Mouchoir de Monsieur (2nd Opinion) (Guerlain)

by Mark

When I was a child I used to love visiting my grandmother. Among her other love-inspiring qualities, she baked a delicious chocolate cake. And of course, she would let me scrape the leftover icing out of the mixing bowl. One day as I was in the kitchen with her, I saw the box of unsweetened baker's chocolate. "Can I have some of this?" I inquired. "It's not sweet, you won't like it" she told me. I figured she had to be wrong; it was chocolate, how could I not like it? I begged and she relented, and I gleefully popped a square into my mouth. Yuck.

I often complain that there is not enough civet in fragrances. Rose Poivrée? Smells like pepper and roses.* Jicky EdT? Needs more civet (the EdP is suitably endowed.) Muscs Khoublaï Khan? Smells like flowers to me. You see where I am going with this?

Civet. Mouchoir de Monsieur has it. In spade(ful)s. Almost like a spadeful in the face. It's almost too much.**

Almost.

At first, the bergamot and lavender opening could be mistaken for Jicky (EdT) but for the heavy dose of civet, like an overdeveloped third leg that almost tips the whole thing over. Jicky EdP may have as much civet, but it is balanced out by the more pronounced presence of the Guerlinade base. MdM is a thing of hideous beauty. After a little while, though, the gears mesh, the rough edges fall away and the composition settles into a smooth, luxurious and enveloping accord. One could argue that the classical fougère is dated, but its dignity remains intact.

So there we are, very agreeable, wrapped up in a dream of luxury past... and then, without warning, it shuts down. Over, finis, done. After only a few hours there is little left but a memory. A good memory, nonetheless; unlike the baker's chocolate, I will sample this again.

*I understand that this is a reformulation problem.

**The list of notes does not contain the word civet, but it does contain Fougère Harmony, a neo-French term most closely translated as "cat butt."

Check out Thomas' review yesterday, and Dane review tomorrow.

Perfumer: Jacques Guerlain
Year: 1904
Notes: Lavender, Bergamot, Verbena, Rose, Jasmine, Neroli, Fougère Harmony, Patchouli, Vanilla, Iris

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