L’Etrog

It's crazy how much better this fragrance is than its uber soapy sibling, L'ETROG ACQUA. I've never seen or smelled the ETROG fruit myself. I don't know if it smells like limes, but to me, L'etrog smells mostly like limes. On first spray, I get hit with this fizzy, bright, fresh, and slightly sweet citrus smell. This opening tickles my nose the way a carbonated water does. For this reason I am always reminded of a sparkling water with limes in it, on a sunny summer day. About 15 minutes later, this calms down to reveal green, leafy notes that keep this fragrance feeling fresh. There is a VERY slight sweetness rounding out the whole scent, which apparently is the date note. All together, in the far dry down, this scent ends up smelling fresh, lime-y, slightly soapy, a bit sweet, and just the tiniest bit powdery. A super refreshing, well balanced citrus fragrance. A lot of masculine citrus fragrances end up being sharp and bitter, which I'm never into. I'm into this one, though. I can imagine wearing this in Italy, on a beach, when it's 90 degrees. Sillage, projection, and longevity are not great. With notes this bright, I would never assume that they would project or last, but the price is pretty steep for this frag to not perform well. However, if I had $115 to burn, I'd be happy to add a 50ml bottle to my collection, for special days/vacations. EDIT: after burning through my whole sample of this within a week, I have to say, I do miss it a lot. I will probably be buying the full bottle of this, even though it's not a great performer. In all honesty, performance isn't everything, folks. It's about how the fragrance makes you feel. And this frag, although not a game changer, makes me feel great. That's worth the price for me. FINAL EDIT, 1 YEAR LATER: I have the full bottle of this and wore it all throughout last summer. As the weather warms up again where I am, I reach for this bottle more often than not - it is a staple in my collection. It is truly transportive. It makes me feel like I'm on a resort on the coast of California. It has the effect of heightening my mood. It is bright, zesty, slightly powdery, but also luxurious, masculine, and playful. It's also inoffensive, a crowd pleaser, and the perfect sillage and longevity for this type of scent. Occasionally, it's a beautiful bed-time scent. I can't get enough. This is the sleeper of this house!

Remarkably fresh and nuanced citrus based fragrance, L'Etrog by Arquiste captures the Mediterranean's sun drenched atmosphere perfectly. A hesperidic opening featuring bright Calabrian citron awakens the senses and gives the wearer a sense of exuberance. To me, citron seems to be a gentle pairing of sour, acidic lemon and tart lime notes. Myrtle blossom's sweet and pervasive scent softens the sharp edges of the citron. It's as if the blossoms have been hit by the sun's heat all day and are gently permeating the air. Lush date fruit is noticed in the background. It provides a modicum of dried fruit accord, one which is both succulent and honey drenched. Faint vetiver in the base is dry and woody. As with other citrus based scents, the sillage and longevity are poor. Despite this, L'Etrog is satisfying even if only as a radiating skin scent. (161)

The floral note stands out a lot for me, making this perfect for a woman and irresistible on a man. Myrtle stand out for both it's oil, herbal and metallic and it's flowers which are nicely sweet and not overdone. This cologne does not radiate 10 feet from you but it will definitely make someone come closer to you. I like to wear this to the bar. The citron exists as a soft base for melding all the wonderful notes and not as a screeching top note.

I could see myself wearing this on a hot tropical night, drinking gin and tonics, catching the occasional breeze, while wearing white and talking and laughing with friends and flirting with guys. smells like a fresh pack of menthols. in a good way. herbally and fresh. I love this.

Zingggggg! Beguilingly fresh and floral to my nose - way better than many a citrus cologne/splash/woody, and done with restraint and quirky attitude. As you might expect from Arquiste, who I've got a lot of time for. Undeniably bright, airy and exhilarating, with a zestiness balancing just right between sweet and acid. I've never met a citron in real life - though I know they're highly prized - but if it's true that they're a sweeter, more flowery, more toothsome version of the lemon, then this does the fruit full justice. Not at all sickly or syrupy; no soap or cleaning products; its sweetness is organic, seeming to meld in seamlessly with the spicy/peppery/aromatic aura of the citron's rind. The citrus end reminds me of loads of other Stuff I Like (MFK Aqua Universalis, Parfums d'Empire Iskander, Lutens Fleur du Citronnier), but with a slightly drier, more ironic tone of voice - and without any of the often-bullying ingredients those use to eke out the citrus buzz for longer - L'Etrog doesn't need clean musk or grunty oakmoss or heady jasmine to do its thing. HOWEVER... there's the rub ... L'Etrog's burst of blossomy beauty at the start doesn't survive more than 10-20 minutes on me; gorgeous zestiness makes itself felt for about 60-90 mins; a beautiful aura of clean linens and serene white-painted spaces lingers for maybe 2-3h max. If I could afford to bathe in it a few times a day: would adore. Because I can't: will leave it alone, with great respect, but not many backward glances, because there ARE citrus scents of this calibre and classiness that can last a little longer.

