Eau de Gentiane Blanche Hermès 2009

7.4 / 10 318 Ratings

A perfume by Hermès for women and men, released in 2009. The scent is green-fresh. It is still in production.
Pronunciation Compare

Main accords

Green

Fresh

Spicy

Woody

Earthy

Fragrance Notes

Gentian

White musk Iris

Iris

Perfumer

Jean-Claude Ellena

Ratings

Scent

7.4318 Ratings

Longevity

6.6242 Ratings

Sillage

5.5220 Ratings

Bottle

7.4216 Ratings

Value for money

6.543 Ratings

Submitted by Sani, last update on 08/07/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Eau de Lierre

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Grey Flannel Eau de Toilette

Sienne L'Hiver

Frosted Moon

Reviews

12 in-depth fragrance descriptions

04/30/2012

9
Scent

Ysbrand
84 Reviews

Ysbrand

Helpful Review 4

Subterranean river

Eau de Gentiane Blanche belongs to the colection of colognes of Hermes: Cologne, Eau (and Concentré) d´Orange VErte, Eau and Concentré de Pamplemousse Rose and Eau de Gentiane Blanche.

Most of us have never smelled the gentian flower, but i recognize the tonic herbal bitter note that appears (or, sadly, appeared) in Aqua Allegoria Gentiana too. The gentian note, as Miskk describes in her great review, is wet and earthy , and lasts all the time. Along with this , i also smell just a spark of citrus that is not listed here (maybe grapegruit??) and is more obvious in the first minutes and then goes to the background and remains almost silent. It keeps the fragance not so introverted.

Iris stress the rare earthy, mineral feeling. The incense is icy and deep. But it is the musk what gives the clean inorganic laundry feeling that along the other natural notes makes this fragance so irresitible, soothing, cool... i am completely in love with Eau de Gentiane Blanche.

This is a very unusual, more shadowy alternative to a bright citrus cologne or a fresh sporty fragance. It has a very natural vibe, like all Ellena´s creations.

Sillage is good but very office friendly and the longevity is remarkable for this type of fragance.

11/08/2015

K1
121 Reviews

K1

Helpful Review 5

Pristine luxurious comfort

Among most of designer houses, Hermès is one of the few loyal to originality and one of the few who delivers decent creations.
Eau de colognes and simple fragrances like this are lovesome cause they immediately imitate an image. And for their transparency the images are usually positive and happy. Eau de Geniane Blanche takes me back in a joyous spring few years ago.
It's bitter/sweet, wild floral, wet, musky, gently smoky, powdery… a very good scent for atmosphere aroma with Chet Baker's trumpet to smoothed a romantic evening. Very high class and sterling fragrance.
7/10

10/25/2012

7.5
Bottle 5
Sillage 5
Longevity 8
Scent

Apicius
224 Reviews

Apicius

Helpful Review 5

Not suitable for Bavaria and Tyrol!

Honestly, who knows the smell of gentian from his own experience? Me too, I never smelled this alpine flower, but I know its taste! Gentian or “Enzian” is also the name of a sort of liquor which is popular in the European Alps. And yes, Mr. Ellena did very well in transferring this into a perfume!

Gentian has quite a unique scent/taste and is not easy to describe: there is an acerbic, lean spiciness reminiscent of gin, a hint of flour or grain like vodka but also herbal aspects and something earthy, like wet sand. Outside the Alpine region Enzian seems to be widely unknown, unlike the complete assortment of Eau de Vies. Enzian is not a noble brandy, and it can be harsh. And its image is very Bavarian and Alpine, providing impressions of natives in traditional leather breeches, congregating in wooden chalets to play their family music, eat rustic food and drink Enzian. This is all very popular with the (American) tourists, but for us, it also stands for narrow-mindedness and political conservatism. In a way, Bavaria is for Germany what Texas is for the US.

Eau de Gentiane Blanche, however, does not have lots in common with that image. The gentian scent is surely there, but the character is completely different. This gentian note is refined and discreet, without any sharpness, a nice alternative for all who like juniper or gin notes in perfume. Eau de Gentiane Blanche gives me the impression that it was drawn with a steady and calm hand. To a certain extent, its refinement is caused by the circumstance that the perfumer decided to use a rather high dilution. It is really an “Eau”, with a longevity limited to about four hours.

