Derby Guerlain 2005

Thanks to dear Kiengira, I got to enjoy the vintage edition... and I was already super excited about this top classic! I'll keep it short, Derby is a fragrance from the category "You shall have no other gods before me"... no, I'm not well-versed in the Bible... but that sentence is, for me, the essence of this scent. Derby demands, Derby absorbs, Derby challenges, Derby has edges and corners... Derby flattens, Derby scratches, Derby is a statement, Derby is appealing. I took three weeks to comment because I wanted to let it fully affect me... I wanted to give my nose development a bit more time than usual... and in the meantime, I compared it with the current version.
Derby intrigues me, lures me in - pushes me away... Derby delights - Derby confuses... and Derby makes me age.
I simply can't find access to this tough nut, at least not in a way that I would want to wear it... but I somehow enjoy sniffing it on my wrist... strange... I had the same effect with Tobacco Vanille (but that's a totally different alpha animal). I really like the orange-bergamot start in Derby... but that's just a second-long opening before the dominant "Clove" appears... exactly this note ruins this fragrance for me... and a few others as well... in moderation, I actually like this scent note quite a bit... I even love it in Dries van Noten. The beautifully embedded patchouli is well-measured... leather in a tolerable dose for me... but the spicy carpet is so concentrated and opaque that it's just too much for me... even if it's too much of a good thing;-). The newer version is a bit brighter and finer... but still remains an alpha animal. What I really like (as is often the case with Guerlain) is the wonderful development that lasts for hours... and keeps taking new directions... a great scent without a doubt... superb quality... but just too masculine for me... too classic "men's fragrance... I'm already over 40... still, with every spray, I feel like I'm aging... sounds like a perfect employee perfume (before you know it, you're retired;-))... but it doesn't make me happy... and I don't feel comfortable (which is a minimum requirement for a perfume) with it either... it simply evokes the wrong images for me... but I can totally imagine Kiengira wearing it.
Longevity of over 10 hours is excellent and the sillage with 2-3 sprays is room-filling... so you get something for your money... if you like such fragrances... the search for a true classic in my collection continues...