Penhaligon's - Juniper Sling - New Perfume

Cute video for the new Penhaligon's perfume Juniper Sling. I love the 20's.

I haven't gotten my hands on a sample of this yet, but considering how much I love G&Ts, I'm eager to try it.

House: Penhaligons's
Nose: Olivier Cresp
Notes:
HEAD NOTES
Cinnamon, Orange Brandy, Angelica, Juniper Berry

HEART NOTES
Cardamom, Leather, Black Pepper, Orris Wood

BASE NOTES
Brown Sugar, Black Cherry, Vetiver, Ambrox

Frederic Malle - Angéliques sous la pluie

The perfect tonic

I think I'm starting to become a big fan of Jean-Claude Ellena. His style is minimalist, sheer, and luminescent. He takes a limited palette of notes and  finds just the right way to combine them to compliment each other.

When I received a sample of Angéliques sous la pluie, I was expecting a floral perfume, the name made me think of Apres l'Ondee. The story accompanying the perfume is that Ellena created it to pay tribute to the smell of a bouquet of angelica gathered after the rain.

I forgot that angelica is an herb, sometimes used to flavour drinks like absinthe and gin. It has a bitter, slightly spicy and green smell. Ellena has elevated the spicy character by adding coriander, and played with the gin connotations of angelica by adding juniper.

The result is wonderful.  Angéliques sous la pluie sparkles like a cool green tonic and wakes me up when I'm feeling tired. I smell the juniper first, like Bombay Sapphire in a crystal tumbler, then the spicy, green angelica. The smell is effervescent yet creamy. The base notes of sheer musk and wood, are like adding a comfortable chair and a soft grey blanket to your garden. This perfume makes me happy and content.

Men, please wear this! I would love to smell this on more men. So much sexier than the usual masculines.

House: Frederic Malle
Nose: Jean-Claude Ellena
Notes: angelica, juniper, coriander, musk, cedar

Diptyque - Eau Duelle

Vanilla bean gin and tonic

Sometimes I like a little background information on a perfume before I try it, it speeds things along and there are so many perfumes to write about. But other times I like to go in commando, without support. To have no idea what the perfumer was going for, but try to get a real first impression, uninfluenced by the marketing.

So, I flew blind with Eau Duelle. I knew vaguely that it was supposed to have vanilla in it, but that's all I knew before I got my sample.

Here are my first impressions:

Spray 1: Hmmm, what is that? Something herbal, but why does it remind me of alcohol? Oh yes, there's the vanilla, but what is that herbal/alcohol note? Is that mint?
Spray 2:  OH! Juniper berries! It's gin!

It's a gin and tonic. Dry, herbal, a touch citrusy. a little piney. And then, cosying up right beside the glass is vanilla. Not too sweet, or at least balanced by the G&T. A smoky vanilla bean. A darkly sweet Yang to the light, dry, slightly bitter and herbal Yin of the gin and tonic.

So, to teh internets I go, to research the notes for Eau Duelle. Strangely enough, Fragrantica lists no vanilla. What it does list is cardamom, elemi resin, juniper berries, saffron, tea and amber. Ooookay. Amber could be the vanilla, amber accords are often sweet and vanilla-y. Juniper berries check. Cardamom and saffron... no, I can't really smell those. But what is elemi resin?

According to Wikipedia, elemi "is a fragrant resin with a sharp pine and lemon-like scent." An aromatherapy site says it has a "light and mint-like aroma, with notes of lemon." (Cool picture there too.) So it seems to me that elemi is the major ingredient I am smelling in Eau Duelle. The scent that, combined with juniper, is giving me the sensation of a light, dry gin and tonic. Together with the smoky, sweet vanilla, I guessed that I had discovered the dueling duo behind the concept of Eau Duelle. So, finally, I surf to the Diptyque website to check my theory... Oh.

I was wrong. The Diptyque website states that "Eau Duelle is based on two contrasting scents--smoky frankincense, dark and animalistic, and fresh white vanilla, sweet and light."

Frankincense? Really? I love frankincense, but I thought that it was one of the few notes I could recognize right off the bat. Frankincense has a dry, uplifting, tickle in my nose feeling that I love, but I don't smell in Eau Duelle. Perhaps M. Pellegrin was working on a pine angle of frankincense or perhaps the smoke in the vanilla is meant to be an incense smoke?

Maybe I'm still on the wrong track. In this video interview, Fabrice Pellegrin says the concept of Eau Duelle was based on the two types of vanilla used, a "dark" bourbon vanilla, with animalistic aspects, and a "light" firnat vanilla. The two vanillas then take a journey along the spice route.



It's a nice story, but I don't find the vanilla that remarkable, nor do I find Eau Duelle particularly spicy.

Oh well. In the end, what does it matter? I like Eau Duelle. It's balanced, light and dark, bitter and sweet. It's great in cold and hot weather and I think it would make an excellent masculine or feminine (like all Diptyques). Excellent.



House: Diptyque
Nose: Fabrice Pellegrin
Notes: Cardamom, Cypriol India, elemi, juniper, saffron,
calamus, black tea, olibanum somalia
(Frankincense), firnat vanilla, bourbon vanilla

Video: Vanilla Bean Gin Julep

This is a hint for the perfume I will be reviewing tomorrow. Can you guess what it will be?

Learn How to make a vanilla bean gin julep. For more Gin How-To Videos & Articles, visit WonderHowTo.