Orlando Jardins d'Écrivains 2013

Creating a fragrance series "The Gardens of Writers" is an appealing idea. When selecting the literary names, I had two figures in mind. First of all: The name Roland is a form of the name Orlando.
Ultimately, I cannot relate the name of the fragrance "Orlando" to the historical figures.
Initially, the name of the perfume "Orlando" made me think of Virginia Woolf's novel: "Orlando." This novel spans over 300 years, and the protagonist(s) continually change gender. Virginia Woolf describes this very sensitively. She was a bisexual woman, which she conveys in the book with great delicacy through changing figures in historical transformation.
However, when I tested "Orlando," I thought of the historical figure of "Knight Roland."
This story begins in the early Middle Ages with the Song of Roland. "Rolland" "Orlando" is a brave and loyal Breton knight. This song is later referenced in medieval knightly literature (such as in Parzival and later Don Quixote) and undergoes corresponding transformations. From then on, it is about the knight Orlando, who becomes madly furious due to unrequited love for the sometimes (Handel) Chinese princess Angelica. The princess becomes Chinese only in the Renaissance. In any case, she chooses Medoro/Medoreo. The magician Zoroastro eventually cures "Orlando" of his madness, and he becomes a brave knight again.
This theme is revisited with variations over the centuries in literature and music, often in excerpts as Sarastro, Zarathustra, for example.
The story of "Orlando" itself is complicated with many variations. When you read the summary of the libretto for Handel's opera "Orlando," it is so complicated that I have at least quickly forgotten it repeatedly. However, this design had its reasons. In Handel's time, the lead roles in the opera "Orlando" were sung by the famous mezzo-soprano castrato Senesino. In general, Handel's operas (not just those by Handel) were always cast with transvestite roles. Female roles were sung by men and vice versa. The African Medoreo was sung by a woman because bass roles were not necessarily sung by men.
So this perfume is also likely partly about gender swapping, homosexuality (Wilde), thus about the transgender, not clearly heterosexual. (Why don't they have a fragrance "Thomas" (man)? Probably because he wasn't French.) Just as "George" is about travesty, so too with Orlando, if you take Handel's opera, it again concerns the role reversal of genders, albeit only in the persons of the performers.
After reflecting on everything I knew about "the raging Roland" and having read some more: Wiki makes it easy, I expected a wild fragrance. Something strong, magic, passion, sweetness.
As it often goes with overly intense expectations: They are not fulfilled!
"Orlando" begins with an aldehydic soapy waxy note. I quite like that. However, "Orlando" is already expressionless here. The orange seems to be a sweet one. Slightly spicy hints follow. As can be seen later in the pyramid, they are supposed to be ginger, pink pepper, and clove. Aha, I wouldn't have guessed that. Furthermore, I think of violet roots, iris, honey. Because "Orlando" becomes sweet, creamy. Perhaps there is something of juniper berry added? So unexciting, the fragrance wafts with a mediocre sillage almost gourmand for about an hour from my wrist to my nose. Meanwhile, I am writing emails. Because something should still come.
And it does. Suddenly, for about an hour, "Orlando" smells totally foul, really fecal. Disgusted, I keep smelling it. What is that? Is this supposed to be a performance of real musk? Or is the patchouli, which I cannot detect, in conflict with the musk and the guaiac wood, or are there even lily of the valley notes included? They can smell terrible to me. I resist the temptation to wash off the fragrance. "Orlando" stinks, but it is still not a strong smell.
Then, after another hour, "Orlando" becomes a sweet, amber resinous, yes vanilla fragrance with, to my surprise, a slightly metallic note. The longevity is indeed very long for my sense of smell; I am sure that I will still perceive "Orlando" in a few hours. Because no matter how "Orlando" changes, the fragrance strength does not diminish.
Now a slight woodiness comes into play, a scent of sweet tobacco.
"Orlando" is, apart from the one-hour "stink act," a mild resinous sweet fundamentally flower-free (iris and violet root notes are muddled with the stench) fragrance blend. The honey also comes back into play.
I cannot warm to it. I miss something distinctive, spicy, smoky, a resinous bitterness from coniferous trees, perhaps something bitter-citrusy. Or another harsh scent, angelica, davana, mugwort, burning sharp galbanum would be possible, something smoky.
Since I accept the lack of congruence between name and fragrance and also imagine that others perceive "Orlando" differently, I conclude for myself: A so exciting fragrance theme and a flabby, medium-strong yet intrusive fragrance: Checked off!