In this case, this is just like it should be. There are fragrance notes that one would feel at home with throughout the whole day – and there are others that are equally bodacious but would get on one’s nerves after a few hours. For me, certain spicy notes like fennel, aniseed, juniper and obviously gentian as well belong to that category.

Within Hermès’ Eau series, Eau de Gentiane Blanche is the ugly duckling. Being presented in the same bottle as the Eau d’Orange Vert and Eau de Pamplemousse Rose fragrances, these grand perfumes outshine Eau de Gentiane Blanche by far. No southern skies, but also no impressive alpine glaciers come to my mind. Instead, it gives my impressions of copy paper. The modern employee who is surrounded by scents of toner rather than fresh mountain air simply cannot avoid developing an emotional relation to that as well.

So, Eau de Gentiane Blanche is a very good every day office scent. It can add some spiciness to a boring working day. For me, it stands in a row with a number of lean perfumes that seem to have similar concepts: Gucci’s discontinued “Rush for Men”, Ronaldo Esper’s pencil fragrance “Graphite”, or the transparent “Kenzoair”.

However, the usability of Eau de Gentiane Blanche is somewhat limited. Please keep in mind it basically smells like regional specific liquor, so do not wear it in Bavarian offices!

04/20/2012

5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 5
Scent

Missk
1357 Reviews

Missk

Helpful Review 5

Mysteriously unique

Eau de Gentiane Blanche requires a lot of getting used to. It's not what you might expect. In fact I'd go so far to say that it's one of Jean-Claude Ellena's most unique compositions.

I initially wanted to test this fragrance because the blend of iris and incense intrigued me. Well, there are hardly any floral notes in this fragrance, let alone iris. Apparently the gentian flower gives off a strong odour of wet earth, and I must say that Eau de Gentiane Blanche does smell very earthy and vegetal.

The smokiness created by the incense note is really fascinating alongside the strange, wet earth smell. When I first applied this fragrance to my skin, I was left wondering why on earth I thought that wearing this would be a good idea. It smelt like celery and homemade vegetable soup, not particularly what I wished to smell like.

I stuck with it, determined not to scrub it off, and eventually I began to respect it. The strong earthiness dimished slightly and the scent became a touch powdery, with a distinguishable calamine lotion scent. At this point I was enjoying wearing something so alien and odd.

Supposedly Eau de Gentiane Blanche is a cologne, yet this fragrance is lasting so well on my skin, almost like that of an EDP. The sillage is rather good too. I sprayed it lightly on my wrist and then read one of my favourite books. I kept getting this beautiful waft everytime I turned a page.

All in all, Eau de Gentiane Blanche is perhaps more masculine than feminine, however wearing it myself didn't make me feel like questioning my gender. It's a strange scent that will either repulse or captivate its wearers and the people around you. I'm glad that I gave this fragrance a chance.

03/06/2015

7.5
Bottle 2.5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 8
Scent

AromaX
33 Reviews

AromaX

Very helpful Review 3

The smell of snowdrops and early spring

Eau de Gentiane Blanche is a nice example of an early spring cologne to me. The one made within the white and bluish grey range of color spectrum instead of summer infused yellow citrus and juicy green tones. The citrus notes are skillfully hidden there and transformed into the peppery green freshness of the first leaves and grasses blended with the bitterness of white gentian blossoms. The whole theme is extended with the floral white musk with transparent woody accents. Quite linear and subtle scent with sillage restricted to the intimate zone.

I don't know what white gentian smells like. And whether it smells at all. I do believe Jean-Claude Ellena, so I can easily associate this perfume with Alpine gentian. But being honest - if he told me this was a smell of snowdrops I'd believe him as well. And personally I'd prefer to associate this cologne with something familiar like snowdrops than something distant and unknown like gentian. So, to me Eau de Gentiane Blanche is the perfect smell of early spring. Its bitterness reminds me of the bitter capricious weather of this season and its white floral scent with green undertones makes me think of snowdrops.

I was surprised when I found people comparing this perfume to Grey Flannel on Fragrantica. To me it's not really a smell alike, but I have to admit the similarities in the character of both scents. Eau de Gentiane Blanche is a rather a silent one. With its freshness, soft sillage and musky trail it is a perfect scent for office wear. Or a quiet leisure day in early spring.

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