It’s been years since a Serge Lutens made an impact on me. Last one was the wonderful metallic hyacinth Bas de Soie. Everything else that followed felt (and smelt) like a Serge on absence. And then came Fils de Joie earlier this year. And I smell uncle Serge again!! Nutshell? Take Tubereuse Criminelle and add a dollop of vintage Poison Esprit de Parfum; Fils de Joie. Tubereuse Criminelle, along with MKK and Miel de Bois, are my Serges. The ones I truly love. That amazingly glorious camphorous mentholated opening is here again. Although this time, it feels 100 times stronger. Take that into account. Impolitely carnal, slightly metal like, hellishly camphorous, it makes everything cold, stark, and to my nose, sexy as hell. I can’t shake the association with tuberose, and there might be a smidgen hidden here as well. But what starts to show, slowly, after an intensely large opening, is the night blooming jasmine. And I know it’s smell by heart! Called Pakistanos in Cyprus, I grew with a plant outside my window. In the summer, the smell of it at night could be smelt for miles, and on a hot humid night, breathing was sometimes imposible. Here, the scent recalls the flower at dusk on a dry evening. The smell is less suffocating and more sappy/green; the honey makes it sweeter than it actually smells but doesn’t feel cloying, because the jasmine is always present in a green budding shade, as if to counteract the heaviness of the Pakistanos. Two flowers, side by side, smelling both at once. After Joy, my second favorite jasmine! Where does Poison come? There’s a dark fruity veil that hovers over the entire fragrance, with a heady and dirty musk or civet that makes this fragrance meaningful; you couldn’t have it clean and white musk smelling, it needs (and thankfully gets) an animal around to truly spark its sensuality. It all feels and smells like a Mediterranean neighborhood at night in late summer. Jasmine everywhere, the heat starts to dissipate, but you still need all your windows open. And at night, when flowers start to show their full potential, right there is where Fils de Joie lies. Sillage is not that big on me, but projects well and easily with a couple of sprays. Longevity is very good though. And a fragrance like this needs heat to bloom, so I feel like late spring/summer are going to smell far better now. Very dark, it does stain light colored clothing so beware! Welcome back uncle Serge :)