Top Notes 
Bitter orange
Bergamot
Mandarin orange
Heart Notes 
Myrtle
Laurel
Neroli
Base Notes 
Mediterranean undergrowth
09/20/2023
Intersport
115 Reviews
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Intersport
Top Review
19
Detour XV: Eaux de Gloire …
Anyone who says Eau de Gloire Cologne must also say Eau de Gloire, or vice versa, could it be said like that at the Parfum d'Empire HQ? But one thing at a time - Eau de Gloire (2003) was Marc-Antoine Corticchiato's debut with Parfum d'Empire. The fragrance was available for a long time as Eau de Toilette before it was offered as Eau de Parfum (2014) along with most of the program; for the 10th anniversary of the company, there was a vintage edition designated as Cologne pour l'Hiver, and now, in 2023, for the 20th anniversary, there is Eau de Gloire Cologne. Originally, this version was supposed to be released in the 'Napoleon Year' 2022, but it fits well in the following year too.
Eau de Gloire - I could never distinguish a difference between the Eau de Toilette and the Eau de Parfum version - is among Corticchiato's most classic works and has never been one of my favorites, or only partially, almost half and half, depending on the perspective: 50% of Eau de Gloire - the first half, so to speak - is entirely to my taste, the remaining 50%, that is the drydown, etc., less so or a bit too dusty for me. The first part consists of a relaxed, sun-drenched Mediterranean shrub accord; deeply aromatic, complex, and polyphonic, with citrus sprinkles, immortelles here with slight anise and tea-like nuances, lavender, rosemary, cistus extract, herbaceous, refreshing yet calming, all in all inviting, a very balanced and perfectly blended cross-section of macchia. It’s tempting to dive into. So far so good: only this scene transforms more and more into a fully developed leather chypre reminiscent of Hermès' Bel Ami (1986). Nothing wrong with that in itself, as Bel Ami is one of the hits of the 80s, especially when it was still offered in the stunningly beautiful brown glass cocktail shaker with a Bakelite-like closure and, color-coordinated, patterned cardboard - one of the most coherent presentations of that decade, yet never quite my style.
Admittedly, this duality fits Eau de Gloire, a fragrance that is also said to be dedicated to Corticchiato's father, representing all Corsicans (and Corsican women, although originally Eau Suave (2005) was intended here?!), who had to emigrate in the 20th century to find social security elsewhere - a complex history, especially after World War I, Corsica, whose identity and development of any infrastructure was consistently neglected by Paris. The reference to a leather chypre may fit these generations, just like the impression of a landscape, very much in the spirit of Bonaparte's bon mot that one could smell the island from the ship long before it appears on the horizon - a scene that even made it into an Asterix comic.
Now Eau de Gloire Cologne comes into play and the power of dilution. Not that Eau de Gloire Cologne is merely a lighter version of Eau de Gloire, no, I suspect rather a reconstruction, a re-engineering, where some components have been replaced or renewed. I wouldn't be surprised if, as with the latest Parfum d'Empire releases, specially commissioned distillates from the Acquarone family are used again.
Similar to its predecessor, the Cologne also plays with duality: here a peculiarly bitter, slightly aromatic citrus note through myrtle, occasionally with an orange tint: Corticchiato can indeed do citrus, immediately Iskander (2006), Yuzu Fou (2008), and Azemour Les Orangers (2011) come to mind, or more recently, the refined clear Helios di Corsica (2018). The other half of the Cologne largely consists of an upgrade of the aforementioned golden macchia accord. This is now explicitly referred to as such by the brand, and not, as before, just as a list of possible components. Certainly, the perfumer has rightly made a name for himself as a macchia expert over the years, moreover, these starkly lush destinations are increasingly 'en vogue' - in perfumes as elsewhere. Eau de Gloire is particularly exciting as it has anticipated many in-house trends. Even though my favorite macchia accord is probably hidden in the not-so-sounding Fougère Bengale (2007), the sequence from Eau de Gloire, through Fougère Bengale to Tabac Tabou (2015) are stations of this development, before it can be traced broadly back to Corsica Furiosa (2014) and all the releases that have appeared in the Héritage Corse series. Like a prism, Héritage Corse broke the Mediterranean light into a spectrum of meticulous studies of these terroirs, and that with much more diverse facets than just brown-golden.
Eau de Gloire Cologne connects here, the melancholic echoes of Bel Ami are now greatly muted, but not entirely gone, the hesperidic aspects extend deep into the (short) duration - and it seems as if the lighter construction, which also formally comes with the Cologne concentration, intensifies the impression of a summer evening amidst aromatic shrubbery. When you ask perfumers why it is so difficult to capture real places, especially those outdoors, as scents, you often hear how microscopically small, or low the ratios of measurable scent molecules to surrounding volumes of air, space, atmosphere are. Less is almost more here. Aside from the wonderful citrus start, perhaps what distinguishes Eau de Gloire Cologne is its dilution, the lingering in the implied, and the new interpretation of a whispered macchia accord. Those seeking more aromatic and 'perfume' with leather chypre references can confidently reach for the old Eau de Gloire; the lightweight version is no less exciting, different enough, and in its finer, modernized resolution, moreover, sympathetic. Bonne Anniversaire!
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Axiomatic
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