Grand Siecle Intense 7.1 (2021)

This is one of the fragrances by PG that have mint listed as a note, but even I who can detect the slightest hint of mint don’t think that this is predominantly about mint. However, this is a classic Eau de Cologne type scent that was turned into a very long lasting Eau de Parfum (and I can even smell it after 12 hours). The opening is very traditional with bitter orange and bergamot, and it’s deliciously bitter and makes your mouth water. In fact the fragrance retains the bitterness throughout the development and I would have wished for it to die down a bit. The drydown is actually dominated by a sweet and decaying hay, some honeyed patchouli and a note I could swear is this lily-of-the-valley synthetic ... you know, the one that creates that green scent profile. Unfortunately this is not my favourite note ever. I think that you can judge a house by their version of a classic Cologne and although it seems the easiest fragrance to make it is sooo difficult to get it right. This is not my favourite Cologne ever, but it is, indeed, a solid and very long lasting one for sure (if performance is important to you).

Official website list: Bergamot, Tangerine, Orange Bigarade, Lemon leaves, Galbanum, Cypress, Iris, Honey, Vetiver-Chypre Yep, this is really good. Opening is a great citrus symphony with a lemon-y solo (I can't really place it, it could be the combo of lemon leaves plus bergamot or something else, but whatever it is it's absolutely lovely). Followed by powdery iris, and then an iris and honey drydown. It feels like two different stories: first citrus, then powder/soap. But, they do combine well and overall it radiates warmth. It's a cologne, hence performance is average.

I loved this at first. An interesting, smoky, light citrus dominated by a lovely swirling, bright citronnier petitgrain. Sharp, joyously fresh and uplifting like an eau de cologne or more precisely, a lemon chypre. There's no oakmoss listed in the base (since the 2021 reformulation) but maybe there's still some coumarin? Pierre Guillaume describe the base as vetiver-chypre on their website. I couldn't detect iris and only whispers of honey and galbanum under the bite of the petitgrain. The dry down has the dirty, smoky note of cypress and I'm undecided whether it's too unmediated for me to enjoy fully. Think of Hermès's Eau de Citron Noir . So a tale of two halves. A delightful lemon chypre fading after an hour into so-so light, smoky, aromatic woodiness.

this is a fragrance that... exists. it's very (nicely!) orange-y in the opening, with a hint of green herbal freshness behind. sadly the juicy orange evaporates and underneath it becomes a scratchy aromatic-woody scent, which just smells way too harsh to me. it's a pretty masculine, very basic cologne scent profile, that has been done better, nicer, and in many more interesting ways. 3/10 nothing special, and i really did not like how harsh the drydown was.

Headache-inducing ambroxan. Very similar to the equally horrible Eau de Citron Noir by Hermès. Lemon and ambroxan, nothing else.