Derby Guerlain 2005

This fragrance has everything that a truly great scent must have: inspiration, refinement, and a brilliant composition of harmonious and dissonant elements: the fresh top notes contrasted with mint, the floral heart notes accented with spicy touches, and a strong Chypre base softened by the famous Guerlinade and a wonderfully soft leather note.
A charismatic fragrance, quirky and with an aristocratic attitude, yet not as pleasing as Habit Rouge or Heritage, which makes the scent overall a bit more complicated, but more interesting in the long run.
Jean-Paul Guerlain's masterpiece!

Addendum 15.08.2010

It is reported that J.P. Guerlain stood before the great amphitheater in El Djem during a trip to Tunisia and that this, along with the idea that horse races once took place there, fascinated him so much that he wanted to let the impressions flow into a fragrance. Thus, the arena and the past chariot races inspired him to create his scent Derby, which he initially intended to call 'Centurion' due to its ancient Roman reference. However, since that name sounded too stiff, he opted for the term 'Derby,' which is also commonly used in horse racing.
Olfactorily, the journey actually leads more towards the Maghreb than to the homeland of horse derbies, England.

At the beginning of the scent's progression, the aroma of an Arabic bazaar unfolds: fresh citrus fruits and an unusual mint open the show, paving the way for a whole cascade of aromatic spice accords, dominated by Artemisia (wormwood), allspice, nutmeg, and pepper. Some flowers join in the heart: a distinctly recognizable clove, a bit of rose, and jasmine.
In the base finally: sweet-resinous labdanum and plenty of bitter oak moss (at least in the original Derby). Alongside strong leather notes and a subtle, yet unobtrusive animalic nuance that runs through the entire fragrance. Derby is very long-lasting - even hours after application, an exquisite aroma of noble, polished wood and spice unfolds, and the entire scent progression is finely balanced: everything flows seamlessly into one another and unites into a broad and powerful river.

Many say this scent is the masculine counterpart to Mitsouko, just as Habit Rouge is considered Shalimar pour Homme - I don't quite see it that way. Derby lacks the fruitiness that is so characteristic of Mitsouko; the fragrance is incomparably spicier, and only the base - especially the old version - shows certain similarities. However, even here, Derby develops in a woodier direction, while Mitsouko distinctly unfolds its herb-fruity, bitter-mossy base structure in all phases. Nevertheless, in the relationship-rich Guerlain cosmos, Derby indeed has the most references to Mitsouko, without - in my view - simply being its masculine variant. The fragrance is just too quirky and also too independent for that.

It took Guerlain a full twenty years after the great success of Habit Rouge to launch a new men's fragrance (which is also suitable for women and is often praised hymnodically by them!) - a timeframe that no house could likely afford today. Back then, however, the market was not so overheated, and the perfumer often worked on a single fragrance for years. And in my opinion, Derby is such a fragrance that even today, in its now third version, still shows how much it has been refined and with what care it was crafted - a fragrant work of art! Unfortunately, the same care was not applied to the packaging and presentation of the fragrance: the so-called 'Eagle Bottle' was not really beautiful even back then, and the campaign under the motto 'Barbare et très civilsé' completely missed the mark in the media. The model: a middle-aged man with a prominent chin and a monstrous bow tie, somehow looking off to the upper right into nothingness. A bit too little for the hedonistic 80s - just look at how Antaeus by Chanel was advertised!

Well, however: Derby, although celebrated by critics and perfume enthusiasts, was not destined for success (perhaps the fragrance simply had too little sex appeal for its time?!) and disappeared from the shelves after just a few years. Eventually, it was only available in Paris in a new presentation, where all men's fragrances by Guerlain were briefly showcased: in the so-called Habit-Rouge bottle. Recently reworked (due to the now third restriction on oak moss), it is now part of the exclusive line 'Les Parisiennes' - as good and delicate as ever, just a bit lighter and more transparent.
Luca Turin - who counts Derby among the top ten men's fragrances - once described the relationship of the scent to its successor 'Héritage' as follows: “If Derby were the dream car... Héritage is a superb coupe...” It is also one of my dream cars.