Ajaccio Violets Cologne

Reminds me of my very early days with Royal Bain de Caron, but this is just a very pure violet, no candy or wine. It's crisp and purple, with a wet, cooling, almost Gendarme-like air about it during the top notes. Toward the middle, I start to pick up on what I guess is a rather Edwardian-feeling rose...possibly drifting toward more feminine territory. Up close, you might confuse this component for a sachet of dried flower petals in the type of store that sells victorian dolls, ornate candlesticks, and wooden plaques with country witticisms to hang in your kitchen, but it doesn't last long. Overall I like it, and I consider it a worthy masculine floral. For a while, the slight overbearing quality at the beginning of each sniff gives me reservations, but fortunately by the end, the Gendarme-ism is back and it gets cleaner and greener, like Gendarme Green, which redeems it. I agree that it's less harsh than Grey Flannel, and I can't help but favor the 1.7 oz bottle of this stuff over the 4 (6? 8?) oz. oil-drum size that Gendarme Green comes in.

Viola Odorata in a bottle. Yes, the small, scented violets, a bushel of them, and you bury your nose in them and pick up the accompanying leaves and earth. It's almost intoxicating to start, but then subsides in a soothing lull, somewhat rosy, still ever verdant, but mildly sweet. I could swim in Ajaccio Violets blissfully. The windows are open, its mid-April, spring is near its zenith, and all the violets carpet the ground. They look almost as if they are bittersweetly smiling. Ajaccio Violets is a bittersweet smile, a wistful story, an ephemeral Spring. Ajaccio Violets gives me the same sense of deja vu that Royal Bain de Caron or L'Heure Bleue stir up in my mind; memories just beyond my grasp, distinctly felt but not knowing exactly where or when, and the yearning to return to something or somewhere. I love those very personal reactions that even the least likely of fragrances can compel.

This one I have as an atomizer - behind the ears, back, chest, wrists - the scent rises as it reacts with body heat. Perfect on a hot summers day. This is Corsica - baking heat on craggy mountains, deep azure sea that meets the horizon, rocks cracked with tiny intense violets in the half shade of a crevice or the root of an olive tree. It smells wonderful in the dry down, you can't place what it is - but pure violets and light sweet sweat mingling - invigorating and eminently masculine. This is the Napoleon of fragrances, unique, assured, suave, fresh yet raffined - wearing this I am the Corsican farm boy who became the greatest General of the modern era and Emperor of France. Vive this tiny flower! Sillage on me is good - I get 4 hours but its a close scent. Jospehine gets it in my arms on the throne.

I like violet-centric fragrances very much and Ajaccio Violets is my favourite of the genre. Compared to other (female targeted) violets (i.e. Penhaligon's and Insolence) I find AV to be much more green and bright, and really not powdery at all. (I do enjoy powdery perfumes, so my tolerance is no doubt higher than one whose collection comprises mainly sparkly, citruses.) It is sweet and elegant, and would probably appeal to gourmand lovers. Ajaccio Violets is the epitome of a unisex fragrance, however I would love to catch a whiff of it whilst walking past a well-groomed businessmen on Jermym Street. Projection and Longevity are average. I would purchase again - for myself and also as a gift for a male friend.

Fresh, clean and green, without power or candy sweetness. There are more notes than just violet, but it’s the flower, leaves and stem that come to the fore, making this suitable for men and women. A great historical scent, sadly now discontinued. I have spare bottle to buy if anyone is interested, but only one!