Five O'Clock Au Gingembre

Tea-Time or Happy Hour?... I was intrigued by the name of this scent, and puzzled as to whether the "5 O'Clock" refers to tea-time or happy hour or neither...or perhaps it's different for each person based on skin chemistry. First Impression: I have mixed feelings about this one. It's not far outside the realm of what I was expecting, but testing it yesterday was fun. It's definitely an interesting scent, and although tea scents usually work well on my skin, this one leans cologne-like on me, or at least have a veneer of a men's cologne over-top. For part of my experience it was giving Moscow Mule which was more unisex. This didn't give me gingerbread, cookies or biscuits of any kind, but there is an almost plum-y richness to the base with the well-blend candied ginger, honey, cacao, patchouli & amber. Based on how it performed on my skin, I think this would be amazing on a man, but I'm not sure it's for me personally. Looking at other reviews, I think this is probably highly variable on how it performs on a person's skin and I would definitely suggest testing it first. Enjoy! Update 10/14/24: This scent pulled me back in. After the initial impression, I'm finding it a little richer, and pepper is less forward, with less of the veneer of men's cologne. There's hints of biscuit-ginger & cacao in the sillage, but up close it's more candied-ginger/fruity & tea-with-honey. Altogether it's giving a range of different types of ginger. The second time I'm enjoying it more than the first test. There's something about it that's magnetic. I like it on me now and would wear it - the sillage is incredible - but I also feel I might like it most on a man. Love, Love, Love.

Having long passed the 300 mark on sampled fragrances there rarely is anything that really leaves a lasting impression anymore and even when that is the case it is usually bizarre or difficult to wear. Five O’clock is one of those special cases that are both exciting but also super easy to wear. Funnily enough I usually don’t enjoy ginger, for example in Baruti Chai Extrait, with a very dry and somewhat astringent ginger that I find quite challenging. The ginger note in Five o'clock is nothing like that, it's a sweet portrayal like a honey ginger pastille or lemon drop with a spicy gingery undercurrent and this resonates very nicely with a woody aromatic tea backdrop with some tender ambery cacao undertones resonating throughout the whole composition detectable from the very first few seconds. Sheldrake seems to enjoy using fresh accords to cut through heavy and spicy amber compositions, for example there is an almost minty green hay accord cutting through the powdery ambery tobacco of Chergui. In Five O'clock there is a similar effect of a fresh slightly green slightly aromatic tea accord (not picture perfect tea, just a general evocation) that cuts through the sweet warm spicy amber base that really hits a certain sweet spot between freshness and warmth. That being said, I can imagine the really young crowd to struggle with those aromatic facets and may consider it a bit on the mature side, 25+ seems reasonable to me though. A pleasure to wear and a few sprays are enough to get it to perform. Excellent scent overall, for me personally on the masculine leaning side of unisex. Unquestionable a top 3 Lutens fragrance for me.

I've had this for years (probably since 2014ish) and to this day it still confuses me a little bit. When I first bought this, I was put off by the strong opening. To me, it smelled like something an old lady would wear: strong bergamot and spicy ginger. I didn't necessarily get a tea vibe from it. Well, I put this one away for quite awhile, coming back only for an occasional wearing. I did eventually start to notice the earl grey tea vibe and loved the smell of this, but still struggled with feeling like it just wasn't for me. I actually tried wearing this on a warm summer evening last year, while I was going to a friend's house. The entire time I was at his house I thought he had just finished baking some gingerbread cookies and kept telling him how great it smelled at his place. After I left I realized that it was in fact ME that smelled so great and started wearing it as a casual evening scent. It smelled great and lasted a long time with decent projection, although it does come and go a bit. Well this past winter every time I'd wear it I got a an odd "earthy" smell right off the bat, but not in a good way. Very little early grey tea, very little cinnamon, and very little ginger, nor honey. The winter and fall are definitely the perfect time to wear this, but that just doesn't seem to work well with my skin chemistry, so I am still perplexed by this fragrance. I love it, but I just don't know how many evenings in the summer I want something this "warm".

