See Prices

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Elixir Penhaligon's 2008

7.5 / 10 165 Ratings

A popular perfume by Penhaligon's for women and men, released in 2008. The scent is woody-spicy. The production was apparently discontinued.
Compare

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Main accords

Woody

Spicy

Smoky

Floral

Oriental

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Eucalyptus

Cardamom

Orange blossom absolute

White cedar

Heart Notes

Turkish rose absolute

Cinnamon leaf

Rosewood

Mace

Egyptian jasmine absolute

Base Notes

Frankincense

Gaiac wood Benzoin

Benzoin

Tonka bean Vanilla

Vanilla

Red sandalwood

Perfumer

Olivia Giacobetti

Ratings

Scent

7.5165 Ratings

Longevity

7.2129 Ratings

Sillage

6.6119 Ratings

Bottle

7.8124 Ratings

Value for money

7.213 Ratings

Submitted by Seglein · last update on 06/10/2024.

Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Elephant

Passage d'Enfer

Fuoco Infernale

Etra

Olibanum

Oud Fleur

Reviews

14 in-depth fragrance descriptions

01/17/2012

SystemeD
58 Reviews

SystemeD

Very helpful Review 5

Incense and spices

To me, this is one of Penhaligon's very best offerings.

A delightfully spicy opening, with distinctive cinnamon and cardamom notes. The eucalyptus is surprising here, but it works to lighten the spices in a very interesting manner.

The incense appears quite early. You won't have to wait until the base for this note. It insinuates itself into the spices from the very start.

The heart is a rose and jasmine accord, still spiked with incense.

The woody drydown is deliciously complex, with the incense still holding the compostion together.

04/14/2012

5Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Missk
1350 Reviews

Missk

Helpful Review 3

A fire that fizzles out

I love hot, spicy fragrances, particularly those along the lines of Givenchy's Xeryus Rouge with its fiery chilli notes and its raw sexuality.

Elixir opens a little similar to Xeryus Rouge with a fiery burst of spices, however it soon settles, like a fire that's beginning to burn out.

It had the potential to be a smoking hot fragrance, yet it has left me slightly underwhelmed, which is a massive shame. It's too light and polite on the skin for my tastes.

During the opening notes, I can smell the cinnamon, cardamom and what appears to be hot peppers. The scent rapidly cools down into a pleasant, subtly spiced floral with a slightly soapy quality.

The fragrance chops and changes, one minute it's spicy the next it's soft and flowery. The drydown shows some signs of the scent heating up again, but it never seems to reach boiling point. Rich woods and resins tend to dominate in the drydown, with the incense and vanilla being barely detectable to my nose.

I guess I'm still on the hunt for something similar to Xeryus Rouge for women. For those not expecting a hot fragrance for passionate wear, Elixir would most likely pass as an interesting, soft and wearable spicy oriental, yet for me this just couldn't make the mark.

09/01/2013

8Scent 5Longevity 5Sillage

Tar
261 Reviews

Tar

Helpful Review 2

Autumn of the Nutmeg

Expectation is a really weird thing. I thougth that the lid of ELIXIR should be covered with bandage because a serious danger was locked up in the bottle. I was wrong.

If Penhaligon's would have a fragrance, only one with the same name as the perfume house has, ELIXIR would deserve the name. It is so typical from them!
My first impression is a season: autumn, or even winter. Chestnut forest, woods, balms, warm yellow-red-brown leaves on the ground. It took more than one hour till I torn myself away from the picture of roasted chestnuts and arrived to the heaven of nutmeg. The whole composition is ruled by nutmeg seed, a very pleasant and comforting scent.

My soul is satisfied and preparing for winter.
Longevity - at first I also had problem with it, but I have got only a sample vial without sprayer(and longing for a full bottle).

12/02/2018

10Scent 9Longevity 7Sillage

Mörderbiene
46 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Mörderbiene

Top Review 23

The Paradox of Kallistik

First of all, a heartfelt hello.
After a long period of silent participation, I have decided to end this in favor of a somewhat less silent one. One reason is the urgent desire to try my hand at commenting. Another is to strengthen the Swabian Parfumo faction :)
I have consciously chosen to dedicate my first comment to Penhaligon's Elixir. The reason why should become clear in the following lines. I am by no means a professional when it comes to sniffing out individual ingredients, and I am quite glad that there are already extremely informative comments on this fragrance.

I would like to start with a brief definition of terms. The study of aesthetics (from ancient Greek aisthesis "perception") deals scientifically with everything that can be perceived through the human senses. Optics, acoustics, gustatory, haptic, and of course olfactory. The evaluation plays no role here, contrary to colloquial usage; aesthetics does not decide between "beautiful" and "ugly." This evaluation is the concern of a subfield of aesthetics. Kallistik (from ancient Greek kallista "very beautiful") deals with beauty in the field of aesthetics, which is characterized by laws and harmony according to the theory.
But is proportion, symmetry, and harmony really equivalent to beauty?
Every day, we unconsciously perceive so many things that we do not consciously notice because they are so normal and ordinary, almost boring. Only when something stands out do we become aware of it. Initially, we are disturbed by it, analyze it roughly at first, but through this, we gain the time to engage with it.

