Eucris Geo. F. Trumper 2017 Eau de Parfum

For a fragrance that came out in 1912 it does evoke from the smell a sombre mood like a rainy day in Downton Abbey or something Mr Darcy would wear from Pride & Prejudice.

The bottle is quite beautiful and ornamental with it's black and silver motif. The smell is fresh and soapy with lots of moss and musk. Out of this you can smell hints of blackcurrant, cumin, spices and light florals. The quality is very nice with vivid notes that smell Soapy smoky and ethereal. Everything is blended and balanced so that no one note overwhelms the other out of the oakmoss musk.

Eventually the scent becomes cleaner with the musk becoming more prominent and the sandalwood showing up here and there. The fragrance is easy and very lovely to wear. Compared to the Edt the scent lasts over eight hours on my skin though it does stay close to you within half a arms length. It also smells more smooth and refined with some of the notes been more balanced. The cumin note has been dialled way back for example.

All in all a very classy scent with a dark sombre mood suited for the gentlemen.

I visited this perfume shop. You know the ones where everything is behind a counter? I asked for a gentlemanly barbershop perfume. I knew this brand had some good stuff but here they came on the counter: the edt from the early 1900’s and this edp. Newer but stronger. Also with a sprayer diffuser, the edt was a splash bottle. But they’re pretty close scent-wise.

I didn’t know it was such an old brand. I thought this scent was from 2017, well after the famous Aventus which it reminds me of. So I dismissed it as a clone at first. Okay it’s deeper, richer, darker, way more interesting. Very heavy on the moss and patchouli. But later I discovered that this scent profile may just as well be the original!

All in all I’m pretty pleased about having learned about this beautiful smell. It’s old yet modern, and price wise it’s absolutely doable. Way better of a proposition than Aventus with its 1001 batch codes.

It's raining as I spray this on my skin. It suits the day perfectly: melancholy, brooding, contemplative. There's a density to the spices and moss and a juiciness to the blackcurrant that really complements this weather. There below is a ground cover comprised of lily of the valley, the raindrops opening up their balm in the humid air.

Gray skies, gray scents, a man who has seen a lot, has many tales to tell, wisdom, experience. Probably not a clubbing or date night scent, wink.

I can almost hear a distant Westminster Quarters through the rain when I get wafts of this. Eucris EDP is introspective majesty.

9.5/10

'Oy, Chris! Have you swept the dirt from the rich bags today?'

Billy Sikes, the stupid bastard. He hates me because I left his gang. He’s already as dumb at a young age as his old man became after 30 years of cheap booze.

'Oy, Chris! Always wash your hands, so the towels stay clean for the fine gents!'

I quickly move on; I can't afford any trouble with him right now. I don’t want to be late because I love my job and I’m very glad that Mr. George gave me a chance. And even though some customers treat me like air and I’m just the little assistant, it’s still a good job. I just think of my Granny and her little garden behind the house, the smells of the spices from the kitchen, the almost ripe currants, already juicy but still sour and slightly bitter. And of course her beloved flowers and the herbs from the bed. And the always slightly damp English soil. The memory then always blends with the woody-fresh scent of the aftershaves and colognes around me, and I can forget the taunts and Billy Sikes.

'Oy, Chris! You stupid little…'

One day I will go to Mr. George and ask him to make a cologne that captures the scent of my Granny, and Billy Sikes and all the others can just…

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No one has been able to decipher the origin of the name Eucris, not even Mr. Von Spee in his commentary on the EdT. The above little story is certainly not authentic, especially since the EdP only came onto the market in 2017, but it apparently doesn’t differ much from the EdT.

Eucris starts with a subtle lemon freshness. However, the spicy notes prevail for me; sweat-free cumin that has a slight warmth, and the slightly ethereal freshness of coriander seed, but also something from the ~green. I can hardly recognize the black currant at first; it is not fruity for me, but slightly sour and bitter, like unripe or just the buds.
Soon the flowers come into play, adding a few more lovely tones to the previously quite spicy mix. Of course, I can't identify the individual flowers, but they seem to be freshly cut, a bit of plant sap oozing from the stems, it smells slightly damp. The thyme is already recognizable and provides a fine, herbal freshness.
In the base, moss and sandalwood join in, both rather dry. This creates a nice counterpoint to the moist flowers. The patch is minimally earthy, and only now does the black currant come through more clearly for me. It is no longer bitter, but quite juicy-fruity, yet also tart. The just right portion of amber certainly contributes to this impression, adding a bit of sweetness (not much) and rounding it off softly. This fruity-spicy wood-amber blend in the base lasts for hours and is unexpectedly absolutely dreamy. Unexpectedly, of course, only for me, as I usually don’t appreciate fruits in fragrances (with the exception of citrus fruits). But the black currant is so perfectly integrated here that even I like it.

Eucris is not as black and dark as the bottle suggests. It is certainly herbaceous, spicy, and also rather on the masculine side. It does have dark facets, but I wouldn’t call it black. Perhaps rather a friendly anthracite or a playful DB 703. It lasts well for about 7 to 8 hours, with a pleasant, not overwhelming sillage.

Exactly what you would expect from a stronger concentration: Eucris, but deeper, more intense, and longer-lasting. The spray bottle, although not very extravagant, is much more appealing to me than the pouring mechanism of the original. As charming and dignified as the classic bottle with its tiny metal crown may seem, it is by no means practical - the crown constantly slips through my fingers, lands on the floor, and quickly hides away. The liquid also rarely goes where you want it to. For this reason, I immediately transferred the fragrance into a spray bottle back then, and every time I refill it, I am reminded of how inconvenient the pouring bottle is to handle.

When I now compare the two concentrations side by side, each on an arm, I find it easier to pick out individual notes (especially blackcurrant, coriander, musk, and the floral aspects) with the EdP, while I perceive the EdT more as a whole. The EdT also seems to me to be a touch drier, which I prefer. However, the differences are quite small and increasingly difficult to discern in the drydown. Just based on the spray bottle and the stronger intensity, I would prefer the EdP variant for my next purchase - assuming it can even be found. Eucris EdP is still quite rare in online shops.