La Manufacture, or La Manufacture des Chateaux is a new player in the perfume world. The house was founded by Bruno Truchon-Bartes who spend the last 20 years of his life working for the most renowned names in the industry. His two greatest passions are raw perfume materials and history preservation and the name “La Manufacture” is meant to evoke the craftsmanship and traditional work by hand. The outcome achieved is a trio of Essential Colognes – Les Colognes Essentielles.
Cologne Noble is the first perfume from La Manufacture that I would like to describe. Some time later I will introduce you to the other two as well. The perfume opens with a very high-pitched voice of lemon that is juicy, sparkling and mouthwatering. The lemon juice has a little bit of zesty and sour vibe to it. This intensive feeling lasts for around 5 minutes and then it tones down and the composition is joined by mandarin orange. The latter one is also juicy but it’s also delicate and gently sweet – creating a nice balance for more acidic opening I experienced.
After a while the bright and sparkling aroma of Cologne Noble starts evolving and some woody elements appear in the composition. I have a feeling like there was a little bit of cedar and for a few minutes I also get the aromatic vibe similar to pine needles. After 1 hour spicy accords appear on the skin. From the very beginning Cologne Noble feels kind of cool, chilly and refreshing. One would have thought that nutmeg, cardamom and coriander would warm it up a bit.
What happens is that La Manufacture Cologne Noble does become warmer but only a tiny bit, so that the overall cold impression still dominates. That is really something interesting about this perfume that the spiciness of cardamom, the vibrant piquancy of coriander and nutmeg don’t change the character of this scent. As you spend more time wearing this fragrance you might notice that the progress of time adds a bit more warmth to it. At 2 hours mark nutmeg slowly becomes drier, like an old papyrus scroll. Then this slightly powdery, woody facet appears – that’s a touch of oakmoss.
After 3 hours the powdery feeling from earlier becomes a little bit more intensive thanks to the presence of iris accord in Cologne Noble. It’s not a typical powdery iris as it has also a little bit of earthy, rooty vibe to it. It creates a nice combination with citrus, which still is the main aroma of this fragrance, with spices creating a background. A soft and feather-like musk tops the composition of Cologne Noble. It smells light, airy and delicate, with a slight aroma of milk and vanilla somewhere around it. From this moment I don’t observe any substantial changes as the scent fades away.
La Manufacture Cologne Noble was created by perfumer Carla Chabert and it’s an eau de toilette concentree. The fragrance is available in 100ml and 245ml bottles (the last one is like a small tank) of simple and clean design. The outer packaging has a form of tube. On my skin Cologne Noble lasted for 5-6 hours – not bad for a citrus-based scent and it had a moderate sillage.
[note] 1st picture from La Manufacture Facebook page, 2nd from the press materials, 3rd is my own, all rights reserved. I got the samples at Esxence.
Chemist in the Bottle 
I really like Bruno’s concept and philosophy, and I like your description of Cologne Noble too. I imagine it would be rather wonderful in the heat of summer, like inbuilt air-conditioning! Looking forward to hearing about his other creations now.
Thank you Jillie! Knowing your fondness of classy colognes, Cologne Noble would be to your liking.
La Manufacture offers a sample set charging just 5€ for shipping
Can I just say I love that name? 🙂 The full one with chateaux in it.
Looking forward to your reviews of other offerings.
It is lovely! How would you translate it in English? A house workshop?
That’s a good question. First thing on my mind is again a French word, artisan shop. 🙂
It sounds like it is worth a try. What are your thoughts regarding the % mix of natural versus synthetic ingredients in this particular perfume?
The brand name makes it sound like the perfumes are handcrafted at someone’s home!
The concentration is 12% and to me it smells very natural, so there are probably not many synthetic aromachemicals.
I know! Like a perfume workshop at home
It’s interesting how differently we perceive the same name! Even though “Manufacture” does mean to me hand labor, I do not associate it with artisan production since that type of the labor organization actually came to replace individual skilled trade with the organized worked by multiple workers where each one was doing a subset of tasks – the division of labor.
I guess that understanding the brands name in another language is another aspect of the perfume fun. When I first was the full name of La Manufacture I thought of making perfume at home
5-6 hours from an EdT is really good: I don’t always get that from EdP s ; -)
I don’t think I need another cologne-like perfume in my collection (unless it’s from Atelier Cologne – just because I like them) but who knows… I’ll give this brand a try when I get a chance. Nice bottles.
It’s almost EdP (12%), hence the longevity.
I really am happy that you like Atelier Cologne so much. They’re launching bath and body line in all Collection Originale compositions (are Cafleurebon)
Need him to manufacture my cologne
nicely said