Cedrat 37 is Le Labo’s Berlin entry in the City Exclusive line, launched in 2021 and built around cedrat, a large, thick-skinned citrus fruit that sits somewhere between lemon and grapefruit in character. The composition is simple on paper: citron on top, ginger in the heart, then woods, musk, and ambergris underneath. On skin it plays out as one of the more cheerful fragrances in a line known for moody incense and leather.
What Does Le Labo Cedrat 37 Smell Like?
The first spray is sharp, zesty, and slightly bitter, like biting into fresh citrus peel, with the acidity cutting through immediately. There is sweetness present but it reads candied rather than sugary, closer to crystallized ginger than dessert. Within the first hour the ginger warms up and pushes against the fruit, giving the middle of the wear a spicy, almost fizzy quality.
The real story happens in the drydown. Wearers consistently describe a dramatic shift: the bright citrus recedes and the base takes over, moving into dry woods, clean musk, and that mineral, salty ambergris signature Le Labo leans on across many of its scents. By afternoon it smells less like a citrus fragrance and more like a quiet woody musk with a faint lemon glow behind it. That day-to-evening evolution is the reason people pay attention to this one. If you want a linear all-day lemon, this is not it; if you want a fragrance that changes character between morning coffee and dinner, it delivers.
Performance
Set expectations at moderate. Community consensus and editorial wear reports put longevity at roughly 6 to 8 hours on skin, with the first hour carrying the strongest projection before it pulls back to a close-wearing scent bubble. It will not fill a room and it rarely lasts through a full workday plus an evening without a reapplication. For an eau de parfum at $398 for 50ml, that performance level is underwhelming, and it is the most common complaint about the fragrance alongside its limited availability. The flip side is that the restrained projection makes it office-safe and unlikely to bother anyone in close quarters.
Best Clone Or Alternative
Perfume Parlour’s Thuja 1188 is the obvious budget route. It is explicitly marketed as inspired by Cedrat 37 and lists the same structure: citron top, ginger heart, woods, musk, and ambergris base. At about £22 for 50ml, it costs a small fraction of the original’s price and gets the opening largely right, capturing the zesty, lightly candied citrus character.
The gap shows up in the base. Thuja 1188’s drydown is thinner and noticeably more synthetic, missing the plush musk and saline depth that make the original’s evening phase interesting. As a daily-wear stand-in it works well; as a replacement for the full experience it falls short of about 15 percent of what makes Cedrat 37 special. Given the original is a City Exclusive you may not be able to smell before buying, trying the dupe first is a reasonable way to test whether the scent profile suits you at all.
When To Wear It
This is a spring through fall daytime fragrance. The citrus-ginger combination suits warm weather best, and it holds up fine in mild autumn conditions thanks to the woody base. It fits office wear, casual outings, and anything where you want to smell put-together without being loud. The drydown carries it comfortably from work into a low-key dinner.
Who Should Buy It
Buy it if you love citrus fragrances but find most of them too simple or too fleeting, and you want one with a genuine second act. It also suits anyone collecting the City Exclusive line or looking for a unisex citrus that leans dry and adult rather than sweet and aquatic. People who like Le Labo’s house style but found Santal 33 or Thé Noir 29 too heavy have called this a good entry point.
Who Should Skip It
Skip it if projection and all-day longevity are priorities, if you dislike any bitterness in your citrus, or if $398 for moderate performance feels indefensible when alternatives exist at every price. Anyone who cannot easily travel to Berlin or order during the September window should think hard before committing, since refills require owning a bottle and the annual purchase window is short.
Final Verdict
Cedrat 37 is a well-built, evolving citrus-woody fragrance whose personality shift from zesty morning to musky evening justifies its reputation, even if its performance and price do not fully align. Sample it in August, buy in September if the drydown wins you over, and lean on Thuja 1188 if you mainly want the vibe on a budget.