Choose Two Per Season?

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Mon May 19, 2008 7:52 pm

Greg, No, I imagine not, as the bottle the eccentric Mr. Bargepole has is about a century old. So, that scent hasn't been available for....well....for quite awhile ( chuckle ).
Regards,
Gordon

Bargepole · Post by **Bargepole** » Tue May 20, 2008 2:18 am

GregPQ wrote:
Bargepole wrote: Spring:
Guerlain Eau de l'Hégémonienne...
Michael, I've followed your posts with glee and awe for quite a while, so I do recognize that you know your subject matter. But I have never heard of this one...is this something they keep under the counter at 68, ave des Champs-Elysees?

A fan,
Greg

Greg - no, as Gordon says, it's a very old one which I was lucky enough to get a bottle of by a circuitous route. I was originally put onto it by Roja Dove, who used to be Professeur des Parfums at Guerlain but left when he foresaw the way the wind was blowing (i.e. M. Guerlain retiring, the outfit being taken over by LVMH, reformulations, accountants at the helm etc). He kindly gave me about 10ml of the stuff which is an extraordinary, suave, opulent ambergris The last batch was made for the King of Spain and it's no longer available. Probably never will be, given the vegan sensibilities of the modern market and the sheer load of ambergris Hêgémonienne carries...

Anyway, I wrote about it in glowing terms and a friend rang up to say she'd found a bottle on eBay for $250 and was it the real stuff? I told her to bring it round; unsealed the bottle; and took one sniff of the contents and there it was, the genuine thing. I congratulated her on a wonderful rarity and off she went.

A few days later, it was my birthday. The telephone rings. It's the Porters' Lodge. "Parcel for you, sir." Down I go. Guess what? There's the bottle, with a note saying "I had the thrill of the chase, the pleasure of finding it, the pleasure of smelling it, and now I'd like the pleasure of giving *you* the pleasure of having it." What a lovely thing to do.

And here it is. If I could post the *smell*, I would. (And if you haven't tried Skitch -- a screenshot and photo-posting application which is easier than any of the alternatives by a factor of 10 -- I recommend it unreservedly. I don't know if it works on Windows but it sure as hell works on Macs.)

Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Tue May 20, 2008 10:44 am

Michael, I'm sure the scent is fascinating, but also, damn it!...THAT's the way a bottle of good men's cologne should LOOK. One time a member posted a photo of a very old bottle of Penhaligon's A/S ( from when they were on Bury Street ) and it had a similiar look to it. Thanks for posting the photo a second time/
Regards,
Gordon

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Tue May 20, 2008 10:48 am

Fascinating, Michael. The story alone is worth telling, never mind the details of the cologne. Out of interest, how often (if ever) do you wear it?

Post by **ichabod** » Tue May 20, 2008 1:18 pm

Seasons? That's when the weather changes, gets colder and such like, right? I think I remember.

Now I've read this thread and I want some Guerlain Eau de l'Hégémonienne just because I can't have any.

(How does one translate that? Dominatrix water?)

Bargepole · Post by **Bargepole** » Tue May 20, 2008 1:20 pm

Gareth wrote:Out of interest, how often (if ever) do you wear it?

Lots. It's quite formal so it's not really for digging in the garden, but I'm not really for digging in the garden either. Put it this way: I'm about halfway down the bottle and I got it just under two years ago, if I remember correctly.

No point in having it just to look at and gloat over, I feel. It deserves to be worn; and, like a good wine, scent does eventually go past its prime.

Bargepole · Post by **Bargepole** » Tue May 20, 2008 1:22 pm

ichabod wrote: (How does one translate that? Dominatrix water?)

Jaysus, Dominic, I wish you hadn't said that. Now I'm going to have to pour the rest of it down the sink.

Post by **ichabod** » Tue May 20, 2008 5:13 pm

Bargepole wrote:
ichabod wrote: (How does one translate that? Dominatrix water?)
Jaysus, Dominic, I wish you hadn't said that. Now I'm going to have to pour the rest of it down the sink.

That will render it more unobtainable, and thus more desirable...

drumana · Post by **drumana** » Tue May 20, 2008 7:23 pm

This may be blasphemous, but at this point I'm pretty sure I could survive on Floris No.89 & GFT Spanish Leather year round. Seasons shmeasons. . . !

Bargepole · Post by **Bargepole** » Wed May 21, 2008 5:40 am

drumana wrote:This may be blasphemous, but at this point I'm pretty sure I could survive on Floris No.89 & GFT Spanish Leather year round. Seasons shmeasons. . . !

Neither could I.

TRBeck · Post by **TRBeck** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 9:38 pm

Just for fun, let's see what you gents have to say about this one these days. I have to update my selections, and I'm trying to keep it at 1 per season in my shave den, but I'll go 2 for the sake of the thread:

Spring - Atkinson's Lavender, Acqua di Parma Colonia

Summer - YSL Live Jazz, Comme des Garcons Vettiveru

Autumn - TOBS Mr. Taylor, Penhaligon's Opus 1870

Winter - AOS Sandalwood, Meehan Bay Rum

In reality, I don't own all of these and plan to sell a couple that I do own. The ones in bold are the ones I think I will have in my wardrobe. But really, even at 8, this is a pretty lean list and not excessive IMO.

