Épice Marine Hermès 2013

One of the most successful German films to this day dates back to 1981 and tells the story of U 96, a submarine of the German Navy and its crew during World War II, on enemy patrol in the Atlantic in 1941. 'Das Boot' was not only the breakthrough for director Wolfgang Petersen (who later had two more 'sea pieces' in his oeuvre with 'Der Sturm' and 'Poseidon'), but also for actor Jürgen Prochnow. Prochnow plays the commander of U 96, whom they only call 'the Old Man' because he is clearly older than most of the other crew members at just over thirty. The film addresses not only the war, the tensions among the men, and the claustrophobic closeness aboard the submarine, but also, and especially, the ever-present superiority of the sea.

'The superiority of the sea' - it took a long time before Jean-Claude Ellena succeeded in creating a water fragrance worthy of this theme for the house of Hermès - one that goes beyond the many water-blue shower gel/disco candidates, which almost all seek to charm and win solely with their top notes. This focus comes at the expense of their subsequent development in most of them: heart and base notes are - if they exist at all - at best banal, and often the attempt to artificially give depth against the inherent fleetingness of freshness results in something strained, sometimes almost whiny and artificial. Because no one chooses aquatic fragrances for their scent progression or even their beautiful base. Water scents are for now and here.

Hermessence Épice Marine breaks this mold. Many before it have tried to give a sea-themed fragrance endurance and depth - Hermès' or Ellena's Dark Blue has all of that. Unlike the aforementioned lightweights, it is a serious - if not dark, then at least medium-dark - scent of strength and an unusual maturity. It shows the quality of its ingredients and their skillful arrangement right from the start, as it briefly flirts with its freshness, which is to be expected from one that carries 'Marine' in its name. But then it builds up angry, gray-blue waves before a swiftly passing night sky, and the spices that give it its name rise like ominous flotsam, their growliness exciting and foreign amidst the bubbling dark blue.

Conclusion: 'Das Boot' experienced a renaissance in 1991 thanks to Hamburg DJ Alex Christensen when its theme song flooded the discos and the charts in a techno version. And twenty years later, Hermès and Jean-Claude Ellena created a fragrance worthy and fitting for Commander Jürgen Prochnow and his crew. Finally.