L'Etrog Arquiste 2011

Highly aromatic citrus with green/woody nuances. Opens with massive, juicy lemon/citron, somewhat like Allure EB and for quite a while remains just that. It gets subtly sweeter as the date comes in, followed by a nice clean vetiver. Pretty simple, quality "cologne"; soft, fresh, safe.

I've worn Arquiste L'ETROG several times now, having acquired a small bottle from OpenSky for the third round of Chandler Burr's Untitled series. From the beginning, this perfume reminded me of Histoires de Parfums 1873 (Colette), and even now, knowing that it is not the same, I cannot wear L'ETROG without thinking immediately of 1873.

It must be the combination of grapefruit (listed here as citron, but to me it smells just like grapefruit!), including juice and peel, with a candied sweetness, imparted here by dates, there by caramel, which is causing the association in my mind. I find the quality of the two compositions to be on a par--this really does smell "niche", if that means anything--and I might consider adding a bottle of L'ETROG to my collection if I did not already have one of 1873. Even in a side-by-side comparison (before the reveal), I managed to convince myself that the difference I was smelling was due to batch variations!

This is nice, no doubt, but not compelling for me. It's a somewhat quirky cologne which moves toward the gourmand realm without quite going all the way. This sort of composition really defies categorization, and I only encountered it twice before: in 1873 and in Bond no 9 CONEY ISLAND. I consider these three perfumes all to be "event" or "novelty" scents, not something with any obviously appropriate applications, but which are enjoyable nonetheless to wear.

L'ETROG is a fine introduction to the house of Arquiste, and I'm sure that I'll be exploring the offerings of this line further...

I received a sample of this along with a purchase from Etiket. It immediately reminded me of old school Ô de Lancôme. This is definitely a compliment! I didn’t know what an “etrog” was so I looked it up and, like someone else here said, went down a rabbit hole looking up the citron and its role in Sukkot, the Jewish holiday. Fascinating stuff!

This is a fantastic combination of mild, sweet citrus with florals and warm woods that are blended seamlessly together. It’s complex and interesting, but at the same time very wearable. It’s also one of the few citruses that I think works just as well in cooler weather as warm.

Bright and fresh opening of citruses with a green and slightly tart aspect that reminded me of rhubarb (Is myrtle the possible culprit?). As it moves on, I start getting a resinous sweetness. At that point, I started getting a desert-like feeling which reminded me of Andy Tauer’s fragrance line (if you know, you know). I don’t get any jasmine note. Drydown starts to veer off into masculine territory with a spicy vetiver, an earthy and dark patchouli, and a woody cedar.

It’s not something different or unique, but I’ve gotta say it doesn’t warrant the rating it has (6.8 at the time of this review). It’s lovely, safe and fit for a man. The drydown is very masculine leaning to me although the top and middle notes remain unisex. This is the main reason why I won’t be adding a bottle to my collection (and I already have many other beautiful citrus fragrances already in my collection).

Arquiste is a house I was unfamiliar with until I was sent samples of L'Etrog and Nanban. I had tried Anima Dulcis a few years ago and all three now have me much more interested in the house generally. Hope you i
enjoy the review and thank you for watching.