L'Artisan Parfumeur Méchant Loup

Fun Whovian reference: "Méchant Loup" translates to "mean wolf," or more generally..."BAD wolf." I had to get it after that, you see. Plus it's a woodsy gourmand, which usually rocks my fuzzy socks. (I'm sure it wasn't intended to lure geeks, but it is a fun coincidence.)
This was a blind buy during L'Artisan Parfumeur's holiday sale; most bottles were 30% off and there was a credit for signing up for the newsletter, so I essentially got two bottles for slightly more than the price of one (the other one I picked up was La Chasse aux Papillons).

The L'Artisan Parfumeur bottles are absolutely gorgeous.
Méchant Loup is a Bertrand Duchafour creation, with notes of "licorice, hazelnut, cedar, honey," and I saw it on several favorites lists of perfume bloggers whose choices usually resonate with me, so I wasn't too bothered about it being a blind buy. Being a "masculine" selection, I also figured that if I didn't like it, S. might (he wears Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb, which is a similarly spicy gourmand) so it wouldn't be a loss.

"Dressed in the scents of the forest...with a heart of hazelnut."
Unfortunately, I think this will have to go to S., after all. On paper (and on S., damn it) it's a beautiful woodsy, aromatic licorice scent pulsating around a center of dulcet hazelnut. The licorice and cedar combination is both subtly medicinal and smoky, and it is exactly the kind of thing I adore. ON ME, however, it smells like...Big Red. Which isn't exactly unpleasant - although the gum certainly is - but it is not at all what I expected or wanted (*sobs*). It's more tenacious than I expected, being an EdT, but on me, it's a linear cinnamon scent - with just splashes of the animalic "wet dog" note (that is actually oddly comforting, being a dog owner) on occasion. No sweet hazelnut. No delicious licorice. No powerful, seductive woods.

I don't regret purchasing it - it wears deliciously on S., after all - but I wish it liked me. Ah, well. The search for a licorice perfume continues.

$100 for 50 mL at L'Artisan, Lucky Scent.