Almost a dead ringer for montblanc's "Starwalker" with just a touch less citrus and a hair more sandalwood creaminess. The smell is there but I can hardly smell it but when in close proximity to someone, that person can smell it lightly. It reminded me of the vetyver in Encre Noire, way toned down and very well blended with some nice stuff. Its not overpowering but the dry down becomes a skin scent that lasts and lasts for hours even days!

One immediate difference in the two bottles was that Soir had a hefty metal cap, while the original had what appeared to be a metal cap but was actually plastic. When I first encountered BPH, it was almost a decade after its release (2006) and I bought it scent unsniffed, from an online retailer after reading the reviews of Fragranticans far wiser and experienced than myself.

Clearly that one leads sometime also the "extreme" brother to mind, in the hope that this shortcoming would be eliminated. I bought a recent bottle (batch 10N64DA1 - June 2022 batch) and oh boy this has been reformulated/watered down. The old version does this best, the new version opens with less of a pop of citrus and more of an immediate pepper with fruit. Thank you, Jacques Cavallier for this clean, crisp, enigmatic, masculine blend of pepper, tea, and light woods! I still have a bottle (with around 30 ml juice left) from the late 90s, and I'm just amazed at how it held its scent through the years – that's more than 20 years.

While drying down famous green tea appears and starts soothing the composition making it mild and soft. Fragrantica does not seem to list the Extrême version of this separately…but it is a different beast.Wood and spices make for a slightly longer lasting scent, while the sillage remains more or less skin deep. Wish the performance was better that will fit the word 'extreme' because it really doesn't last that long. Imagine the usual go to's for a fresh blue fragrance, but with absolutely no sweetness or juicy "fruits" in the notes.