Wakening Woods of Scandinavia 4711 2019

Refreshes not just for a short time,
No, even after hours you are ready.
Oh Isobaum, oh Limobaum,
Can you please me very much?
Such an evergreen can also be sung off-season. And this fir scent, in my opinion, fits much better in the warmer season. With its slightly sweet coriander-lemon-lime green notes, this truly special 4711 lacks any Christmas spice warmth in my nose.

After its completely successful, fine nutmeg-lime and its year-round cologne with zesty mandarins over cardamom & synthetic wood, this forest scent is the third etude by avant-garde perfumer Geza Schön for the traditional house 4711. To get straight to the point: In my nose, this sounds more like Czerny than Chopin. Because the scent is pleasant but shows little development. Interesting and solid, original and wearable. No one needs to kneel here.

Without moss, nothing happens, is the complaint of countless forest lovers who react allergically to the (anti-allergenic) oak moss bans of the IFRA. There is definitely no moss in here. So what's going on instead?

The awakening of the forest begins with a sweet-green fanfare, in which only subtly bitter orange (and for me, no noticeable pepper) resonates. However, this opening already exudes a cheerful lemon mist: a well-chilled Fanta, spiced with a pinch of coriander, right in the Black Forest. It feels sporty, not old-fashioned. So rather a nice blueberry pancake at the green hut than Grandhotel Bühlerhöhe or Traube in Tonbach. The scent feels young and has NOTHING in common with the original 4711.

When you go deeper into the forest, green scents usually become mossy, earthy, shady; possibly slightly musty, vetiver-rooty. In any case: heavy. But here, none of that happens. Everything remains very bright, light, like a sun-drenched plantation of young fir trees, whose minimal resinousness is constantly overshadowed by sweet, floral orange soda.

With some certainty, there are also likely no small amounts of Iso E Super contributing to this silvery bright, quite long-lasting, iridescent underpinning of the orange fir. Especially during sports, on steaming skin, this fir scent reminds me of this all-purpose weapon of modern aroma chemistry, which gives fragrances aura and radiance.

The (quite muscular) overall package seems to me quite original. This kind of cologne has probably not existed at 4711 or anywhere else - as far as I can see. It is undoubtedly refreshing. And definitely modern, because somehow still recognizably synthetic; yet by no means unpleasantly plastic-like. In this sense, the 4711 Wakening Woods occupies a niche in the realm of refreshing waters.

Moreover, it lasts significantly longer than a classic cologne, which definitely justifies the designation Colonia Intense (6-8 hours). After all, these 'Awakening Scandinavian Forests' have significantly more ingredients on the list than the other, more slender 4711. While I can still slightly sense coriander; rose, osmanthus, and jasmine, however, can hardly be perceived as such, but at best as a thin veil of floral notes. The same applies to any possibly subliminal, homeopathically contributing clouds of incense.

Due to a certain one-dimensionality in the scent development and the aforementioned artificiality, it will probably be used rather rarely by me despite its fir cologne uniqueness. However, I wouldn't want to miss it in my collection.
To also let the last stanza of the popular Christmas song sound:

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
your dress wants to teach me something!
Hope and constancy
give comfort and strength at all times!

We want to attest to its endurance. Its sillage is strong for a cologne, moderate for a full perfume. Yes, one spray gives strength through freshness. Hope and comfort? For cuddling, I find it too fresh and superficial. No grand forest symphony resonates in my ears here, but a cheerfully late-modern arrangement of 'Oh Tannenbaum, Iso Superbaum' rounded off with a twig of coriander and a few flowers.

Geza Schön's third piece for the Cologne traditional colognists may well have the potential to become a classic of synth-pop. In any case, I look forward to further modernization experiments from the house of 4711 with eager anticipation, in an Advent spirit.