FWIW, these sorts of mental exercises are fun for me and sometimes instructive in terms of helping me realize what I don't want/need. I know some guys don't like to bother with these sorts of hypotheticals and/or see it as silly to set arbitrary limits. I see where they're coming from; for me, though, the limits are useful and are sometimes engaging even when I don't adhere to them.

Regards,

RazorRamone · Post by **RazorRamone** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:25 pm

Here goes...

Spring: Dunhill 1934, Pens Racquets

Summer: Pens Blenheim Bouquet, Lacoste-Original

Fall: Pens Douro, Guerlain Heritage

Winter: PdN New York, Aramis Havana

Honourable mentions go to nostalgic "drugstore" scents for me such as Old Spice, Brut, English Leather and Avon's Wild Country.

Squire · Post by **Squire** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:30 am

Four huh, ok, Creed Bois du Portugal, Trumpers sandalwood, Taylors sandalwood, Brooks Bros 1818. I could limit myself to these four but what's the fun in that.

I could use any of these every day of the year but wouldn't anymore than I would eat the same meal every day.

Dave_D · Post by **Dave_D** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 7:47 pm

Wow, this thread brings back some memories! These days it would be either Tabac EdC or Shulton Old Spice, any time of the year.
Floris Sandalwood for special occasions.

Flash G · Post by **Flash G** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:53 am

Winter: Trumper's Sandalwood and Penhaligon's Opus 1870

Spring: Penhaligon's English Fern and Creed GIT

Summer: Penhaligon's English Fern and Creed Original Vetiver

Autumn: Creed GIT and Trumper's Sandalwood (and D.R. Harris Marlborough while pottering about in the garden in the autumn weekends)

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 4:40 am

I admit I'm somewhat intimidated by the degree of sophistication shown herein. Intimidated and quite impressed, needless to say!

SRD · Post by **SRD** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 8:51 am

I've pretty much settled in with

Spring/Summer- Pen's English Fern and TOBS Victorian Lime
Fall/Winter- Creed Bois du Portugal/Trumper's Spanish Leather

I do keep the Floris 89 in there as well as a substitute for the BdP for dress up occasions as my beloved does like some variety. In her mind it is the perfect year round scent for me to wear.

river1 · Post by **river1** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 4:51 am

This is a really great thread as I am still trying different EDT's to find out what SWMBO will agree with and so far her favorites are:
All year: Creed Millisime Imperial, Floris Special No. 127, and Pens Douro-maybe.

The Knize, GIT, and C & S are ones that are on a wish list.

TRBeck · Post by **TRBeck** » Fri Apr 05, 2013 11:38 am

Well, it's been a couple of years. Time to bump this chestnut. I miss some of the guys who posted in this thread, including its originator, DEF. Anyway, updates, gents? New contributions? My list, and given that I'm sort of done with playing the field and have disliked most every fragrance sample I've tried in the past year-plus, not likely to change:

Spring - Oxford & Cambridge; Mugler Cologne

Summer - YSL Live Jazz; Comme des Garcons Vettiveru

Autumn - Eau de L'Occitan; Diptyque Tam Dao

Winter - L'Occitane Vetyver; Lalique Encre Noire

I might sub Mr. Taylor or Monsieur de Givenchy for one of the spring or fall fragrances, but probably not. I love those two but they are going to be the last dominoes to fall for me, I think. Well, those and Meehan Bay Rum, as I've come to realize that bay rum is best when it is fleeting, just a splash after the shave. So the very durable Bonny Doon is out, too.

Fragrances are fun to play around with, and I have enjoyed doing so the past few years. But in the end, I have settled on a few things that comfort me, smell good to those around me, and never get tiresome. Indeed, my list reflects much-narrowed tastes relative to a few years ago. I like dry sandalwood, true lavender, vetiver, and cedar. It's probably worth nothing that Mugler Cologne and Encre Noire are really just variants of Vettiveru's formula: vivid vetiver atop musk and wood. Other scent notes intrigue me, and I might enjoy a small decant of this or that fragrance, but I find few things that compel me to use them regularly, let alone buy bottles of them.

Anyway, let's play this game again, guys. Whaddya say?

Post by **Sam** » Fri Apr 05, 2013 11:45 am

Nice bump there Tim. Yup, I have drifted in and out of scents, expanded and pared down.

What I have now:

Chanel Coromandel is a patchouli blast, and I wear it late fall to early spring.

Creed Green Irish Tweed is a year round scent.

Bond No. 9 New York Oud is a year round scent.

A few that I toy with getting again: Creed Millisime Imperial if I could get a batch with no salt note and the lush melon note. Andy Tauer L'Air du Desert Morocain.

I wanted to like a Kurkdijian and a by Kilian but alas, at those prices, nothing I loved. Sometimes I miss Commes des Garcons 2 Man