As a great friend of British clothing labels, music, (sub)culture, humor and the associated lifestyle, the house of Penhaligon's has long held a great fascination for me (the objectivity of this review can and must therefore be doubted).
I can still remember how, as a teenager, I couldn't take my eyes off this one shelf in the local perfumery: beautiful bottles with a pearl cap on their heads and a little bow around their necks. They stood so noble and lofty, like old aristocrats among the nouveau riche oligarchs' sons smothered in glitter. I didn't dare ask for a test back then - I wouldn't have been able to afford it anyway.
Years later, with my fragrance ego bolstered by thousands of Parfumo points and an imaginary shelf full of bronze and gold trophies, I started a new attempt. The aim was to test the new "Portraits - The Omniscient Mister Thompson | Penhaligon's", which I had of course researched sufficiently in advance to be prepared for the obligatory olfactory shop talk with the local perfumery saleswoman. After impressively proving to the lady that she was dealing with an experienced perfumist and not a misguided Jeremy disciple in search of the next panty-dropper, I was given the green light and the "may I show you something else nice?" panty was finally dropped. So I diligently tested my way through all the shelves, but kept looking for the beautiful pearl heads. In the end, I went home blissfully with various samples, a spritz of "Trade Routes Collection - Halfeti | Penhaligon's" on one arm and a spritz of
Endymion Concentré on the other, to devote myself to unfolding them:
Endymion Concentré starts with a fresh, soft accord of bergamot, sage and lavender, which is accompanied throughout by a subtly tart leather note. As the fragrance progresses, the fresh components fade and the scent becomes leathery and soft with the homeopathic spiciness of incense and nutmeg. It actually has something "shower-gel-like" about it. However, not like an Axe "72H COOL SUPERPOWER ALL DAY LONG" wake-up ass-kick, but much more like a relaxing aromatic shower foam from an experienced natural cosmetics manufacturer. The ever-present but never overbearing tart leather note also takes away the supposed shower gel insignificance and makes it unique and special.
My expectation of a good perfume is to be perceived as smelling good but not perfumed. And
Endymion Concentré is just such a candidate - a British gentleman, not an Italian screamer. Balanced, finely tuned, so quiet and yet so elegant at the same time. Decelerating understatement. However, this understatement has a catch: the longevity is not the best. After 4-5 sprays, I only notice nuances of the fragrance after around 5 hours, which is definitely something that could be improved for an EDP with a 100ml price tag of €180.
The design of the bottle perfectly captures the associations I have with the fragrance: the bittersweet melancholy of a starry full moon night. The story of Endymion, the eternally young lover of the moon goddess Selene. To save him from death, Selene puts him to sleep forever in a cave on Mount Latmos and thus gives him eternal youth. Every night she comes to him in the cave and conceives a total of fifty daughters with him. A panty-dropper after all.
If you don't set great store by beast fashion and are looking for a calm, yet special, elegant and pleasing fragrance with signature potential, you should take a closer look at
Endymion Concentré.
With red wine and chocolates, I now return to my lonely corona cave, hoping for eternal youth, a visit from the beautiful Selene and a star lawyer for alimony law.
I wish you all happy holidays!
Top Notes 
Sage
Lavender
Bergamot
Heart Notes 
Suede
Geranium
Base Notes 
Frankincense
Nutmeg
Leather
Jssfranch
Rzrtj
Nevo
Godfreywilde
Shemsmeller
