Jardanel

Jardanel has remained one of my favorite fragrances since the early 1970's, when a close friend brought me back a bottle of the parfum from Paris. At the time you could still buy it in the US in places like I. Magnin, and why Jean Desprez didn't hype it even half as much as it hyped Bal a Versailles I'll never understand. Jardanel is rich and green, not only in color but it scent, and far more chypre than floral. The top notes disappear in seconds on me, replaced by a heavy concentration of myrrh, patchouli, ylang-ylangrose, narcissus, and less jasmine than you'd think. I don't smell that much carnation. The base notes are heaven, and heavy on the balsam, benjoin, oakmoss, and vetiver. It lasts at least 8 hours on me. At the time, Jardanel was marketed strictly to women, but I think some men would wear this. It's not like a contemporary chypre and I have to laugh when I see leather being a base note. At no time in the 1900's was leather ever stated as being a perfume note. Tabac Blond even didn't say so. Ditto the "honey" note. Absolutely not a fragrance note in the 20th century. I don't recall seeing it in perfumes until at least 2003. Despite many similar notes, Jardanel is most definitely not an oud like scent, or an oriental fragrance. But one that would be most welcome today, remade by some enterprising niche perfumer wanting to bring back a fabulous scent overlooked in what should have been its heyday.

The small beads of liquid from my 1/8 oz parfum release an expansive trail, and it shocks me, given the age. From my research of its relaunch in 1973, Jean Desprez invested a lot into the formulation, to the extent that it was prohibitively expensive, thus production was discontinued a handful of years later. This is lush—like some heavenly treacle, with the densest florals in damp soil, carnation-decorated pomanders dipped in cola, bitter-vegetal myrrh and a stimulating, earthy-aperitif-smelling cistus. It's an amber tinted at the edges with harlequin green that would begin to glow if one were to take a hit of acid. There is both tolu and peru balsams, giving me the sensation of dry and sweet old-fashioned cinnamon drops, overlayed with oakmoss, feeling shimmery and sensual, even as the beads have long dried on my skin. I'm reminded somewhat of Tabu, Youth Dew, or Royal Secret, dirty spice powder concoctions rolled in friable resins, but Jardanel is stickier, woodier, and more a chypre by design. Lest I forget: the Mousse de Saxe dry-down. Oh yes! The ultimate, the coup de grace, what makes me declare each tiny application a sacrament. I may want to now seek out the Eau de Cologne to lavishly baptize myself.

I came across my bottle of Jardanel perfume and dabbed it on. Oh. My. Gosh. As a chypre, oakmoss, civet lover this perfume is beyond my dreams. My husband and friends will hate it precisely because of those notes. I don't care. I'm obsessed with it. I've had it tucked away for 20 years or so and forgot about until I started reorganizing my perfume collection. This perfume is stunning. Is amazing for those who appreciate fine perfumes of the past. I can't wax eloquent on the various notes, I can only rave about the combined effect on my senses.

Jardanel. One of the best citrus leather chypres ever created

Just received a labeled sample of Desprez JARDANEL in the pure parfum from France. And it's magnificent, as I knew it would be. Very rich and natural... "they don't make it like that anymore" type of scent. The initial takeoff smells VERY much like Coca-Cola... even moreso that other fragrances which have claimed that reputation, like EL YOUTH DEW, TOUJOURS MOI or Dana TABU. Definitely present is some sweet birch or methyl salicylate. Soon it becomes very balsamic and warm-spicy, with balsam Tolu, ginger and clove predominating. The floralcy is dark, syrupy, indistinct, and, IMHO only serves to comment upon the bold balsam/spice qualities. No doubt castoreum and civet are adding to the glowering, sultry beauty of JARDANEL. If there are traditional "leather" tanning notes here-- cade, pinetar, Siberian birchtar, etc.-- they are very subtle indeed. Though the perfume's name suggests a "jardin", there is nothing frilly, green, pastoral, "girly" or brightly floral going on here at all. In fact, it would not be a mistake to suggest that JARDANEL is the "mother"... maybe even the direct inspiration... for YOUTH DEW... and the "grandmother", I'd say, of Tauer MAROC POUR ELLE and Lagerfeld KL FEMMES: the dark, balsamic, "mystical brew" of a chypre. JARDANEL is the ultimate winter perfume, maybe even suggesting Christmas coziness. Today the scent is very hard to locate, which is a shame... it's a marvel and a beauty.