Arquiste L'Etrog is mostly a juicy lemonade on my skin. I don't smell date per se, but despite the aromatic herbal aspect of lemon and citron, the citrus accord in L'Etrog is actually quite sweet and balmy, contrary to some citrus colognes which can translate as sharp and bitter. During the first hour of its development, besides the sweet lemon, there's also a terpenic nuance akin to pine, which is probably due to the myrtle note since the essential oil from myrtle leaves and twigs is described as slightly camphoraceous. The combined result occasionally makes me think of lemon scented cleaning product, but not in an aggressive way. In fact, it's quite tonic and helps to restrain the prominent sweet citrus. The sweetness slowly get diluted with time, revealing a subtle, velvety vetiver and woody undertone. But overall, there's nothing dramatic during its evolution, L'Etrog remains an affable sweet lemon until the end. The sillage is relatively close to skin, and the longevity can reach to 9 hours, although I had to stick my nose on my wrist to smell it after 3 hours. With its smooth, pleasant sweetness, L'Etrog is indeed very easy to enjoy as a thirst-quenching citrus fragrance, especially to those who usually find citrus cologne too masculine or too sharp. But at the end of the day, L'Etrog didn't bring much anything new to the table, and it's not that unique as well, which makes the price a bit hard to swallow according to my personal preference.

My husband smelled my wrist shortly after I applied L'Etrog today and said, "mmm...reminds me of Europe." Mind you, he never saw the description of this fragrance beforehand, and I never told him a thing - - not even the name. He hit the nail on the head with this one. The fragrance is so natural and so evocative of warm locales in Europe. At the beginning, the sweet, warm dates present themselves with the cooling, camphor-like myrtle and the piquant citron. The citrus is the star of this fragrance and lasts throughout the entire wearing. The fragrance is not linear, but it does not change too much once it settles in. The vetiver and continuing citrus hang out for the remainder of the wearing. This is a beautiful fragrance. I'm having trouble coming up with words that can appropriately describe how gorgeous it is. You simply have to wear it. As for the unisex aspect, I think it can be worn by both. I'm a lady, and the sweetness of the dates help L'Etrog feel more feminine but not so much that it cannot be worn by men. So many men's citrus fragrances are sharp and stinging. It's nice to come across a softer one.

Sparkling part of etrog cedar, spicy fresh myrtle, whiffs of sweet dates, and damp woods. Sweet and bubbly at the beginning, it remains refreshing, comfortable, enjoyable and often sweet. It has both an "animalic" and bitter unisex masculine elegance in a softer yuzu style, and sweet floral feminine indoles, almost like a moist violet. It is quite funny, beautiful in the open air, interesting and dynamic even if the long dry, clean and woody bottom is less so and leaves me in a bit ... off-guard. With the same evolution but on the contrary it would be perfect for my nose. Still interesting, versatile and pleasant with a bright, elegant ponytail of hairspray and a sweet, green pencil thread.

I think the opening of my L’Etrog sample went off so I won’t comment on that part. I suspect it was from the heatwave we had in the Pacific Northwest earlier this past summer. My collection was safe, but I forgot to move my sample box....lesson learned. This is a dry, arid lemon scent, with zero sweetness — I don’t pick up the date note—sitting on top of a vetiver and wood note base. There’s even a natural bitterness to the overall composition I like. And even though I didn’t get the full evolution, the mid and base stayed with me for hours. Quite a feat for a citrus dominant scent. Would love to test this again, a firm like for now.

This is very nice. Definitely a warm weather fragrance, more day than night. Citrus yes, grapefruit especially. Not overpowering, but noticeable. Not a scent for teenagers. It's more class than it is fun. It's more what a confident person wears while having a bite on a patio restaurant in Italy or southern France. Perhaps not "standoutish" enough to be a signature scent, or one of those scents you fall head over heels in love with, but quality none the less. As another reviewer suggested, it's very wearable. 4/5 for me. Maybe not something I'd go out and buy again, but if someone gave it to me as a gift I'd be very happy with it.

The notes list looks like a 17th century, south italian still life and the fragrance smells the part. A lightly peeled Citron sits on a wooden plate, surrounded by a handful of dates, atop a bedding of green leaves. A peaceful scene, painted by a simple citrus freshie with sweet and green touches.

L'Etrog reads very, very masculine on my chemistry as compared with it on paper and other reviewers (and I (F) primarily enjoy unisex fragrances). On me, from first spray through last whiff, there was a very strong babershop contingent. Aside from that, very bright, acidic citrus — more sharp citrus peel and spray than round juice. It get a degree of soapiness in the dry down that also feels masculine to my nose. Sadly I got no dates, no woodiness... While I really loved the scent sprayed on paper, this is a hard no for my chemistry.

