Dior Eau Noire, Cologne Blanche and Bois D’Argent 2022 re-issue Review

Is this a good omen? Recently appointed as the in-house perfumer at Dior, Francis Kurkdjian has decided to commence his tenure not by giving us a brand new creation, but by returning to the past. Many of you will be aware that in 2004, the house issued three exclusive compositions, under the creative direction of Hedi Slimane, who was the designer at Dior Homme at the time. The three were Eau Noire, Cologne Blanche (both composed by Kurkdjian) and Bois D’Argent (by Annick Menardo). Over the years, they were joined by several other scents (to make up the high-end range currently known as the Collection Privee) and at least one of them vanished completely. But now, as though paying homage to what is generally considered a high point of Dior’s fragrant output, Kurkdjian has reunited the original trilogy and made it available once again. I reviewed all three scents in a recent YouTube video. Here’s a link: Dior Eau Noire, Cologne Blanche, Bois D’Argent 2022 reissue review.

Sadly, I never got a chance to smell the original Cologne Blanche, but if it was anything like this 2022 iteration, I’m not surprised that many were dismayed by its disappearance. Delightfully, convincingly white (powdered almonds sprinkled with the thinnest layer of icing sugar and whisper-delicate shavings of floral soap) it impresses with its restraint and its subtlety. This is the snow of fairy tales, falling onto a field in the middle of the night, covering everything with an eerie, ancient magic.

To my nose, Bois D’Argent remains much the same as the version I last experienced. Although I’ve always been struck by the elegance of Menardo’s composition here, I’ve also been overly distracted by the ambery woods in the base, which detract from the suitably silvery incense and iris in the heart. Still, if the drydown material doesn’t command too much of your attention, I daresay you’ll enjoy the scent’s sophisticated clarity: a sleek arrow, shot right into the middle of Blanche’s haunted snow field.

And then of course there’s Eau Noire. Such is the level of adoration this piece of work has rightly attracted since it first appeared, that I have no doubt there will now be endless complaints that this version is inferior to the ones we’ve had before, that it’s been watered down etc etc. I have yet to carry out a side-by-side comparison with my older bottle (which was itself reportedly different from the 2004 incarnation) but certainly, the current juice is unquestionably Eau Noire. Perhaps it’s a touch quieter, and maybe it pulls some of the emphasis away from that famous heart of immortelle, in favour of the lavender and the sweeter facets. But it’s still brooding and mysterious, glowering over the snow and the silver arrow like a midnight sky: deep and impenetrable.

Persolaise

[Dior Eau Noire, Cologne Blanche, Bois D’Argent 2022 review based on samples provided by the brand.]

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