Encre Noire

Launched by Lalique in 2006, Encre Noire is a vetiver signed by Nathalie Lorson: cypress opens, two vetivers, from Bourbon and Haiti, form the body, cashmere wood and musks the base. The black bottle, capped in wood, refers to an inkwell by René Lalique. Victoria Frolova would make it her only vetiver.

Brand: Lalique
Launch year: 2006
Perfumer: Nathalie Lorson
Gender: Men
Olfactory family: Woody
Secondary family: Aromatic
Concentration: Eau de Toilette
EAN: 3454960022515 (50 ml) · 3454960022522 (100 ml)

Published September 16, 2026 · Updated September 22, 2026

Where to buy

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Lalique launched Encre Noire in 2006, a masculine perfume the house presents as a hymn to wood and to vetiver, in its words the most sophisticated of masculine notes. It now counts it among its modern classics.

Nathalie Lorson and vetiver

The composition was entrusted to Nathalie Lorson. According to Victoria Frolova, of Bois de Jasmin, the perfumer wanted to show off the suave, languid character of vetiver, a material usually seen as bracing and cold.

Encre Noire first built its reputation through critics: Victoria Frolova placed it among the best perfumes of 2006, and Now Smell This recounted in 2007 buying it unsniffed on that recommendation.

An inkwell by René Lalique

The name and the bottle point to ink. The house links the bottle to the “Biches” inkwell, a work by René Lalique dated 1913, and says it carries Lalique’s codes into Encre Noire: noble materials and the technical feats of its master glassmakers.

Olfactory pyramid

Top notesThe first minutes
- Cypress
Heart notesThe heart of the perfume
- Vetiver
Base notesWhat lingers
- Cashmeran
- White musks

Composition

Read the full composition

What critics say

Victoria Frolova, of Bois de Jasmin, would choose Encre Noire if she could wear only one vetiver, and sees in it the roughness of roots turned into black silk.

Read what critics say