I think in my mind I’d decided this was going to be some gourmand, biscuity concoction; heavily spiced and overly edible. It’s not that at all. This is Uncle Serge’s take on a freshie, and I absolutely love it. The opening has touches of warmth and almost feels a little sweaty, with the spices coming together to create a salty, skin-like appeal that plays on the tension between comfort and slight unease. It quickly gives way to a bright, candied ginger that fizzes off the skin with a beautifully effervescent quality that just screams summer to me, which is completely at odds with what I expected. I get very little in the way of patchouli, and absolutely nothing that even remotely resembles cacao. That’s not a criticism, as frankly I think it would be an entirely different fragrance if it leaned that way. Instead, I pick up fizzy lemon and lashings of tea notes that are green, fresh and totally uplifting. This is a really gorgeous composition and unlike anything else I’ve tried from the house. It has Sheldrake’s signature all over it, yet paradoxically feels completely different to almost anything else in his repertoire. If I’m being picky, my only critique would be that it’s incredibly fleeting, sitting very close to the skin after the first few moments. It’s a bit of a shame really, as this could very easily be a favourite on the warmest of days if only it wanted to spend a little more time by my side.

Ok, so ‘Five O’Clock au Gingembre’! Where do I start with this one? As I sit, close my eyes and try to relate my life experiences with the complexity of this fragrance, I’m transported back to the early days of my apprenticeship, as a shipwright in the wood store of a Glasgow shipyard. My morning started brewing the tea for my journeymen. Rich dark tea served with McVities gingerbread. As the morning progressed and the wood shop slowly sprung to life the scents of resinous woods filed the air. Then there was lunchtime and the scents of pepper, mixed spices and rich sweetness of the preserves that my mentors loved so much. As I explained before, I used to believe the smells of the shipyard were all stale sweat, tallow and engine oil, but slowly, fragrances such as this are starting to make me realize that the more subtle scents that surrounded me as a youth registered with me subliminally, more than I ever realized! To cut a long story short, this fragrance is for me (as the salty old tar that posted before), a wake up call that perfumes are not all about attracting the opposite sex, but invigorating the senses and in this case my memories as a youth. Five O’Clock au Gingembre is a masterful piece of work...just like the boats I used to build... and just like my journeymen, Sheldrake is a supreme master of his trade! MacIain!

A gourmand leaning, powdery and soft scent centred around green tea and candied ginger! My preferred type of ginger. While none of these two notes are necessarily my most favourite notes in a fragrance, I love Five O’clock au Ginbembre! In a nutshell, it’s a soft, warm, fresh spicy, semi sweet tea with ginger, honey and cinnamon powdered on top. I haven’t tried anything else like this, so for me it’s a unique scent. I love most of Serge Lutens’s contemporary creations to be honest. I would not say that I detect much patchouli or woods in this fragrance but I am not bothered because I have enough fragrance with these notes featured prominently. I prefer this fragrance as it is. I am not a big tea drinker but I love this suave note in scents. I find it so relaxing and comforting. The only thing I wish that this fragrance would have more is longevity and projecting power. It’s very moderate on me. Price wise, I think it is a great value for money. You can get lots of Serge Lutens fragrances on discount sites for such affordable prices because this brand is not overhyped on social media like most of the more recent niche brands. It’s a very reputable French niche brand but it’s so overlooked these days. I really hope that my reviews would inspire younger people to give Serge Lutens scents a try because they are great.

I blind bought this on impulse -it was on sale and I had a desperate need to dip my toe into the house of Serge Lutens after reading countless reviews and becoming more and more intrigued. It's lovely, and basically to echo what everyone else is saying, a non-sweet version of a gourmand- the ginger is fresh and effervescent and sparkling in this, its not a heavy thick sweetness but a very light and fizzy ginger tempered with green notes and tea. Reminds me of a homemade ginger ale with all the fizz and freshnesss but with the bergamot of earl Grey tea to anchor it. The mid notes feel slightly sweeter to me or that could be the base starting to come through, there's a slightly herbal green tinge to it (almost pine needle or some kind of woodsy green). Reminds me a little of Liam Grey by Lattafa (a dupe for Gris Charnel) but slightly drier and lighter, and easier to wear. Very unisex, in fact I'd class this the most unisex scent I own ! Enjoyable, beautifully blended and accessible- there's nothing offensive about it but it might not appeal to sweet or vanilla lovers. Longevity i cant speak to yet, moderate sillage, it feels more intimate and subtle than loud or bombastic. 8/10 and has me excited to try more from this house

