Cartier La Panthere Parfum Review – Mathilde Laurent; 2020

I confess I’d thought Cartier La Panthere had gone off on long-term hibernation into some distant Himalayan cave. But no, the brand’s website tells me that it’s still very much in production, and sure enough, Mathilde Laurent has just given us a new ‘parfum’ version (as distinct from the ‘extrait’ edition released in 2014). I suppose the reason I’m surprised is that the original was quite a hard sell: a viscous, honeyed white floral with more than a whiff of mainstream-frightening animalics. I desperately wanted it to do well, but feared it wouldn’t. And yet, here we are, six years after its first appearance, celebrating this addition to the pack.

I must say I’m pleased. It may not have been an outright blockbuster, but the fact that Cartier have continued to invest their resources in the Panthere range suggests the brand genuinely tries to balance fiscal imperatives with a desire to further the art of perfumery. And I think ‘balance’ is the key word when trying to understand this new Parfum iteration. It retains the central accord from the original: that almost frightening growl of honey, gardenia and barnyard filth. But whereas the 2014 extrait presented a veritable stampede of feline hunters (and perhaps mortified far too many people) this version goes for a more strategic approach. Make no mistake, the cats are still present, and they’re still intent on having their way with you. But here, they try to lure you into their embrace with deceptive innocence: an opening salvo of peachy-osmanthus, with some violet sugariness thrown in, for that extra, angelic sparkle. 

The result is arguably the least confident of the Pantheres I’ve tried – the fruit facets never totally convince that they belong in the whole – but it’s still a worthy addition to the range, and it remains leaps ahead of most mainstream feminines. This Parfum may have had its claws clipped and the bass of its purr toned down, but it remains the same Panthere that first pounced on us all those years ago. And if a slight taming of its personality is the price we have to pay to keep it in our midst, then that’s fine with me. 

[Cartier La Panthere Parfum review based on a sample provided by the brand in 2020.]

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