When is a new Guerlain coming? Is there perhaps a new one from the Ideal line coming soon? I actually asked myself this question more often during the pre-Christmas season. And then it happened. I read in the ticker that a new one is coming. And then it even has the name
L'Homme Idéal Cologne Forte. I could hardly put my excitement into words. I am a huge fan of
L'Homme Idéal Cologne and I have 3 bottles of it. I don't need to say more.
Some may think that I would have rated this fragrance positively regardless of how it turned out. That is not the case. On the contrary, precisely because I am such a huge fan, the anticipation was high, but I was also very skeptical. Can my expectations be met?
At no point did I question whether I would order the fragrance or not. As soon as it was available online, I ordered it immediately.
It arrived yesterday. And what can I say? I am thrilled.
I will try to describe the fragrance first through a scenario.
Imagine it’s early June and it’s a pretty warm day. You want to meet friends in the early evening and you put on this fragrance. You go outside, you’re in a good mood, and you drive to the meeting point with loud music. That’s the opening. You meet at a beach club. The atmosphere is good, and you’re having a cocktail with your friends. There’s laughter and you’re having fun. The mood is carefree as the sun sets. That’s the middle part. Towards the end, you throw on a jacket because it’s getting a bit cooler. The conversations become deeper and you order a good wine. Here we are at the end of the fragrance. At this point, it becomes a gentleman's scent for me.
Now I will try to better relate this to the fragrance itself, without going into detail about the notes. I leave that to the professionals as always.
The fragrance starts off very zesty. To be honest, I didn’t expect it to be this intense. I admit that I was a bit overwhelmed at first. I wore the fragrance twice yesterday. Once right after delivery and once last night after showering. By the second wearing, the overwhelm was gone and I was absolutely thrilled because everything made perfect sense to me. After the zesty start, we develop towards the original for my nose. After about 1 hour, we are close to
L'Homme Idéal Cologne and this parallel really pleased me because I love this fragrance very much. The typical almond is clearly noticeable for me in the middle part. I was also pleased that the fragrance develops away from the original for my nose after a while. It loses some sweetness and becomes a bit drier, and I detect some woodiness. I only perceive the incense very subtly at the end.
What makes this fragrance special for me? The answer lies in the fragrance progression. I go through several phases during this scent, and I find it impressive how a fragrance can have so many facets.
Yes, I am a fan of this house. But I’ll be honest with you, even if I hadn’t been a fan before, I would definitely be one after experiencing this fragrance.
Top Notes 
Grapefruit
Heart Notes 
Almond
Base Notes 
Frankincense
Vetiver
Merlotsupern
Ragas
Nik604
Dixieland88
Wnose
Benj197
DJSaunter
DaveGahan101
LongPaf
44muc
