Terrible Teddy

Here's the lowdown on Teddy. It's not very good. I'm sorry Penhaligon's I'm a fan of the brand but many of this line are poorly conceived, poorly executed and not up to the standard of the regular line. Taste wise this fragrance is well up my street though. I impressed the lady in the store when identifying pink pepper in the opening. I don't know why she was impressed it's so blatant it's unbelievable, and as a schinus molle enthusiast I should be jumping for joy, especially in a broadly modern, unapologetically unnatural type of composition...but something about this isn't that great. Teddy lacks depth, it's that simple. The opening is a spicy, incense accord and for all the pink pepper and actually a cumin/caraway character creeping in, it feels a little flat and lifeless. Teddy didn't last very well on my skin either. I'm sorry because the Rhino stopper is one of the coolest so far. I have a sample so I guess I'll wear it again properly but I doubt my opinion will change. UPDATE: Let this serve as a reminder not to judge to hastily based on a spritz on your hand in store. To be fair I did state that I loved pink pepper and incense and that Teddy smelled great in the opening, but like some 'bro' Youtuber I got all fixated on 'performance' and value for money. I stick to what I said about the line and Penhaligon's pushing out the releases as if they are on some treadmill, but Birsch's efforts here are decent and Teddy is a fascinating, sparkly pink pepper and incense accord which smells remarkably sweet airy, with a hint of leather tinged smoke, smooth but with some jagged angularity to it. It's fresh and uplifting to me, not quite as much as some (cruely) Olibanum based incense because it has slightly more heft, Labdanum and frankincense being prominent. Truth is I'd rather have this than the one I own Lord George and I'm reasonably fond of George so that's praise indeed.

I love it. It gets me reminiscing on future past lives in parallel universes. That synthetic ambroxan thing with frankincense is all a tad Comme Des Garcons /Gucci/Prada circa 2000. Lets all wear appropriately austere minimalist garbs and do our signage in 90s kanji fonts. This and Inimitable William Penhaligon are not far from each other with the freshness, and the ambroxan and incense, just that IWP is using the (Haitian?) vetiver and other things, and this Teddy dude has the leather so there's the hint of fruity sweetness that leather has, where IWP has that touch of green and wood. I think they're about 50% similar as fresh incense ambroxan experiences. This with a tad more projection might be a nice option, though thinking about it, that result might feel a little juvenile/commercial. I once was involuntarily squirted by an overzealous assistant with a Spicebomb flanker that reminded me of flyspray and I felt it obnoxiously projected, so we probably wouldn't actually want that with this profile. EDIT: Fades deeply into the background after 5-6 hours - by 8 hours huff extremely deep for even a faint trace of ashy powder metallic something, in contrast IWP's overall profile would be intact through the lingering phase, both sweet and green. Is this worth the money? Depends if there's something else with the same/similar profile and a bit more duration (which kind of rules out CdG). If not yeah, if that's how you want to smell, what else you gonna do.

I picked up Penhaligon's Terrible Teddy on clearance, making it a complete blind buy. At the time, I had never even heard of Penhaligon's. What first caught my attention was the beautifully designed bottle, especially the distinctive animal-head cap. I thought that would be the highlight of the purchase. I couldn't have been more wrong. The moment I sprayed it, I was instantly transported back to my younger years, visiting centuries old European churches and monasteries. The rich incense accord awakened memories I hadn't thought about in years. It's warm, mysterious, and deeply nostalgic. The composition is outstanding, complex, refined, and wonderfully blended. It unfolds beautifully throughout the day, with very good longevity and projection that easily lasts through a full workday. Every time I wear Terrible Teddy, I'm wrapped in the captivating aroma of incense. More than just a fragrance, it evokes a time when I was discovering faith, history, and the mystery of the world around me. It reminds me of a period in life filled with curiosity, hope, and the feeling that the future held endless possibilities. For me, Terrible Teddy is more than a perfume, it's a bottle full of memories.

Although I am not a massive fan of ambroxan normally, I don’t mind it here! The way that this synthetic molecule is paired with incense and leather is absolutely beautiful! This scent is really delightful! I feel a sweetness coming from somewhere, might be the incense and I really am enjoying what I am smelling! Smells almost ambery and very warm. The leather is smooth, fine and soft, rather like a suede and compliments perfectly the sweet incense. As the perfume dries down, the leather becomes more prominent on my skin and the smoky aspect intensifies as well. I am not going to lie, I was not expecting to like Terrible Teddy at all when I saw ambroxan and leather as the main notes in this perfume I was expecting it to be super masculine and potentially rough. But I am pleasantly surprised with how well rounded and polite it actually smells. From the top of my mind, there’s nothing I currently have in my collection that reminds me of Terrible Teddy, which feels so refreshing to sample truly something new! I really like this!!!

