Cocktail Jean Patou 1930

Cocktail does feel like a libation for the nose: tart citrus and juicy honeysuckle rolled into aromatic, dry lavender, with Pimm's on the rocks. It's a piquant sparkle, a clink of glasses, a party on the veranda, and a simmering balsams and boudoir orris beneath the sheets.

I love the approach of fruitiness in the golden age of perfumery, where the limited palette meant some ingenuity from perfumers like Henri Almeras to fill in the gaps. Here, with Jean Kerleo reconstructing from what is presumed to be the original formula, it seems that this impressionistic pre-modern fruitiness is intact, using a sweet, green rose to illuminate it all.

Another dazzler.