Hi Posse Peeps! Caravelle Epicee (Caravelle Épicée) the closest I can get to any meaning from the name is a Spanish or Portuguese Spice Ship with two or three masts. I recently purchased this from my friend Greg. He had a banging Sale Doc on one of the FaceBook pages and I couldn’t resist. It’s hardly been used and I’m so glad to add this beauty to my collection. The Frapin fragrances all feel beautifully crafted to me, here we have no exception.
Caravelle Epicee by Frapin 2007
Jeanne-Marie Faugier
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Nutmeg, coriander
Heart: Chilli pepper, pepper, caraway, guaiac wood
Base: Sandalwood, amber, patchouli, tobacco.
Ahhhhh, nutmeg on open is superlative and quickly segues into smooth coriander and dry, raspy pepper. It’s an excellent dichotomy that travels well together and gives a sense of spice market or souk.
Not far into the heart I can already smell a balmy patchouli that is clean and windswept. My nose is also picking up the resinous aspects of amber without the vanilla sweetness.
Caravelle Epicee is a smooth fragrance, beautifully blended. I can see the analogy for these famous makers of cognac. It feels (to this completely untrained nose) as if they have asked their perfumer, Jeanne-Marie Faugier, to use the mellow, rich elegance of cognac be his guide in Caravelle Epicees creation.
Within an hour I find Caravelle Epicee has reached its dry down stage. Consequently we have a linear fragrance that then hums along for another few hours. It’s a resin-sweet woodsy ending with whispered hints of spices that seems like it could go on forever, just getting quieter.
I think it will work perfectly for a day at work. Firstly, you spritz as you leave the house and enjoy the opening on your way to work. It settles into a beautiful yet not overly compelling fragrance with suitable gravitas for your work life. Finally, at days end, you can easily add another layer or completely change your scent for your evenings adventure. Should you be doing a movie after work though the remnants will be exactly enough to need a closer, more intimate sniff.
Surrender To Chance has samples of Nevermore and 1697 by Frapin
Do you have a frapin fragrance that you love?
Portia xx
Portia also writes for Australian Perfume Junkies
Yes! My favourite Frapin is exactly this one! I love this perfume. ??
YAY Ines,
Excellent news. I bet you smell fantabulous in it too.
Portia xx
Smell and feel fantabulous! 😉
Portia, lucky you getting a bottle! This has been a favorite of mine since it debuted. I’m excited to meet another fan. I have a small decant of 1270 and of Terre de Sarment, but this one stole my heart. I only have a sample, but i have plans for a bottle someday. I remember wearing it when I got one of the best perfume compliments that I have received. I was talking to someone at work and he said, wow, something smells amazing in here. I didn’t own up to it, but I’m pretty sure it was my Caravelle Epicee!
Now THAT is how to get a compliment Springpansy,
Nice to meet another Frapin fan,
Portia xx
Hi, dear!! Sorry to say that I’ve not experienced Frapin. But your divine review makes me want to run out and bathe in this stuff!! Thanks!!
Thanks Ann,
These guys are well worth a sniff if you can find them.
Portia xx
These booze and spice perfumes sounds divine XX
They really are Matty,
Portia xx
I own 1270 and still want a bottle of 1697. I love perfume that is full of booze and spices.
Hey Eldarwen22,
It’s like we were lucky enough to be perfumistas when spiced boozy fragrances were THE THING! All those Serge Lutens, Frapin, Parfum d’Empire, by Kilian and Amouage crews pumping out fabulous, heavy, rich, thick fragrances that had us all swooning. It’s hard to move on when our time was so perfect.
Portia xx
Glad you like it Portia. Great review; you make me wish I’d hung onto it.
I have a few Frapins. I’ve tried this one, Terre de Sarment, L’Humaniste, 1270, Speakeasy and Paradise Perdu but the one I am hanging onto is 1697, which is an absolute bomb of booze and spices that I love wearing in the depths of winter.
Hey Greg,
Thank you so much for parting with this beauty.
Oh yes, 1697 is YUMMO! I think 1270 is very nice for me and l’Humaniste. Never tried Paradis Perdu, what’s it like?
Portia xx
I love the way you write about fragrance, Portia! Even when you don’t LOVE it, your prose just sings. And when you LOVE it? (as you do here) – well! Anyhoo, I’ve tried 1270, with an okay result (lovely but not ‘me’) but….you wanna talk LOVE? Their cognacs are impressive – and, oddly enough, sound like the booze version of Caravelle!
xoxoxoA
Thank you Musette,
Writing makes me happy. It comes from somewhere deep inside me and I have little control. So glad you love it, as I love YOU!
One day I’ll splurge on some of their cognac but till then I am very happy with their scents.
Portia xx
Unfortunately I’m not familiar with Frapin fragrances and I may need to change that with future sampling from this House.
I would love a fragrance that was spritzed in the morning still linger on me at night! Rarely happens when on me sadly.
Yeah, I have the same problem Kathleen, scent disappears on my skin quite quickly. Some though stay around.
Portia xx
No Frapins in my house but this one sounds lovely.
It is lovely Brigitte, so glad it’s joined the ranks here.
Portia xx