New Penhaligon's Scent coming

What kind of fragrances do you prefer?
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Craig_From_Cincy
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New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by Craig_From_Cincy »

Penhaligon's have announced a new men's cologne launching on august 19th: Vaara: a fragrance for for a Maharaja:
raaja-penhaligons-cafleurebon.jpg
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Master Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour is back with his first perfume for Penhaligon’s since Sartorial (2010) with a new fragrance for the venerable British House named Vaara. Vaara, was inspired by the Royal House of Marwar-Jodphur in Rajasthan when His Highness Maharaja Gaj Singh II desired a scent to commemorate the birth of his granddaughter, Vaara and to reflect his family’s deep love and connection with Jodhpur. Vaara offers a unique glimpse into this aromatic world of the Maharaja.

Bertrand travelled to Jodhpur to explore the life of a Maharaja; visiting historic forts, family palaces, exotic gardens and bustling city markets. His journey provided him with an abundance of inspiration for the fragrance and the end result, Vaara, cleverly captures the spirit of this fascinating part of India.

The fragrance begins with a delicious blend of coriander and carrot seeds, creamy saffron and juicy quince: ingredients discovered during his trips to local markets in Jodhpur. The heart of Vaara belongs to the gardens of Balsamand, the Maharaja’s summer palace with two glorious roses blended elegantly with a billowing white note of Indian magnolia, a touch of freesia and a whisper of iris. The fragrance settles into a luscious combination of honey, white musks and resins dripping over an aromatic base of tonka, cedarwood and sandalwood.

Head Notes: Quince, Rosewater, Carrot Seed, Coriander Seed, Saffron

Heart Notes: Moroccan Rose Absolute, Bulgarian Rose Oil, Freesia, Indian Magnolia, Peony, Iris

Base Notes: Honey, White Musk, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Benzoin Resin, Tonka Bean

100ml Eau de Parfum $160

50ml Eau de Parfum $125

Vaara will launch in the United States online at http://www.penhaligons.com and in select Saks Fifth Avenue stores on Monday 19th August.
http://www.cafleurebon.com/new-niche-pe ... d-jodhpur/
Cheers,

Craig
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by Squire »

Oooh! Aaaah! That's for the flowery description, otherwise I don't find the idea of smelling like a garden appealing.
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by Craig_From_Cincy »

Carrot Seed, Coriander Seed and Saffron do not exactly sound like my cup of tea.
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by Squire »

And Magnolia, don't forget Magnolia. It's a lovely scent wafting on the breeze (it permeates my neighborhood) but I don't think I want it wafting off me.
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by bernards66 »

Nooo.....me neither I don't think. I assume this is meant to be a ladies scent ( I know, I know...Mr. Bargepole and others don't believe in such old fashioned quaint notions, but I do and it sounds like a ladies scent to me, harrumph! ).
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by joe mcclaine »

Sounds like an instantly forgettable flowery-vanilla mess.
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Janus
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by Janus »

Just FYI, "vaara" means "danger" in finnish. :lol: Not that it would stop me, but I don't find the description that appealing, either.
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by Squire »

Angling for the Finnish market perhaps?
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by TRBeck »

Duchafour's creations are not always to my taste, but I have yet to encounter one that's boring or a mess. He tends to take notes I might find odd and make them work. However, only a couple of the fragrances he has done have been wearable for me. Nevertheless, I'm sure this will be worth a sniff, although I don't see ponying up the funds for Pen's scents too often anymore, given how some of them have been cheaped out.
Regards,
Tim

Why should we not meet, not always as dyspeptics, to tell our bad dreams, but sometimes as eupeptics, to congratulate each other on the ever-glorious morning? - Henry David Thoreau
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by Craig_From_Cincy »

I posted this news at B&B and members there are reporting the Penhaligon's have killed off both LP9 and Raquets, apparently to accommodate this new scent. I have not independently confirmed this. Just wanted to pass the (possible) development along.
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Craig
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by Squire »

Well, we can bemoan the loss of favorites over the years but the companies have to provide what the evolving market wants and the scent guys are even geekier than we.
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by bernards66 »

Tim, He is also the chap who is named as having 're-worked' some of Penhaligon's old classic scents...which makes me nervous. I don't get up to NYC anymore so I can't check this kind of thing out in person. I was wondering if you've tried his rendition of Douro as oppossed to the old Penhaligon's Lords?
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by TRBeck »

Gordon, Douro is an example of what I mean when I say cheaped out. This was a favorite of mine, under the name Douro but in the old packaging, before it was briefly Lords again and then renamed Douro Eau de Portugal. The current packaging is much classier than the mid-2000s Douro, IMO, but the scent is not to my liking. It doesn't smell re-worked, just cheapened. The sandalwood is overtly lousy, the oakmoss of course reduced, and the quality of the ingredients seems cheap. I'm sure that one will only get worse with further oakmoss restrictions and the lockdown on citrus. But whether this is due to reworking or just cost-cutting and the reformulation needed to meet IFRA regulations I don't know. I went through some Pen's samples about six months ago to see if they were as I remembered them; I last owned Douro, BB, and EF about three or four years ago, I think. The BB is pretty much what I recalled, the EF was lacking oakmoss (of course) and also had less patchouli than it used to. The Douro was kind of odd, more powdery, with less depth. The wood notes were there, but as I said, the sandalwood was not of good quality IMO, and there was more cedar than sandalwood, probably due to the scarcity of the latter.