Elixir unites the cool incense and the warm rose, two unequal partners that enter into a fascinating symbiosis together.
The contrast runs through the entire scent progression. The fresh but subtle eucalyptus and cardamom transition to the incense through the heart, while the orange blossom soon introduces the rose (dark purple), which later fades out slightly vanillic. This slowly pulsating dance of hot and cold in the sillage takes place on a stage of subtle, dark wood and lasts throughout the entire day.

It is precisely the unusual that exudes an incredible fascination; the otherness defines the uniqueness.
How beautiful can a small scar be on perfect female skin, how captivating two differently colored eyes can be. How interesting can the traces of decades of use on an old herringbone parquet be, how successful an orchestral interpretation of drinking songs (cf. Orff's Carmina Burana), how refreshing the combination of sharp mustard and sweet figs.
And yes, how enchanting can a fragrance of incense and roses be.
The disharmonious can also be so beautiful because it stays much more in memory, as associations are created and memories are linked. On our floor, unlikely childlike primal forces have shattered Lego bricks, leaving deep grooves and dents, yet it would never occur to me to have them sanded down. And - well, this little scar, I love it anew every time.

This fragrance was a gift from a good friend who said it would fit me perfectly, as I too have two sides. Outwardly always a bit cool, distant, politely formal, but also romantic and passionate.
This may be a Swabian trait to be somewhat reserved outwardly, but I have absolutely discovered Elixir for myself, and it has become my - possibly somewhat unusual - signature scent.

Even though I would spontaneously place the fragrance in the colder and darker seasons, that does not prevent me from enjoying it in summer as well. Moreover, I see Elixir as authentic for almost any occasion.
The bottle is, apart from the label, known from other Penhaligon's fragrances, but to be honest, I don't care at all. Penhaligon's could deliver Elixir in a cognac barrel or a milk bucket (then I would have more of it), and it would not detract from the quality of the fragrance.

Experience teaches that beauty is hidden everywhere, sometimes more, sometimes less; sometimes more obvious, sometimes less obvious.
Therefore, paradoxically, contrary to scientific opinion, aesthetics in its entirety actually deals with the "beautiful" and thus renders Kallistik, which so misdefines the concept of beauty, superfluous.
Best regards, your

Murderbee

Updated on 03/27/2020

06/11/2010

6Scent

Positron
72 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Positron

Helpful Review 25

My Condolences.

Whoever declares the interpretation in the nave to be finished may have sniffed the actual point of this macabre creation. For Elixir hardly stylizes the guilt-ridden attendance of Sunday mass, but rather a kind of church visit that even non-believers are converted to murmuring the Our Father.
Roses on rosewood, enveloped by heavy incense in an environment of damp earth - one cannot lead the common burial ritual to the olfactory organs more aptly. During the dissection of this fragrance, I honestly let out several sighs. At the top, a sharp eucalyptus also skims over the festive darkness, as if one had consulted the embalmer a bit too late.

I wouldn't actually want to punish such courage for the morbid with depressing percentage deductions, but as the owner of this cryptic masterpiece, one must indeed lead a life that constantly drowns out the church bells.

More reviews

Statements

21 short views on the fragrance

Ergoproxy

1 year ago

10Scent 10Longevity 7Sillage

30

62

A typical Giacobetti. Elixir is now the only Penhaligon's in my collection. Bright incense forms the base here and ..

Translated · Show original

Floyd

5 years ago

7.5Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

20

11

Dedicated to eucalyptus smoke
A plum-blue rose travels
Through red sand
A creamy hue
Fades away
In vanilla
Benzoin

Translated · Show original

Chizza

5 years ago

6Scent

13

10

It has a scent reminiscent of mulled wine. But I'm not thinking of the "good" kind, more like the hardware store version in a 5L Tetra Pak.

Translated · Show original

Pollita

5 years ago

8Scent

10

6

One from Olivia's magic box. Only a subtle sacred incense dances with woods and flowers. Not really my style, but great craftsmanship!

Translated · Show original

RustCole

10 years ago

9Scent 7.5Longevity 7Sillage

10

Reminds me a lot of "Olibanum" by Profumum Roma - a resinous aura surrounds a pleasantly sweet core. Lovely!

Translated · Show original

Irini

10 years ago

7Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

9

An elegant, unsweetened fresh, lightly spiced, and incense-intensive bouquet of roses! Sacred moments of cool church visits!

Translated · Show original

Lilienfeld

9 years ago

6.5Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

8

3

A tightrope act, the moral guardian Eucalyptus ensures that the tension between the slightly restrained and subdued incense and the lustful oriental rose doesn't release. Restless...

Translated · Show original