Baccarat Rouge 540 comes in more than one version, and the two you'll run into most are the eau de parfum and the Extrait de Parfum. Same name, same house, same perfumer. They are not the same fragrance, and at $360 and $495 for 70 mL on Maison Francis Kurkdjian's US site, it's worth knowing which one you're after before you pay for it.
Here's what separates them, which one I'd pick for what, and the impressions we make of each.
Where it came from
Baccarat, the French crystal maker, turned 250 in 2014 and asked Francis Kurkdjian for a perfume to mark it. The first Baccarat Rouge 540 was a limited run in Baccarat crystal at €3,000 a bottle. The 540 is a temperature from Baccarat's crystal-making. Kurkdjian later released the eau de parfum under his own house, and Fragrantica dates that to 2015. The Extrait followed in 2017.
The eau de parfum
What's in it: Kurkdjian describes it in three "auras." Jasmine and saffron are the air. An accord of ambergris and dry woods is the mineral. Ethyl maltol, a burnt-sugar note, is the fire. Fragrantica's list adds amberwood, fir resin and cedar.
Honest take: This is the one that made the name. It's airy and sweet with a slightly metallic edge, and the dry amber underneath is what people notice from across a room. If you've smelled Baccarat Rouge 540 on someone and had to ask what it was, odds are this is the one you smelled.
The Extrait
What's in it: MFK lists grandiflorum jasmine, ethyl maltol, bitter almond, an ambergris accord and a woody, ambery, musky accord. Fragrantica and Parfumo both add saffron, cedar, ambroxan and cashmeran.
Honest take: MFK says the Extrait intensifies the eau de parfum's three auras, which makes it sound like the same thing turned up. It isn't. The bitter almond is the giveaway. It doesn't appear anywhere in the eau de parfum's notes, and it pulls the whole thing nuttier, warmer and darker, closer to marzipan than spun sugar. The eau de parfum is bright. The Extrait is dense. I'd wear the eau de parfum in May and the Extrait in January.
Which one should you get
You want the one you've smelled on other people: the eau de parfum.
You like the idea but find the eau de parfum sharp or thin: the Extrait.
It's cold out, or it's evening: the Extrait.
You're buying it as a gift and can't ask: the eau de parfum. It's the one people recognize.
Ours
Allandale, inspired by Baccarat Rouge 540 Eau de Parfum. Saffron and jasmine, amberwood and ambergris, then fir resin, cedar and sugar. It's a limited run in our Y'all Come Back collection, so it's 5 mL travel sprays only, $19, while they last.
Chimney Rock, inspired by Baccarat Rouge 540 Extrait de Parfum. Saffron, jasmine, ethyl maltol and bitter almond over ambergris, ambroxan and cashmeran. A 2 mL sample is $10 and a 5 mL travel spray is $19. Full bottles are $29 for 15 mL and $49 for 30 mL.
We blend both at extrait strength, and that matters more for Allandale. It's an extrait-strength take on a fragrance built as an eau de parfum, so expect a slower opening and a denser wear than the spray you may have tried at a counter. Chimney Rock is extrait against extrait.
Can't decide? Get a Chimney Rock sample and an Allandale travel spray, wear each for a few days, and let your skin settle it. Together they're $29.
Maison Appalachia is an independent fragrance house. Our fragrances are inspired by the originals we name and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced by those houses.