Islay

Austere. It's one of those very austere men's fragrances Floris made pre-1970. Please disregard all the romantic words Floris is trying to sell this with ".... Inspired by the tasing notes and deep flavours of the rich amber liquor, as well as the beautiful island known as “The Queen of the Hebrides”, Islay is a celebration of the time-honoured ritual of appreciating the deep complex flavours and subtle nuances of whisky. Earthy green top notes of galbanum bring to mind the....." Bull bleep and I wonder just what a tasing note was. I don't think they meant teasing, but maybe. Islay does not smell of whisky. Admittedly, rosequeen has been sober since 1985 (yeah me!), but I've smelled whisky since then and this isn't whisky. It's possible it might smell like the air down wind from a whisky still, and that isn't always good. It could smell like anything; how would we know? The problem is that almost no one has ever been to the Hebrides, where Islay is. I'm lucky to have gotten to Inverness, as are most travelers. But we've read books about old myths and legends or listened to folk music where the name Islay is bandied about, and we love fragrances so we're gullible. Simplistic. What Floris Islay does smell of is bergamot, orris, musk, and sandalwood. Don't think you're getting a great patchouli amber vanilla bomb. Those notes just aren't there. And there's nothing pungent like those old Floris fragrances of the past. It's no competition even for Mahon Leather. But it's not horrible. It's probably good in the spring, late spring. And for a man; there is nothing unisex here, even though saying so will sell more bottles. Ideal for office wear, if such a thing still matters; only you can smell it after the first 30 minutes. It positively won't keep a woman feeling warm on a cold day in November, when I received this bottle. Mercifully not at full retail, but from someone else who probably also had to blind buy it and sprayed it once and said oh, I don't think so. I'd love to know exactly where on Floris' ledger Islay was listed. Floris has been in business since when, 1730 or so? Must have been in the 1800's. I have several pre-1960 Floris scents, but not this. I suspect almost no one is alive who ever remembers the original. They'd have to be 95 years old, and few who are that old are still buying fragrances. So who did Floris think their potential customer was? Younger men who want to explore the very wide range of what are now being called barbershop scents, and the vast number of women English majors who remember vaguely wanting to read old myths and legends but who never actually found the time.