In the opening this is a beautiful and realistic black tea on me, with the bergamot making it feel like an english breakfast tea with some cinnamon. As it dries down I'm starting to get more wood, cinnamon, honey and ginger, sweetening it while still feeling both moody and fresh-ish. Very lovely fragrance. Coming from overly sweet designer fragrances however, I need to get used to this, but it feels very refreshing, nostalgic and gourmand. I'm using a 10ml decant, if I were to finish this I might buy a FB. Very lovely scent for autumn. Edit: I've been wearing it for a little over a week and I absolutely love it. It's cozy and warm without being too heavy, sweet without being cloying or sugary, and fresh without being sharp or short lived. Full bottle worthy for me! Edit: I've now had this for a year, and I must say this is a very specific mood. Very much an autumn fragrance for me as it suits the cool rainy weather here perfectly. It's cozy and feels great while huddling up inside with a book. But I must say in winter this lacks some depth for me, while in summer this comes off a bit too serious and masculine for me. However definitely a star in autumn and I immediately reached for it now the weather is cooling!

I was disappointed by the recent formulation of Chanels masterpiece Egoiste. The stars of Egoiste, the cinnamon, orange, vanilla and sandalwood, are badly blended. I was also disappointed by Serge Lutens Bapteme du Feu. Why did they put too much castorium in that one that could be the perfect tangerine, ginger, clove Christmas masterpiece without that horrible urine note. But now I smelled Five O'CLOCK au Gingembre and everything is fine because this one operates in the same category of cinnamon, ginger brownish spicy fragrances. I am so overwhelmed by this one. It has the delicious smell of the most luxurious tea party in a wonderful tearoom. The citrus, the cinnamon, the Earl Grey tea note, ginger, cacao, and pepper and the other ingredients are blended into an amazing stylish perfume with an unique gourmand twist. I notice in the opening a subtle but present woody incense note. This is amazing and excellent perfumery. I have a 2 ml tester but after this review I'm gonna purchase a 100 ml of this amazing Lutens. Yes, the performance is not topnotch but I don't care because I will spray this a lot this autumn accompanied with perfectly brewed cinnamon ginger tea offcourse!

Tender, gentle, almost lulling ginger tea with a hint of lemon - for me it's a gently spicier and less woody sister to Feminite du Bois. Definitely one of the quieter Lutens offerings at the spicy end of things: it doesn't scream or shout, or caper about going "look at me I'm so outrageous!" - it just settles you in for a relaxing and calming frame of mind. Despite all the talk about it being a gourmand - and yes, there certainly is plenty of cinnamon in there too - I find it's refreshingly *not* full of foodiness. Even though the beginning is positively zingy with lemon/citrus, there aren't many tangs of buttery/sugar/honeyed/caramel things, which would make it a full-on slice of ginger loaf cake. This is much more restrained than that, still warm and delicious but somehow much lighter on the virtual calories. You will definitely not smell as if you fell into a giant bucket of Christmas-spiced anything at Starbucks. It's hugely reassuring, classy, well-balanced and well-controlled, nothing to scare the horses here. The sillage is really, really discreet but longevity better than I was expecting - up to 5h, but not much more - and it plumps up again nicely with a respray.

I am starting to find it difficult to describe the beauty of Sheldrake's creations for Serge Lutens without repeating myself. Artistic, sophisticated, elegant, daring - everything you want from niche perfumery. Five-O-Clock Au Gingembre might not break into my personal top 3 of SL (Ambre Sultan, Chergui, Feminite Du Bois) but if those are S tier, Five-o'Clock is easily on top of the A tier. Opening - fresh, uplifting spices combined with the warmth of freshly brewed ginger tea with some citrus juice squeezed in it. It does develop from the tea/citrus/spices towards more green leaves/woody stage, backed by some gourmand sweetness, but without going fully into gourmand direction. Performance and longevity are not impressive here, and i would call this a more safer scent to wear in crowded spaces compared to the more bold Sheldrake compositions, and as such is more suited for moderate weather - it does not have the power to cut through the cold air, and in high summer heat it might become too much for some. Excellent value for money if sourced through a good discounter site - for 50 euro per 50ml, there is nothing that can rival a SL fragrance for even double the price.