This one leans a little too masculine for my tastes during the opening, but sometimes I get whiffs of it in the dry down and change my mind. It drys down and smells almost *exactly* like dragon’s blood incense. And I love that smell. Very woody and just slightly smoky. You definitely get the ambroxan in the dry down as well. This also did not tend to project very far when I put it on - it stayed close to the skin. I don’t think I’ll be buying the full bottle of this one because I don’t prefer to wear overly masculine scents myself, but I would love this on my husband!! Very dapper scent. EDIT: After a few more wears, I changed my mind. I’m now obsessed. The peppery opening doesn’t even matter because it immediately settles into straight up Dragon’s Blood incense and I just want to sniff myself all day. This is not the Nag Champa kind of incense. So glad I kept giving this chances because I’ve been looking for a scent that captures that dragon’s blood smell and this does just that perfectly. I’ll buy the full bottle one day.

This is a comforting, gentlemanly scent. The scent profile is quite simple, but it smells of very good quality. You can't wear this with a T-shirt—a collared shirt is a must. It smells like a young man sitting in his grandpa's study room, rummaging his books, sitting at his home-built wooden desk, somewhere up in the mountains around pine trees. This is the man who can chop wood during the day, dress up in a suit and drive 45 minutes into town for a soirée. When I smell it, I think of a brown or charcoal suit, books, carpentry, a pocket full mints, virility, and comforting strength. Imagine Acqua di Gio Profumo, but without the fresh aquatic notes. It's got that high-quality incense note that people love from Profumo. Although Terrible Teddy isn't a fresh scent, it's clean and neutral enough for all seasons. It's not sweet, but rather peppery-sweet with almost a brightness to it (like pink pepper or cinnamon). There's not that much sweetness, so it's not going to be cloying during the summer.

I was not sure what to expect from a fragrance that consists of 3 notes, of which incense is not one of my most favorite notes. But.... I love it! I have it for about 3 hours now and I keep smelling my wrists. I like it much more in dry down, than in the opening. It's so soft, cozy, warm, tender, sophisticated, sweet (but not sugary or candy sweet, more liquor or balsam sweet), rich, expensive and elegant aroma! I smell the resemblance to B683 indeed, but that one is harsher, more metallic, while this one is soft, like a warm favorite cashmere sweater. The fragrance is so rich, I, too, smell much more notes in it: tobacco, coffee, rum, some animalistic notes, wood. I love it and would love to wear it, it is definitely just as good frag for women, as for men. I can imagine this fragrance would smell very differently on different skins.

A ambroxan, leathery scent drying down with a synthetic peppery sweetness, at first try I thought this fragrance was intensely linear although after repeated use it's complex construction became more apparent, I now use this as my comfort leather, musky frag. It's like no other I have in my collection, so glad to have purchased this for a greatly reduced price on the second hand market, had only been used a couple of times & came with original box. Would I repurchase and pay full RRP, No but I'll search for another used bottle, great longevity drying down to a very musty scent that evokes odours of antique buildings, libraries and old manuscripts, definitely an acquired taste, the liquid is quite dense with a potency like that of a parfum strength fragrance lasting for about 4-6 hours on skin before the need to re-apply!

And nothing, bow down again to another masterpiece of my favorite nose: Quentin Bisch. Terrible Teddy wants to represent an aristocratic man, who lives in the English countryside, with an apparently hard and strong, virile and sensual character, but which hides tenderness inside. In short, a hunter who in turn is hunted. Here we have a peppery opening, which paves the way for incense and finally leather, giving life to a decisive, strong fragrance that I would always wear. I love it . He is virile and sensual at the same time, and, I will repeat myself because I often say it, a perfume like this on a woman gives her that something extra, it makes her stand out. I recommend it for autumn-winter, on me trail and persistence are really excellent. “The return from the hunt” painted by Courbet.

Freshly cut pine with a soft frankincense aura, that’s what Terrible Teddy is about... a manly opinionated and unapologetic fragrance! Ambroxan is the star of the party emanating a clean and strong pine wood cloud... Incense is also present, soft, aromatic and amazingly blended... the leather comes out after a few hours, creamy and delicious. There are many Ambroxan perfumes out there... and only a few can confidently say they are not trying to copy the rest, but rather create a new aroma... Penhaligon’s does an amazing job reinterpreting such a well known olfactory profile to give us a completely different experience... a very clean smoky pine scent with an ambery leather bottom. Projection is moderate and longevity is around 5 hours. An excellent alternative for Ambroxan lovers.

