Cedrat Boise by Mancera

I picked this up because it was said to resemble Aventus, but the opening smelled bitter citrus and I wasn’t sure I’d like it. It evolved into orange leaves, then a rich blend of aromatic herbs, before becoming a mossy forest – I was truly impressed by its evolution! It didn’t stop there; later it felt like a sweet, exquisite lemonade. It’s the perfume with the most evolution I’ve found, a real gem in perfumery. It has the Aventus DNA but with its own personality, so it’s now among my favourites. The longevity and sillage are good; it’s a very stylish fragrance.

Rich, rich, absolutely delicious. It has that Aventus vibe, hashish and company, but with its own personality. It’s extremely addictive, although in my first tests, straight out of the box, it seemed short-lived (or at least I lost the scent after three hours). We’ll keep testing this unfairly maligned fragrance.

The name says it all: citrus and leather. The opening is bright and addictive: citrus and fruit with lots of energy. The comparison with Aventus stays on the surface. Anyone who stops at the opening might fall into that parallelism. It evolves quickly, settles down, and becomes more serious after a few minutes, as if the fun time is over. On my skin, it goes straight to suede and leather. Elegant, polished, very ‘well-dressed office’, but I don’t connect with this vibe.

After a citrusy beginning, in the style of Aventus, a blend of green notes, like conifers, starts to rise, with air, in my opinion, of CK’s Escape for Men.

A good fragrance; at first I didn’t like it, but after some time of testing it, it became one of my favourites – a good fragrance balanced with citrus and a fruity touch.

I picked up a 5ml decant and it reminded me a great deal of Zara Vibrant L’Oud. Although the note quality and longevity aren’t identical, they smell very similar once they dry down.

I’ve used Dior Dune for years and just stumbled upon one that smells 90% like my beloved Dune… Mancera Cedrat Boise. I’m going to buy a decant to check it out.

Mother of the divine incarnate word! This is pure beauty and good taste, splendid class and elegance. The cedar is so similar to vetiver, another note I adore. The oakmoss, cedar and patchouli become ambrosial, and the citrus touch is like the pearl of a crown. On the dry down, notes of musky strawberries and creamy leather with a soft vanilla touch emerge. It doesn’t sound much like Aventus to me, but rather like Givenchy PI, Picasso’s Minotaure and Boss Bottled. It has left me enamoured by its cleanliness, and although vetiver isn’t declared, that herbaceous and sweetish note is noticeable at the end. I’m simply adoring it with reverence!

Cedrat Boise is the illegitimate son of Aventus: sparkling citrus at the start, yes, but soon varnished with synthetic vanilla and flat woods that sound like plastic. It begins with promises of elegant freshness and ends in an over-stretched citrus caramel. It projects, lasts and fills rooms without subtlety: a gym perfume, a new car scent, for someone who wants to make an impression even if there’s nothing to tell. It works, it pleases, it receives compliments; but it lacks soul and has too much artifice. Cedrat Boise is a brilliant poster of a landscape that never existed.

The opening is like an intense nightclub, a fragrance that carries apple and is more bearable. Cedrat Boise is a complex scent; the idea of a sharp citrus opening with woods followed by something sweet and soft seems like a clash that shouldn’t work, yet they compact well. Several comments mention redundancy and perhaps it does in the opening, but it maintains its own sweet style. The leather doesn’t feel the same as the spicy notes, it makes me feel I’ve smelled it somewhere before. I feel I could get used to it over time, but sweet-citrus and wood with spices, what a mix; perhaps it’s not my type. Perhaps a bit of musk or apple would have made this fragrance another story, but it would be returning to the same tale that it’s a replica of a replica of another perfume.

Works perfectly for me, I love it and it suits any occasion. Not for beasts.

For many, it’s Mancera’s flagship, a classic, but others surpass it. Cedrat Boise is fruity-woody. The opening is a potent bergamot reminiscent of Habit Rouge, but it fades after minutes, leaving a soft scent. Perhaps that initial impact causes olfactory fatigue; I smell it close to the skin after the first two hours, though it persists for 6-8 hours on the pulse. It hasn’t generated any comments, good or bad. I recommend trying it before buying; don’t be swept away by the hype. Not at all recommended for anyone under 30, nor for guys under 20; you put it on and look 40. For me, it’s a 7/10, I like it, but sometimes it bores me.

When I first acquired it, it smelled of oakmoss, reminding me of vintage perfumes, with a bit of citrus at the start and that was it. I thought it wasn’t worth it since I already had Supremacy Not Only, which seemed very similar. Four months have passed, and I’m glad I didn’t sell or gift it; now it lasts much longer, is more intense, and the scent is super different. It smells of woods with citrus and a soft vanilla, a sweet base. I love it, it easily lasts 8 hours, and projects very well for the first 2 hours. I think it’s a blend between an Ani and a Creed, two very good but much more expensive perfumes.

I’m not an expert on notes, so I’ll be specific. I smell it as unisex: a masculine opening, drying down to a feminine finish. Not a blind buy; get a decant first. The opening is citrus-fruity; it has a resemblance to Aventus but then follows another path. In the dry-down, I note patchouli, cedar, sandalwood, and a slight smoky-creamy touch from spices and musk; I also detect a leather note close to the skin. Vanilla stands out. The impressive thing is that the citrus notes remain throughout most of the perfume’s life. I’m testing the longevity, approx. 5-8 hours, but I’ll let it macerate to see. The trail is brilliant: my room gets saturated with two sprays and lasts at least 2 hours. The wonderful thing about niche perfumes is the sensations, not just good or bad smells; they are experiences. The same happened with Acqua di Parma: it brings back memories, and that is valued. Anyway, I liked it, it’s perfect in the niche world. Note: I’m writing a week after using it. I retract my previous comment; not only do I like it, I LOVE it! It’s now my favourite.

I tried a new batch and didn’t expect much. But surprise: first, the direction (in my personal case) lasted longer than the previous formulation and I like it more. Here the fruity notes are more green apple alongside the blackcurrants that give it a spectacular touch. The leather it has doesn’t bother and gives it a more serious and formal part, making the fragrance more versatile; the vanilla part is perhaps the most tranquil, which makes it ‘unisex’. The projection is moderate but constant for the first two hours, then it calms down a bit but remains… it’s a very rounded fragrance.