I blind bought a 50ml bottle of Five O'Clock Au Gingembre. It seemed okay to take the chance because the notes were promising. The perfume turned out to be a success. To my nose, the most prominent notes are wood, cinnamon, ginger and pepper. The tea is noticeable too and it blends together nicely with the previous notes to form a spicy chai scent. This fragrance is not overly sweet and has a tannin-like quality. Five O'Clock Au Gingembre is truly unisex. It smells great on my husband but I also adore wearing it. I purchased the bottle for autumn, which is perfectly appropriate...but I hate delayed gratification. I have been wearing Au Gingembre to bed with the air conditioning on so I can pretend fall is already here. A large part of me hesitated to write this review because I don’t want everyone to buy up this perfume! According to Sebastian at Smelling Great Fragrances, Serge Lutens will no longer be selling fragrances in the US. My instinct is to buy a few more bottles so I will enjoy this perfume for years to come. On the other hand, there is beauty in savoring the moment while it lasts. Plus, it means more for you to try, which I hope you get to do soon.

Serge Lutens Five O’Clock Au Gingembre is absolutely my cup of tea (pun intended)! Its warm yet fresh spiciness is invigorating, a pick-me-up on a cool or rainy afternoon. And yet, it may work just as well on hotter days — I have yet to see. The perfume has a brisk opening, spiced ginger tea with a splash of lemon (bergamot according to the notes list), and a dash of cinnamon. It is a little brash upon spraying but mellows down soon enough to a refreshing fragrance that is not the typical tea scent I’m used to smelling. It becomes woodier as it settles, but never aggressively so. It also smells resinous to me in the dry down, with an incense-like quality. I find the fragrance finely blended without any rough edges. Five O'Clock Gingembre comes across as a perfectly unisex fragrance to me, though I understand how it may lean masculine or feminine to others depending on their taste. I find it easy to wear as a woman, and I imagine I would very much enjoy smelling it on a man as well. It is another very successful blind buy for me, based on previous reviews. It is just as I imagined it would be. I'm so happy to have this in my collection!

What a beautiful fragrance. Serge Lutens manages repeatedly to make some of the most complex, interesting, and artistic fragrances I've ever tried. It's a lucky scent, since I just decided today that I will test fragrances on my skin and on paper from now on for the first time. My god, this is divine on paper. On my skin it's a bit less gingery, and the tea notes are more muted -everything on my skin just melds together. It's still lovely, but on paper it's a noticeable improvement which means I believe it would be noticeably better to spray this on clothes or in the hair. This is really a cozy, warm, bit citusy, tea scent. It's a bit sweet, but nothing that takes you away or puts you off. A dainty pastry kind of sweet. Everything works so well here, there is a bit of spicyness and a bit of honey that really blend so in such a lovely manner... and a woodiness that makes the whole thing feel very warm and inviting. I really adore it. A great rendition of tea. A soft, delicate, very light tea with gingered cookies to eat along side it. 8.5/10

In my quest to simplify and reduce the noise, there is something to be said for the comfort of small rituals. Taking a bath, listening to the rustle of the trees, slowly sipping each word of a poem, and a hot cup of tea to warm the soul, with some gingerbread biscuits to dip in the hot brew. Five O'Clock Au Gingembre is uncomplicated yet unfettered, redolent of Sheldrake woody spice "DNA" (wink wink), candied ginger and cinnamon mingling with the wet, round, somewhat green aroma of tea. It is argued that in lacking in the adventure of, say, creations such as Bapteme de Feu or Santal Majascule, there is no intrigue here. But who said that intrigue was always on the menu? Sometimes, on the contrary, what appears is comfort, a cozy reprieve; maybe a disconnect with something tasty and enveloping is needed. This is when I have had enough and want a blanket type of fragrance. Hmm, should that be a new category? Top 10 blanket fragrances?? Something to ponder, but not too much, as the time is Five O'Clock Au Gingembre. Sip, sip, ahhhh....