Grabbed a decant of this because it sounded interesting. The citron is bitter. Like sucking on sour grapefruit pith. The other notes don't gel with it at all. Palm leaf and citron, I thought, what an interesting combination. Yeah, not so much. And dates? YUM. Nope. Just bitter, bitter citrus pith and palm leaf. Don't get much wood or vetiver. Maybe a little myrtle, which is also really bitter to my nose. Don't let the interesting note pyramid fool you. This is hot garbage. Hard pass. Edit: I revisited my decant recently, and had a different experience. While the citron is still a bit too bitter, saying it's "hot garbage" may have been a bit harsh. Still not a big fan, but not terrible. I do like the palm leaf, so I wish that was stronger. The bitter citron is too strong for my liking, but it may play different on your skin, so don't let my experience deter you from trying it. It's interesting, but not for me.

I've worn Arquiste L'ETROG several times now, having acquired a small bottle from OpenSky for the third round of Chandler Burr's Untitled series. From the beginning, this perfume reminded me of Histoires de Parfums 1873 (Colette), and even now, knowing that it is not the same, I cannot wear L'ETROG without thinking immediately of 1873. It must be the combination of grapefruit (listed here as citron, but to me it smells just like grapefruit!), including juice and peel, with a candied sweetness, imparted here by dates, there by caramel, which is causing the association in my mind. I find the quality of the two compositions to be on a par--this really does smell "niche", if that means anything--and I might consider adding a bottle of L'ETROG to my collection if I did not already have one of 1873. Even in a side-by-side comparison (before the reveal), I managed to convince myself that the difference I was smelling was due to batch variations! This is nice, no doubt, but not compelling for me. It's a somewhat quirky cologne which moves toward the gourmand realm without quite going all the way. This sort of composition really defies categorization, and I only encountered it twice before: in 1873 and in Bond no 9 CONEY ISLAND. I consider these three perfumes all to be "event" or "novelty" scents, not something with any obviously appropriate applications, but which are enjoyable nonetheless to wear. L'ETROG is a fine introduction to the house of Arquiste, and I'm sure that I'll be exploring the offerings of this line further...

Just finished my sample On the first wearing it opens with a spicy, green, powdery, citrus - herbal, kinda fougerey, floral, grassy, woody On the 2nd wearing - it smells like a variation of Bois Du Portugal. It does seem to get stronger later on. Odd performance but still good. Late dry down is lemon, lavender, & a little bit of ambroxan. On the third wearing -this is after wearing Fiero by xerjoff for 8 hours and taking a shower before applying Etrog, it has a great citrus opening but there’s something about the Myrtle or palm leaf that gives it an ozonic effect I’m not terribly fond of - again the citrus is great but my mind finds ozonic fresh marine notes in perfume to be a little too uncanny valley, theres a finely balanced oily Vetiver note in there and a faint undercurrent of something bitter - almost like bitter citrus pith - I can see other folks digging this but for me it was just ok, I never got any date notes 3-4 sprays each time - projection varies each time, sometimes weak, other times strong

L'Etrog is an interesting mix of sour (citrus) and sweet (dates). It goes in decidedly fresh, the citrus notes, provided by citron rather than more commonly Bergamot, provide short but bracing opening for the following sweetness provided by the dates. There is a short lived white floral note in the opening that subsides as soon as the citron does and skews the composition towards the feminine side (though a confident guy could easily pull this one off). The sweetness provided by the dates stick around for a good 5-6 hours after the top notes fade. Silly backstory aside, this is strongly reminiscent of Tom Ford's "Rive d'Ambre" but ticks in at a lower cost and better longevity (around 6 hours) which makes it a better deal. Strongly recommend for folks looking for a different take on the typical citrus/vetiver scent.

The air of the Medieval Italy... I am not an amateur of citrusy scents but here it is not a SCENt but a SCENe. You really feel yourself in the depth of this eternal family night garden, in its dark airy oils, in its calm harmony wraping your soul... and something “medievally” mystique vaguely alerting your heart... It is natural to recommend this scent to night summer party. But I prefer to recommend it to... sunny midday siesta in big city as well as for sunny frosty day of winter. Fantastic contrast in soul’s imaginarium is guaranteed... On me the scent is very close to the skin, deep, profound and very personal, with outstanding longevity.

I like this. In fact, i kinda like this a lot. Once again, im pushing the envelope with these gender based frags. The strong floral note didn't bother me one bit, albeit I can definitely imagine a guy not liking this fragrance. Very strong opening. For a second, i thought this was gonna hang around for a while. To my chagrin, this is lacking in the duration department. Maybe you can find good use for this on a dinner or movie date but definitely not for all day use. This is a bit pricey considering that it only last 3 hours.

I haven't tried this but the name caught my eye. This scent combination dates much further back than Medieval Calabria- all the way back to First Temple times in ancient Israel, when worshipers at the Temple would celebrate the feast of Tabernacles with the biblically prescribed 'four species': etrog (citron), date palm fronds, myrtle branches and willows(which have no scent). How intriguing that someone thought to create a fragrance celebrating this ancient ritual!

A citron hologram introduces a honestly crafted woody-citrus fragrance that's refined, nice smelling and very wearable. The woody notes (incredibly not overdone) and some sweetness, provide some sustain to an otherwise extremely fleeting composition that while resulting definitely pleasant, it still doesn't have the ability to stand out in todays overpopulated niche market... Nice yet somewhat forgettable. Rating: 6.5-7/10