Blood Orange & Basil 4711 2010 Eau de Cologne

Shot is, you vegans, muesli lovers, and pacifists, not just the coarsely ground spelt stuff that you always soak in the evening for fresh grain porridge, but also coarsely shredded LEAD or other less palatable stuff that is shot with a shotgun. This results in a wide spread angle, so you somehow always hit something. By the way, "shot" in English is "shot," and a shotgun is a "shotgun." I recently learned that "to ride shotgun" in English (at least in American English) means "to sit in the passenger seat," because in the Wild West, there were always two people sitting at the front of the stagecoach: the one holding the reins and the passenger with the shotgun in hand, in case a rabbit or Indian passed by.

Some fragrance houses also operate according to the shotgun method, for example, Guerlain with its Aqua Allegoria line. The AAs are light Eau de Toilettes that are very close to Cologne, which, like a Cologne, are often simply structured, e.g., consisting of a fresh note and a spicy addition. However, since they are officially EdTs and typically too femininely softened for a Cologne, they do not appear in my Cologne series. In the Parfumo fragrance database, we count 51 Aquae Allegoria, or however one should form the plural here, while the Guerlain homepage lists another 12. In other words, three or four of these things are released every year, and those that are well received by buyers continue, while the others are discontinued. I consider this an abuse of customers as test subjects. Especially from a house like Guerlain, I actually expect them to first test which scents that come from the lab as proposals are good and then bring this selection of the best to market. That would show respect for the customer, who would then know: At Guerlain, I get quality first, and secondly, next year, I will still have the scent I buy this year.

The Acqua-Colonia line from 4711 (with a c, because it is not based on Latin but on Italian, or because someone from the Muppet Show sold a C to the marketing department of 4711) is the German answer to Aqua Allegoria. So, just as Cologne lies just on the German side of the border, these scents lie just on the Cologne side of the border to EdT. Without softening agents and more crystalline than fluffy. Otherwise the same in green. And the same shotgun method: 28 scents in the Parfumo database, 9 on the 4711 homepage.

Because I find this junk, I also stick with the 7.5 points that I previously gave here, even though one could also talk about over 8, as this is likely one of the best scents in this line. At cooler temperatures like today, it has a longevity of about an hour; in high summer, for which it is made, it’s more like ten minutes. To start with the "performance," which many commentators believe is the most important aspect of a scent ("you must buy it immediately, great H+S, the scent has only one small flaw, smells like crap with raspberry"). It smells like its name, namely blood orange and basil, which creates a very nice, incredibly refreshing summer blend, at least for people like me who enjoy such citrus-kitchen herb combinations. Due to the blood orange, which is certainly synthetically produced, it is already quite far from the classic, centuries-old Cologne notes (lemon, bergamot, lime, neroli, possibly orange) and thus different and, so to speak, modern. Why not, I like it. Even during the first testing, it seemed to me a bit like a stripped-down, simplified, Cologne-reduced version of the classic "Concentré d'Orange Verte" by Hermès, which is indeed a great compliment. However, this orange here is redder, indeed bloody, slightly less valuable, and a bit sweeter.

For those interested: The Vincent Schaller, who is still not familiar to me by name, is also responsible for Wilma's favorite remix from the same house, for some scents from "Rituals," and even for the quite well-executed "Oud 27" from "Le Labo."

Overall, really a very nice product. I repeat myself: If 4711 had released a series of, for example, five (permanently established) Acqua-Colonia scents, thoughtfully selected and covering a wide range of fragrances, there could have been even more points possible. As it stands, there is a small junk penalty.