Shelter from the storm Scent is tied very closely to memory, as such; warm, sweet and comforting scents can be soothing - aromatherapy even. This is such a scent. It is not what I expected, and is a fragrance I didn't think I needed. It is one I thought I knew what it would smell like before I did. It surprised me at how smooth it is and how sharp it wasn't. I am impressed if not confounded by the blending and the quality. You will notice, a sparkly but mild ginger opening tamed by the right amount of honey amber sweetness and the earthiness from a potpourri of patchouli and tea. The Woodiness is second to the resinous core of the scent. At times the scent is fruity, rich and deep - almost Plumb Japonaise like. As the aroma progresses throughout the day on skin it will continuously comfort you and does shine in the rain or the cold. Stunning, and worth more than it is priced at, especially if you can buy it at a discount. 4.73/5 "Safety isn't expensive, it's priceless." - Jerry Smith

Gosh, this was so unexpectedly nice. The sweetness of the ginger swings this to 'Christmas' sort of, but it's still sweet and strong enough that it'd still be a stellar summer fragrance too. I keep coming back to this- the drydown is so nice, so sweet and special with still that hit of ginger. It's also really tough to do something 'spicy' without the drydown getting that sour 'BO' smell- this has NONE of that, and it's so nice. Comforting but sort of edgy with that spice- this may be FBW. I can see how a spicy ginger scent says 'grandpa' but it's one of those unisex fragrances that would be heartstopping on a woman, you know? Drydown goes down the path of woodiness, cedar/balsa wood. Yep, cedar lined drawers with a hint of sweet ginger. Very nice. Great longevity- survived a shower, faint but still there. It's just spicy and sweet enough to be head turning especially if a woman were wearing it.

Totally smells of delicious cinnamon tea. This has ginger cinnamon, chocolate honey and bergamot each of these ingredients are indeed tea notes. The patchouli gives it depth and oomph as well as a long life. It's aromatic and very exotic. I think it smells like a tea house. On me the honey is always present as is the tea. The scent of chocolate is there but I wish it had been stronger. I would call this a very well made gourmand fragrance. If you like these notes and have experienced in other fragrances you're sure to enjoy this. I think it's the most gourmand of all the Serge Lutens fragrances that I have in my collection. I wear this to places that match up with the fragrance: coffee houses, cafes, teahouses, restaurants that serve desserts, but it seems to smell much better in the later afternoon. The name is dead-on. Five o clock. I have worn it at that time before and it works :)

Five O`Clock Au Gingembre is a cozy oriental with a subtle sweet & chocolaty twist. The first impression is a just-out-of-pot ginger lemon tea, through there's something eastern and mystique as well. Progressing to the mid notes, once again Gingembre feels like a dialed down version of Amouage's Fate, tenderly spicy in an intriguingly comforting way. Imagery: Following a ginger beige cat, you accidentally encountered a spice shop at the end of the alley. The owner smiled and murmured a greeting in his own tone, but somehow, you understand what he said. Inoffensive projection with decent longitivtiy. This is one of the comforting and savoury spice scent. One mild problem is that, being on the more masculine side, ladies at daytime should consider matching apparel, like French cuff shirt and beige trench instead of printed dress or pencil skirt. 8/10,for its atmospheric ease.

Gingembre - I never want to be without you on a cold, cozy day. It smells light and airy on paper, but on skin, the woods come out to play. Look no further - this is the perfect tea scent for fall and winter, better than L'Artisan Tea for Two! Leans more feminine, but I would love it equally on a man. You're drinking a cup of freshly grated ginger, lemon, and honey black tea at your spruce table in your rustic cabin, looking out at the winter landscape. You're reminded of the comfort of mom taking care of you when you were sick by bringing you the same warm tea. Chef's kiss! Try pairing this with Hiram Green Slowdive (more honey) or Guerlain Ginger Piccante (more ginger). Notes according to my nose (in order of prominence): ginger, citrus, dry wood, pepper, honey sweetness