Derby

Update: I'm descovering new wonderfull things about Derby with each wearing, it seems. After the opening, Im getting an exquisite carnation note. The full and beautiful essence of what I remember carnation to smell like. An expensive tincture must have been used! I understand how some say they get no leather. When I first tried Derby, I could clearly pick it out. Now I guess, I smell it more in a fragrance accord with the aldehydes. Leather is treated with birch-tar. So that's the smell we associate with a leather smell. Birch tar is in Derby, and it's done really well. After a few weeks of my Derby bottle being able to breath; the birch tar or leather seems to have gotten more intense, almost a kind of burning. Birch tar is a gum resin, maybe this is a birch-tar dominant fragrance, ah-ha ! I think one thing I found about great frags like MFK Lumier Noir PH; they blend contrasting notes so well. Derby has that. There is a darkness and depth to it, yet its light and zesty. I think it is right to think of it as fougere, with geranium vs lavender. Equipage vintage is my favorite classic. It's timeless in its beautiful composition: A classic masterpiece. This 2012 reformulated Derby is similar in that sense. But Derby is a different animal. It has a nice distinct leather with geranium in the heart. A nice peppery note. Then a great birch tar, with beautiful dark woods in the base, with a noticable patchouli accord. There are some soapy aldehydes, but not overdone. They add a nice effervescence. This fragrance smells like some of Roja Dove fragrances that go for $500/ 50 ml. This Derby has just as good quality of notes, blending, and performance. I must have gotten a fresh decant from an eBay seller, because I get the orange and bergamot citruses now in the background. So this fragrance masterfully blends these contrasting notes. Its dark woods and leather, yet stays fresh with the geranium, pink pepper, and citrus nuances. This is similar to Knize 10, but its smoother and more elegant and refined. Very masculine. Greetings and thanks to Kristo, who praised this on his YouTube channel. I just pulled the trigger on a good deal from eBay. This is like a leather fougere, whereas the vintage is a leather chypre. This has more weight than most fougers, but its fresh enough for about all seasons, except hot Summer days. PS: My bottle came in, and it is a 2013 batch. The citruses are a bit flat compared to the 10 ml I reviewed from. Try to get a newer bottle, ask for the batch code on the bottom. Rating: 9.25/10 God bless. John 3:16

Update: After a month now, of using my 5 ml, this is better than I thought. I love great classics like Bel Ami, Equipage. This is quite different than those, but in the same class. Even this reformulation smells vintage, and rich, great woods, spices, not a dominant leather, well blended and refined. In the past few years I put together a colection of 50 best fragrances for me, classic, niche, designers. I dont want to add to it, but I'm looking for a good deal now to cap off my colection with Derby. I have Knize 10, and vintage Bel Ami, This is way better than Knize 10, and is close to Bel Ami, just as rich, but has more fresh notes than Bel Ami. Now that the chilly Fall weather has begun, Derby comes alive as a great Fall and Winter fragrance. My rather neutral review below, was done durring Summer months, when I wadn't quite as impressed by it. I was exploring many of the classics when I first got into the hobby. This seems to be a benchmark classic, I'm glad I finally tried. I have vintage Equipage, Bel Ami, Habit Rouge. But Derby was one I had not tried yet, to see if it is special enough to spend the $200./ 100 ml. And the answer is no. It is a very nice chypre / fougere, the carnation or geranium is dominant, I would have guessed lavender. The leather is not distinct like in Bel Ami, it is part of an accord that blends into the whole. The two things I thought of when I smelled it, first impression is SOAP, and then dated. Derby is great, but it's dated feel is a bit cloying to me. Vintage Equipage, Bel Ami are old compositions, but they have a timeless beauty to them. Like the lines of a classic Porsche, perfect form, perfect fragrance composition. So if you love the old classics, and are a colector of them, this may be a must have. For me, I will enjoy my 5 ml of Derby, but it's not special enough for me to purchase a bottle. I don't care for cinnamon, and it is the dominant spice, making a well blended accord with carnation and leather. Upon 2 nd wearing, I'm picking up a lot of aldehydes, which is why Christo on youtube likes it I think. Derby has an anamalic civet like note, now it's reminding me of Kouros and Delon's Iquitos. Maybe this was the forrunner of more modern day classics like YSL's Kouros. Performance is close to beast mode. This is some potent stuff, I am starting to like it more, but I have Iquitos and Knize 10 which have similar vib. If you want to get your nose on this great classic, it may be worth at least getting a decant, I'm glad I did. Rating: 9.2 5/10 God bless you. John 3:16