Another very simple fragrance from Penhaligon. Ok, says its for men up top. Ignore. It's unisex. It's not hard to pick out what is in this surprisingly light weight scent. On me it's largely ambroxan. What little leather there is does not make much of a impact until the ambroxan finally eases off. Finally the incense joins the leather. Come on Penhaligon?! It's time to fly the union Jack high and proud. Stop churning out cheap fragrance in gorgeous classy bottles. The juice really does matter. You have created some real beauties in your illustrious history like Luna, Savoy Steam and Halfeti. Don't lose your way. Poor longevity and sillage. Well you get hit with a cloud of ambroxan but that's only for 15 minutes or so.

I have a tester of this. It smells brilliant. Great silage, stays strong and dominant for about 2 hours but then just vanishes off my skin. What a wonderful 2 hours they are though. Perhaps I went anosmic from smelling it too much. The incense is prominent but not overdone, and mixes well with the leather and woodsy accords. The ambroxan is strong and reminds me of Sauvage, but I prefer this one by far. It’s got a dirty, but well groomed presence that makes me think of Alan Quartermaine or some other dapper steampunk adventurer. Spray this on and you will feel like going on your own journey to the centre of the Earth. I would definitely consider this for a full bottle if the longevity was better.

I find this fragrance intoxicating. I first noticed it on a friend & it made me want to climb him like a tree. Such a deep, sexy fragrance, not at all overpowering but definitely masculine and sexy. The combination of Incense, leather & ambrosian is perfect. The initial spray is almost peppery. I notice insence first and then the softness of leather & musk come through, leaving a sensual warmth - akin to patchouli - at it's heart. My nose doesn't pick up this fragrance on myself in the way it does when I notice others wearing it, but that is probably a good thing. I can't imagine ever tiring of this. It has become my signature fragrance. Terrible Teddy is terribly sexy.

What a beautiful discovery! An incense, leather aerial and light, which develops and surrounds you with ease! This one is clearly in the DNA of the house Comme des Garçons , and it could be the big brother of incense Kyoto more tenacious. Do not rely on the reduced list of notes, it is much deeper than announced, a smell of very light cypress, vétiver and tobacco comes lightened leather incense always in the background, it is a linear fragrance without evolution, but in his case this is rather an advantage because it makes it a safe all-day fragrance! Teddy is in the end terribly well made and effective, a real perfume of gentlemen

Terrible Teddy & Lord George are the best of the portraits collection for me. I was really impressed by the clean, crisp & warm nature of Teddy. The incense/leather combination would usually put me off a fragrance but both are so well executed in this fragrance it really works. The leather & Incense are dialled back and the amber, ambroxan & pepper are amped up which delivers a very elegant beautiful warm clean scent that I really enjoy. It smells completely different but the warm calm delivery of the fragrance reminds me of how I feel wearing Dior Homme Intense.

Absolutely adore this scent. Of all the fragrances I own this is definitely a top 3 contender. What I don't like is the price (way overpriced) and lack of any real silage/longevity. I feel you can get away wearing this pretty much anywhere, the versatility is brilliant however given the lack of any moderate longevity it really is only best suited for a night out/date night. Wearing this to the office by lunchtime no one will be smelling anything. It could just be how my nose works, but I don't smell a whole lot past the 4 hour mark. :(

I know this is a man fragrance but I got it as a sample and really liked it. And I can imagine women or any gender wearing it too. As for the man I think this would definitely be a compliment magnet, at least I would compliment you. I usually dislike leather scents butter this one is so fine. I also love the story behind the smells and the whole portraits line. I am impressed, hope to smell the rest of the line to and maybe one day buy one for myself. 9.5 /10

Oooh this scent reminds me of a cheeky yet humble lad at a bar who makes you have butterflies with just his banter. It's such a nice light musk but has the warmness coming through the incense. Like I just want to steal a cute kiss from this guy, absolutely blushing smelling this fragrance. Brings a smile on my face, with how light the scent feels. It could be a signature scent but I see this scent more on a casual night out. Zodiac Trio ⬆️Libra ☀️Leo 🌜Pisces

For me, it's nor leathery or warm, but an intense apothecary mixture of sage or thymes, maybe very strong herbal tea with a drop of an alcohol. It's sharp and fresh, but in a natural way. Such a highlight, I never had a fragrance like this before. As I see, most say, it's a masculine scent, and it probably is, but for me it perfectly works unisex, if I do not feel anything sweet. Great, sophisticated scent, even its deferentially on a pricey side

If I have a signature, go-to fragrance, this is the one. I love it, it has a unique scent and is by far and away the one I receive most positive comments on from both women and men. I note some comparisons to Creed on here, but I really don’t get that. It may just be the combination on my skin, but this gives a strong, rich, spicy long lasting effect. Initially it starts off quite peppery, but settles in to warm rich spice, my partner loves it.