I didn't know Douchafour had been involved with reworking any Pen's stuff, but of course I knew he did Sartorial a couple of years back, which fragrance I think renders Racquets rendundant, as the latter is not as good and more dated and in the same general family of modernized barbershop fougeres. BTW, Endymion was neither better nor worse than I recalled, which is to say I thought it was just okay but not inspiring. Quercus is still awful. Opus 1870 is still, I think, the best of the more recent Pen's scents, a unique citrus note from the yuzu and a very well-done melding of spice and rose in the heart. And Hammam Bouquet...well, I'll always have the memory of wearing it during a visit to NYC with my wife right after I got into the wetshaving trip. I'm afraid it will be tough to recapture that memory with the current Hammam, which is but a shadow, no substance at all. Where's the rose? That generic powdery note is supposed to stand in for it, I guess, and the sandalwood is of course dialed down, too. It now smells about like the current edition of Habit Rouge, powdery and sweet but with no discernible notes after the initial rush of citrus subsides.

Were I to spend money for Penhaligon's now, I would buy Opus or Blenheim, maybe Sartorial. I have read good things about the much less expensive line of scents from Murdock Grooming of London, but given their general lack of availability stateside, I haven't been able to sample them. Purportedly their fougere makes a good alternative for those who miss the old Houbigant, Trumper, and Pen's versions. I think Chris Fisher has sampled them extensively, and hopefully he'll stumble across this thread and mention a note or two about those.
Regards,
Tim

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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by drmoss_ca »

I'll say something for Quercus (which ironically won't have any oakmoss either) - when I first had it as a sample I didn't like it, but later I found I did. Rather like Elgar's Sea Pictures - first listen bad (I was only 18), ever since loved it. I agree that Endymion is appalling, and I shan't ever smell it again in case I embarrass myself and the forum by then deciding I like it!

Chris
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by bernards66 »

Tim, Yes, Chris Fisher did ( of course...sigh ) sample those Murdock scents, posted something about them, and then sold them ( or some of them as he tends to buy duplicates and triplicates whenever he orders anything ). I think I may have even sent him a PM regarding them. His posts should be available in our archieves somewhere. Whatever he wrote to me it, apparently, was not such as to convince me to buy any of his offerings in the buy/sell section. Maybe I should reconsider. Anyway, that's most depressing news regarding the current Penhaligon scents, especially regarding Douro and Hammam Bouquet. I'm still fine with the English Fern that I received last Aug. but who knows for sure how old it really is...how long it was sitting on a shelf somewhere? So, I'm not certain whether it is the newer 'watered down' version or not. I hope it's the newer stuff because if it isn't then any that I might buy will be ordering blind and at the prices they now charge I'm reluctant to do that. The old Lords had loads of depth and remarkable staying power and it just reeked of 'class' or 'breeding' or 'old money'...whatever you want to call that. It was a little dressy for me to wear here in Tampa on a day-to-day basis but I always had some around for when the mood struck me. It was real quality stuff so your post is very sad, and Hammam equally so. Hammam without that rush of Bulgarian rose and the quality sandalwood in the base just would not be at all the same. Blenheim is a great classic and I love the top notes it has but unfortunately that distinctive pine note just doesn't work with my skin chemistry so I'm out of luck there. Figures that that would be the one that's been the least messed with. Personally I've not cared for any of the scents that Penhaligon's have released after Racquets. This whole thing is beginning to remind me of the T&H thing where they totally re-worked the three excellent classic scents that they still had left; Clubman, Freshman, and Spanish Leather and turned them into something that seemed cheapened and dept. store generic. I was really disgusted with that one.
Regards,
Gordon
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by Craig_From_Cincy »

I looked into those Murdock Fougere today, I was going to blind buy their Fougere from their website as they ship to the US. Good news: They take out VAT when shipping outside the EU bringing the cost from 78 rounds down to 59. Bad news: There's only one method for overseas shipping and it costs 50 pounds. i passed.

Also, Gordon you have a PM.
Cheers,

Craig
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by bernards66 »

Craig, Indeed. I seem to remember Robt. of The Gentlemen's Shop posting something about it becoming illegal for UK firms to ship alcohol based products outside the country. Something like that...it seemed pretty heavy when I read it at the time.
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by bernards66 »

Craig, I replied to your PM; hope you got it.
Gordon
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by Craig_From_Cincy »

I got it Gordon, thanks.
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Craig
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Re: New Penhaligon's Scent coming

Post by Bargepole »

Well I find I'm redundant on this, as I agree with everything Tim says. (Except that I'm even sadder about the Hammam than he is.)

It's bad news; but we should expect it. Fragrance finds it hard to breathe these days, crushed between accountants, private equity punters, and regulators.

But I do love this bit in the bullshit Penhaligon blurb:
a delicious blend of coriander and carrot seeds, creamy saffron and juicy quince: ingredients discovered during his trips to local markets in Jodhpur
I faintly suspect M. Duchaufour, being a perfumer, might have known about coriander, carrot seeds and saffron before her went to Jodhpur. As for "juicy" quince... coconut: yes. Violet: yes. Pale musk: yes. Juicy? Excuse me? What's the smell of juicy?

Bah.
Michael

People say it's never too late. How wrong they are. --Felix Dennis
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