I have to say after finally getting a decent sized sample to try, I do have some of the original, had taken about 3 minis to build a small atomizer. I love the original derby. but I have to say I love this one too. maybe as much. it is still a wonderful delightful scent. I would wear this with pride. two very nice comments right out of the gate. love to get a compliment on a fragrance. I will have to take a little time and actually compare them side by side. my observation is this is fantastic. an automatic love for me and in no way to me is a step down from vintage derby. kudos to the original, but this is nice. wonderfully aromatic and pleasing to me. guerlain is such a fabulous house and one of my favorite houses, I have loved many of their offerings. bottom line, this is a masterfully blended scent, as the finest of scotch whiskey's .a fragrance that takes you on a journey as the scent truly becomes part of you. it smells even better to me two hours into it. sorry guerlain, I never should have doubted, I presumed too much, this is different to me but in a good way...I will always love the original as well. spicy, masculine still maintaining an old school vibe. leather and smoky I guess, it is quality and projection was excellent for me.. so far longevity is not an issue at all. alfarom's review of this is spot on for me, among some others of course. the ones that did not care for it surprised me but ok but maybe expectations were different.. one thing I have learned it is really a personal viewpoint and I try to keep an open mind..just glad I sampled it. only makes me wish I had more of it. prices are very high for this but maybe not out of line for its quality?.. open to discussion I suppose. you truly need to try some and judge for yourself, maybe think of it as a new fragrance? or the fragrance it is now.. what bugs me is all of the journeys and monies I have spent trying different fragrances when perhaps I would have ahead of the game if I had just purchased this?.but you get caught in this vicious circle of exploring scents..it is an addicting hobby for me. thumbs up,, way up for me.

The original 1985 Derby was built on a powerful, castoreum and oak moss base that has, in the current version reviewed here, been IFRA'd to near oblivion. This mandated change has fundamentally altered the nature of Derby. This is still a leather fragrance, but now the leather accord is a product of the interplay between the remaining traces of oak moss and smoky birch tar. The big, powerhouse fragrance that was has vanished with the castoreum that once gave it such an animalic base. In its place we have a smoother, less challenging and more versatile fragrance that is still beautifully blended from top quality ingredients. So what is left of Derby today? Quite a lot and all of it is good. There is a citrus/carnation opening. The carnation here is lifelike and as good as you find in current perfumes anywhere. The heart features a woody spice blend that is smooth and clove-forward. Fans of Chanel Egoïste and Creed Bois De Portugal will find this blend familiar and on par with these well regarded scents. The spicy woods are joined in this mid stage by a very nice geranium note that has a trace of mintyness. As the heart notes fade, a dark patchouli bridges the scent into the birch tar and oak moss derived leather accord. It is all very elegant and refined. The gender tags are masculine; the projection is considerable and the longevity is extended. This fragrance is easy to overspray. The bottle in which the current version is presented is attractive and interesting with the wood surround that is shared with all of the Guerlain Les Parisiens line of boutique exclusives here presented in black. This is a lovely fragrance that works well for mature men in fall, winter and early spring. It is hard to find and expensive, but well worth seeking out. As it stands, Derby proves that reworking of great fragrances need not always yield disappointing shadows of the classics. Recommended.

A MACHO MASTERPIECE!! If Kouros by YSL is the ultimate (gay) bodybuilder's signature, this one here should be considered the classic 80ies straight, butch, heterosexual macho fragrance. However, it is not of a slimy gel-based Italian machismo origin of an Italian's Adriano Gelentano or Austrian's Falco, more like MAGNUM (Tom Selleck) or for our German-speaking peers, think SCHIMANSKI (Goetz George). If this fragrance was a famous singer, it would be Tom Jones at his peak in the 70ies-80ies, riding onto the video film set on a 17 hands tall German Oldenburger bay horse, while whistling (football style) his Rottweiler to heel. Upon dismounting his pedigree stallion, his golden cross pendant gets tangled up in his hairy chest. OMG, another childhood crush is just unfolding in front of me: Pernell Roberts playing oldest son Adam in Bonanza. I was so madly in love with him. A spiced and amplified carnation with tons of horse-sweat marinated bridle leather, suede gloves, while trotting over fresh wood shavings and ducking one's head under the fragrant branches of the orange trees, hanging low with the heavy burden of ripening yet still green oranges. It is truly a joy to smell this on a beautiful masculine man. I would tell every 20/30-something to piss off from this! This is a true man's scent. Even I would feel terribly outplaced wearing this and I am 46 with a manly belly, lol. Verdict: Masculine Masterpiece for the outdoorsy go-getting womanizing, macho-equestrian with a quest to take on the parent's farm and grab the bull by his horns. 10/10