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34
In the Colognist Cafe: Friedrich Engels
It is often complained that there are hardly any real gentlemen left today. This is definitely not the case with Givenchy. There they are becoming more and more. It started in 1974 with 'Givenchy Gentleman', then came the flanker 'Gentlemen Only' in 2013. Since then, the old-school gentlemen multiply like rabbits.
In addition to the singular Gentleman of 1974, a 'Gentleman Givenchy', that is, with reversed word components, has since occurred, as EdT (2017), EdP (2018) and here, voilà, as EdC (2019). Since the common concentrations were through after that, a somewhat wooden gentleman (Gentleman Boisée, 2020) and an intense gentleman (Gentleman EdT intense, 2021) followed, which seems a bit dubious to me, since I always thought that gentlemen were distinguished by distinguished restraint.
The plural Gentlemen were not lazy either. Here too there was an Intense (2014), then a Casual Chic (2015) and then, in the same year 2016, a Fraiche and an Absolute. For the past 5 years, there has been an almost frightening silence in the multi-branch. It is to be hoped that these gentlemen are not afflicted by a lasting malaise.
I do not know all of these fragrances, nor do I want to know them all. I own the Ur-Gentlemen-Only from 2013 and have tested two or three others. On this narrow empirical basis, I dare to say that the gentlemen are all really related to each other, or, as one might say scientistically: share the same DNA. So if you know one or two other representatives of this clan, you should not expect anything completely different from this cologne.
And indeed, these gentlemen are all not the type of eccentric noblemen who urinate from the roof of the Scottish country estate in a wide arc around the bet, praise Pol Pot at the whiskey in the gentlemen's club or wear women's underwear under the tailcoat. They tend to be younger, upper-middle-class gentlemen with middle-class occupations, smooth and friendly, unassuming, sometimes to the point of being soft-spoken.
This fragrance is also more Givenchy Gentleman than cologne, but still: the citrus top note is there and the (here rather bitter than fresh green) rosemary, which is present from 4711 to Alvarez Gomez in almost every washed cologne, is not missing. However, you almost have to know about this cologne beforehand to recognize it. Because the modern tendency, at least since Mugler's cologne, to soften a classic cologne with musk (which I detest in itself), is so over the top here that it becomes - dialectical turnaround from quantity to quality! - it becomes good again. Next to a generous shot of musk still steps a directly docking tart creamy iris, served with a coarse ladle, and, as if it were not enough, a pleasantly fibrous vetiver.
Thus, this fragrance actually moves almost beyond the boundaries of what I treat in my series as cologne. But what is again colognetypisch, is the low durability of about two to three hours. This I do not feel as a shortcoming, on the contrary, it contributes to the fact that I appreciate this fragrance and leave it in my collection instead of the Ur-Plural. This tart creamy elegant freshness is very nice for a short time and can be congenially appropriate, for example, when you get into a light gray suit freshly showered, as a companion for the whole day it would be a little too little captivating for me.
It should be noted that I came to the overall good idea to try it times with this gentleman by the esteemed Runa, who has enriched this forum for a good while by their youthful-fresh writing. Too bad she has fallen silent here (for the time being, I hope not). But the number of gentlemen and gentlewomen I miss in this forum is growing as fast as the givenchistic flankers anyway.
Fifth visit to the colognist cafe. Blog has been updated.