Marlborough Geo. F. Trumper 1877 Cologne

So much in advance: I'm only just discovering the really "old" fragrances. For a long time, conventional stuff accompanied me. At some point I came across Pinaud Lilac Vegetal (someone who couldn't stand it gave it to me as a gift) and I thought to myself: wow, there's such a thing?!

The fragrance journey continues, and last week she brought me Marlborough Cologne to my house. First impression: Okaay... that's kind of great, but somehow you can only rarely wear it.

Second impression on reapplication 2 days ago: Hmm, awesome stuff... okay, a fresh citrusy opening, then lavender and wood come in, all very earthy, but there's something else there that makes it so light and perfectly dirty-earthy. NOBODY would think of something like that today. What could it possibly be?
The solution came to me when I read through the other old Trumper creations: it's KÜMMEL! (And celery, which also plays a part.) Feel free to scold me when I'm wrong, but praise me when I'm right. While the founding father only used caraway here in moderation and as an ingenious "contaminating" element, he obviously added a few years of cumin to the Astor Cologne a few years later, because it had already proven its worth with the material here.

Hey, I'm still missing the Astor, by the way. Do I need to mention what's next on my list?

A quick word about the bottle: a wonderfully old-fashioned glass jar with a crown as a lid and a small opening so that you can drip a few drops behind your ears. Very British indeed. I had a lot of trouble filling a travel dose into a 5 ml bottle - of course, professionals have disposable syringes with attachments for this kind of thing. Unfortunately, I don't yet.

Recommendation to buy? Well... not the right kind of question, my friend, if you do not mind. If you have this, you have it with conviction, and not because you quickly need some (!) additional "fragrance" for your collection.