Sauvage Parfum (Dior, 2019) is the most concentrated flanker of Sauvage, signed by François Demachy. The top pairs bergamot, mandarin, and elemi, the heart rests on Sri Lankan sandalwood, and the base brings together olibanum, tonka bean, and Papua New Guinea vanilla. Woody, amber and resinous, without the ambroxan of its predecessors, it is the softest and most enveloping of the line.
Sauvage Parfum, the densest concentration in the line
Sauvage Parfum arrived in 2019, the fourth flanker of Sauvage in four years, following Very Cool Spray (2017) and the Eau de Parfum (2018). François Demachy signs the formula. Dior describes it as a highly concentrated reading of Sauvage, where extreme freshness meets warm, amber tonalities, inspired by a night in wide open spaces around a fire.
Top notes: bergamot, mandarin, and elemi
The opening remains citrus-driven, but its color shifts. Bergamot retains its role as a tart, green opening; mandarin, plumper and sweeter, rounds out the first contact and gives it a spicy edge the eau de toilette did not have. Elemi, a pale resin with lemony and peppery facets, links these citrus notes to the sandalwood in the heart. There is no Sichuan pepper or lavender: the aromatic fougère of the original fades away from the top notes onward.
Heart: Sri Lankan sandalwood
Sandalwood is the center of gravity of the fragrance. The sandalwood, which Dior sources from a partner plantation in Sri Lanka, provides a milky, smooth, and dense material that softens the top notes and prepares the base. It is this material that most clearly sets Sauvage Parfum apart from its predecessors, which were built on ambroxan and spices.
Base: olibanum, tonka bean, and vanilla
The base is amber and resinous. Olibanum, or incense, gives a dry, slightly lemony smokiness that echoes the elemi in the top notes. Tonka bean lends an almond-like suavity, somewhat leathery and bitter, while Papua New Guinea vanilla brings a smoky sweetness that wraps around the whole without turning it into a dessert. Here, the concentration shows in the density of the sillage rather than in its reach.
Sauvage Parfum against the eau de toilette and the eau de parfum
Of the three, the Parfum is the only one that does not display ambroxan in its pyramid and that places a wood at its center. Where the original plays on mineral freshness and the Eau de Parfum on spice, the Parfum plays on wood and resin: it is the softest and most enveloping of the three, the one for winter evenings.