Sometimes, perfumers insist that they can create a purely unisex fragrance by taking upon themselves the role of King Solomon and splitting the baby in half: They’ll remove the elements they believe to be too feminine so as not to alienate the male clientele, and similarly remove any deeper/non-floral elements in order to arrive at a junction where they believe they’ve created a one-scent-fits-both concoction that equally engenders itself to either (or all) genders. Sometimes this works, others you end up with a fragrance that lacks continuity or a clear character.
With Bigarade Concentree, Jean-Claude Ellena has once again attempted to take a simple brush stroke across a canvas and yield a very linear and ‘fresh’ scent that maintains a certain mass appeal. For those who’ve followed Ellena, it’s a formula that he’s repeated in nearly every work for which he’s been commissioned. Whether you believe that is successful depends on your tastes, just the way that a pianist playing “Chopsticks” might be more appealing than a fully engaged symphony. At the going rates charged for his finished works, however, I’m not sure I’d pay orchestra seat prices for a recital of Chopsticks when I should be expecting something more artfully executed.
Bigarade Concentree IS the fragrance version of Chopsticks. It’s light, it’s floral, it’s citrusy, it’s green and only a hint of wood dares peek through. If nothing, it’s shy and falls short of either an ethereal presence or anything other than unimaginative.
Frederic Malle Bigarade Concentree
Frederic Malle Bigarade Concentree (2002): Cutting straight to the notes, we begin with bitter orange for the light but citrus top notes that have become so commonplace in fragrance that we almost expect a lighter scent to possess these. The scent unfolds to a rose heart, then a Cedar wood and grassy base. Unfortunately, the top note is so overwhelming, you never quite notice the heart or base truly unfold as time lapses. With a moniker of “Concentree”, the bar of our expectations has already been raised, and the emerging scent seems to fail in making the leap toward that expectation. One would suggest that he’s simply borrowing from the template created in the reformulation of Hermes Eau d’Orange Verte if the inverse weren’t true (the reformulation was done in 2009).
So why the “Concentree” moniker then? Simply, Ellena produced “Cologne Bigarade” for Malle in 2001, a 4.5% concentration using precisely the same elements. Concentree? Apparently, adding the word to any fragrance should convince us that it’s simply bigger. In this case, not necessarily better, just more of a fragrance concentration.
Overall Impressions: As mentioned, the fragrances does not really have a chance to open. I’ve tried this in a warm weather environment, a cool environment, and somewhere in between. Beyond the bitter orange, its as if the other ingredients failed to arrive at the party, or have simply been drowned in the scent of citrus. If you enjoy citrus and don’t mind the price of $225 for a 100ml bottle of (barely) eau de parfum strength, this might suffice. I, however, found the work uninspiring and very linear in nature despite the attempt to bring in the other elements. Even when compared to the other scents in Malle’s Editions de Parfums line (Musc Ravageur, for example), Ellena’s entries here seem to pale in comparison.
Rating: 1/5. Not recommended.
Bottom-line: The formula used by Ellena in this rendition is his hallmark: Keep it simple. He’s used it in other commissions such as those for Hermes and other houses where the number of elements is kept to only those counted on one hand with fingers remaining, and the result is a linear and uninspired experience. The value proposition is missing, and the end result is one that could have been achieved by those with greater alleged talent. This isn’t meant to reflect on Frederic Malle’s choice of nose for the creation of this and other scents, or an indictment of his line. But the Bigarades are not where I’d recommend focusing attention, and scents such as Musc Ravageur are much more inspired and worth consideration. Bigarade in any form is a disappointment.
I'm Andrew Buck, the man behind the words. I'm a published author, project management practitioner for over 20 years, work on Wall Street, and am a fragrance aficionado. I've had a passion for fragrance for 30+ years, and enjoy trying scents and adding to an expanding and rotating collection for some time now. 
