Dunhill for Men

Classic Blend

Dunhill 1934 Eau de Cologne

My father used this when I was small and I loved it! I even remember the noise the lid made when twisted. You could let it spin and it made a characteristic noise of vibrating glass and bakelite.
When Dunhill couldn't be found anymore, my father switched to other after shaves that were similarly restrained and at the same time classy and masculine.
For me this fragrance exudes childhood security. My Papa.

Dunhill opens with a very synthetic smelling faux lemon, lavender and geranium combo before adding in a very generic blend of cedar in the scent's heart, sweetened by base notes of tonka bean, artificial sandalwood and musk. The scent is quite linear in nature with the artificial lemon, lavender, geranium and tonka bean remaining for most of the entire duration. Projection and longevity are both excellent.

Wow, this one is just a complete disappointment. I am one of the few folks that does not mind many of the Dunhill scents, but this one is so completely generic, cheap smelling, mundane and unoriginal that you may as well put a label "Exceptional for Men" on the bottle and call it a day. For those that are not familiar with "Exceptional" I can only recommend that you do *not* seek it out as it is anything but... and likewise for this "me too" release from Dunhill. On the plus side for bottle collectors, I love the container the juice comes in; I just wish the scent was as good smelling as its well-designed housing. Dunhill gets a below average 2 stars out of 5 and an "avoid" recommendation unless you just want the great bottle.

That's exactly what I want to smell on a man on a date. It's spicy, leathery, warm and cozy, slightly animalic, slightly sweet, slightly fresh... and it has everything I need in a man's fragrance. Perfectly blended lavender in a perfect opening and the drydown is pure seduction. That's a Date Fragrance, Mr. Fragrance!

I have an older bottle of Dunhill for Men, dated from around the mid-late 90s, early 2000s at the latest, and it is a marvelous soapy clean, spicy lavender-dominant fougere that wouldn't have been out of place in my recent video on YT for "wonderfully dated fragrances." It's far from youthful by today's standards, it could not be a "daily driver" (whatever that means exactly). It never leaves the house without its trilby hat and a pocket square, and remembers a time when someone from the working class still knew how to include some culture into their life.

Don't touch it if you can't appreciate a bright lemon with your lavender, if you can't handle powdery, or if you can't deal with a leather that doesn't smell like a modern car interior juice. Do touch if you appreciate Habit Rouge, Floris No. 89, roses and carnations, watching Antiques Roadshow, spend much time grooming your ears and nose (raises hand here), and can sit through black and white movies and actually, you know, pay attention to them. It would be a real joy for anyone who, like me, embraces anything charmingly fusty.

Dunhill for Men is a forgotten classic, full stop.

When choosing "Bed & Breakfast" as accommodation during a trip to England, one can hope for some extraordinary encounters. This type of lodging, related to German guesthouses, is characterized primarily by very personal hospitality, often influenced by family connections. During our recently concluded trip through England, we met a variety of hosts (in the first floor of an authentic pub in York, in a lovingly converted private house in Warwick, in a city villa in London). However, none of the accommodations was as impressive as the one on the banks of the River Severn near the Welsh border.

Even in the somewhat blurry photo, the property made a promising impression. But when, after a long detour through unmarked side roads, we finally stood in front of our accommodation for the night, we were left speechless: a castle from the mid-19th century with a large park, an adjoining vegetable garden, free-roaming peacocks and dogs, a private chapel in the side wing, a driveway to the house, and an exceedingly friendly hostess, from whom we managed to elicit, after a pleasant conversation in the castle's sitting room, that she is a descendant of a family of lords and barons who have lived on this estate (a formerly much larger predecessor building that had succumbed to the ravages of time) since the 16th century and played a significant role in English politics. Why the lady offers a few rooms as B & B in her huge house remains her secret. Perhaps it is the joy of welcoming different travelers from various countries.

The amenities of Bed & Breakfast accommodations also include a bathroom equipped with all sorts of lovingly selected bath cosmetics and fragrance samples from which the guest can choose freely. So what is found in the spacious bathroom of such a manor? Of course, no mainstream fragrance, certainly no scent from the continent, but English cosmetics: in this case, a sample of Dunhill for Men, perhaps already of an older vintage, as I believe this fragrance is no longer in production.

Since I have had Dunhill for Men on my agenda of fragrances to discuss for quite some time, and I have owned and appreciated it for many years, I immediately decided to write a comment on this classic.

Dunhill for Men is, for me, the epitome of a classic men's fragrance (vintage 1934), and it is not particularly English in character (no Blenheim Bouquet, no Wild Fern, no West Indian Limes, no Lavender Water: see the comments on these fragrances), rather soft and warm despite the fresh opening.

This opening is defined by a subtle lavender scent (a must in English compositions for men), citrus notes (here: lemon and petitgrain according to the fragrance pyramid), and herbal components.

Very quickly, floral notes also develop that resonate for a long time and accompany the fragrance into the base note. As little as I like strong rose scents (for women), I very much enjoy a subtle rose scent in men's fragrances (Il Profvmo Touaregh, Caraceni 1913, Paco Rabanne pour Homme: in the latter, it is, by the way, the so-called rosewood that emits a rose-like scent when freshly cut). This subtle, elegantly playful rose scent also resonates in Dunhill for Men, a fragrance that one expects from a British gentleman with such a dignified character, to whom one might not want to attribute such floral-feminine, almost dandy-like tones - and yet the rose scent (as well as other floral notes) fits wonderfully into the overall picture of this soft and elegant men's fragrance.

However, what makes this fragrance particularly interesting is its extraordinary base with a leather note, which may stem from civet or a related animalic accent and is rounded off by cedarwood, a scent I particularly appreciate.

It seems to me that this fragrance was not placed in the bathroom of the English castle by chance. Perhaps the late host, whom one could admire in a picture in the salon, particularly enjoyed this scent? Perhaps it simply fits particularly well with the image of an English lord sitting in a leather armchair in front of his huge fireplace, reading the Times and swearing by the same fragrance for years: Dunhill for Men.

P.S.: The deceased host is not Lord Wisebottom. This is just to avoid misunderstandings.