamom ignites with immediate peppery ferocity, a spice bomb augmented by bright bergamot citrus and tart grapefruit that feels almost medicinal in its clarity. Within moments you're breathing in something sharp-edged and unapologetically artificial—like stepping into a climate-controlled racing facility where everything smells of precision and synthetic cool.
The pepper deepens considerably, dominating everything else as lavender struggles to establish its herbal presence beneath the spice onslaught. Orange blossom arrives like a honeyed rescue attempt, bringing creamy sweetness that softens the assault slightly, though the overall character remains austere and intensely aromatic rather than comforting.
Gaiac wood surfaces with a dry, almost smoky metallic quality that intensifies the synthetic backbone, whilst vetiver and musk fade with disappointing speed—you're left with a thin, peppery-woody haze that dissipates noticeably after three hours, clinging faintly until it becomes merely a memory of intensity rather than an actual presence.
Icon Racing announces itself with the brash confidence of a competitor who hasn't yet learned restraint. Laurent Le Guernec has constructed something deliberately synthetic—not apologetically so, but as a deliberate aesthetic choice—where cardamom's sharp spice wrestles immediately with bergamot's bright citric snap. This is a fragrance that smells like the racing pit rather than the driver's lounge: all adrenaline and mechanical precision, with grapefruit arriving to sharpen the edges further, creating an almost aggressive freshness that refuses to whisper.
The composition pivots rather than flows. Black pepper emerges with muscular insistence, dominating the early heart and colliding against lavender in a way that feels deliberately discordant—this isn't the soothing lavender of linen closets, but something peppery and austere. Orange blossom attempts to sweeten the narrative, lending an almost creamy sweetness that reads as synthetic honeyed ambition rather than actual floral femininity. The woody base promises grounding but delivers something altogether more diaphanous: gaiac wood contributes a metallic, almost phenolic edge that compounds the synthetic character, whilst vetiver and musk fade with surprising haste.
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3.5/5 (190)