Icarus 967

Icarus 967 Extrait is Maison Noir's concentrated take on the fragrance that made the house, and the changes are deliberate rather than cosmetic. It opens on green apple and pink pepper, sharp and juicy, with the pepper adding a prickle that the original eau de parfum did not have. The heart is fuller. Red apple and raspberry deepen the fruit into something closer to compote than orchard, and lavender runs across the top of them adding a cool herbal clarity that stops the whole thing reading sweet. Patchouli sits underneath and starts the handover to the base. That base is the real point of the extrait: Akigalawood, a patchouli-derived woody material with a peppery, oud-adjacent radiance, does the heavy lifting alongside vetiver, musk and tonka bean. It gives the dry-down a resonance and a persistence the lighter version cannot match. Performance is excellent, as you would expect at this concentration and price. Ten hours or more is realistic and projection stays generous for the first several. It is more autumn and winter than the eau de parfum, though the apple keeps it wearable in spring. Evenings, dates and formal wear suit it best. Nisrine Bouazzaoui Grillie of Givaudan composed it. Fruity-woody territory, but with the density of a proper extrait.