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Esprit du Roi Penhaligon's 2011

6.8 / 10 58 Ratings

A perfume by Penhaligon's for men, released in 2011. The scent is fresh-citrusy. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Fresh

Citrus

Spicy

Woody

Green

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Citron

Citrus notes

Tomato leaf

Aldehydes

Bergamot

Mint

Cardamom absolute Davana

Davana

Mandarin orange

Heart Notes

Madagascan ylang-ylang

Egyptian geranium Clove

Clove

Honeysuckle Jasmine

Jasmine

Base Notes

Oakmoss

Cedarwood

Sandalwood Vetiver

Vetiver

White musk

Ambergris

Patchouli

Hyraceum

Raspberry

Perfumer

Bertrand Duchaufour

Ratings

Scent

6.858 Ratings

Longevity

6.544 Ratings

Sillage

5.542 Ratings

Bottle

7.351 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro · last update on 12/30/2022.

Source-backed & verified

Interesting Facts

Esprit du Roi was originally released in 1983.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Reviews

6 in-depth fragrance descriptions

12/18/2016

8.5Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

loewenherz
917 Reviews

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loewenherz

Top Review 13

Beau Brummell

George Bryan Brummell - known as Beau Brummell - was famous for his hours-long grooming rituals, the imaginative tying of his countless neckties, and the instruction to his valet to polish his boots exclusively with champagne. He was the leading style icon of the early 19th century, a bon vivant and dandy - and probably the world's first It-boy. In a cavalry regiment, he became close friends with the Prince Regent (the later George IV), but fell out with the king and went into exile in France, never to return to Britain, even when the king earnestly begged for reconciliation.

A man of taste and distinction like Beau Brummell would choose a fragrance with understated self-assurance that is both sophisticated and light - one that offers refreshment yet character and is pleasant in company. It should not clash with his selected - though never extravagant or foppish - wardrobe, but rather be cheerful and wittily ironic. Penhaligon's or Monsieur Bertrand Duchaufour's Esprit du Roi - a creation from the early 80s revived a good thirty years later, is this perfume - one that even prominently carries the royal in its name.

It begins with an impressive freshness - one that goes far beyond the usual citrus notes that so many choose as an initial accord, both then and now. The mint gives a lively edge to the multi-faceted citrus chorus - akin to the flash of a rapier - and the bitter green of the tomato leaf lifts it of any remotely effeminate sweetness. Herbs, woods, and foliage press forward like tea leaves darkening clear water to a copper hue, giving it depth and character - yet it remains clear and translucent - just as tea remains translucent if no milk is added.

Esprit du Roi is not a light-hearted scent - and certainly not an arbitrary one. It has the self-confidence and opulence of the 80s, yet it is refined in its expression - refined, but not artificial. Beyond the zesty top note, it develops a nearly fougère-like crispness and edge, which is polished in every facet and has nothing random about it. Just as Beau Brummell would spend hours on his elaborate wardrobe, which never looked forced or strained, but rather aimed for charming nonchalance and a few small 'imperfections' - and he would forget them immediately upon leaving the house.

Conclusion: a rarely noticed gem in Penhaligon's back row. And today more special than ever.

05/23/2014

6Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Meggi
1018 Reviews

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Meggi

Top Review 12

The Heartless Tomato King

After the opening, a recognizable vegetable note quickly emerges. I wasn't aware that tomato leaf smells so much like tomato. Well, that could be tested: We recently filled three plant pots accordingly - mainly for the amusement of the children - and with tomatoes, you have to regularly remove the unfruitful side shoots ("pinching") to ensure that the growth power remains for the main shoots and ultimately the fruits. I directly plucked and crushed the first such side shoot. I smell - surprise! - leaf. Well. Maybe Penhaligon’s uses a different variety of tomato. Or perhaps they mean the stems just plucked from the fruit. Or you have to take the precious leaves from the main shoots. Or the gentlemen simply helped themselves with a few little fruits. Next time I pluck, I might sacrifice (with little hope for change) a piece of noble leaf and sniff again.

Fresh and minty, quite British-cologne-like, is the start otherwise and I like it. An original idea to give the whole thing this hardly describable as anything other than "tomato" touch. In my childhood, there was a book called "We Don’t Care About the Cucumber King." I never read it - it was award-winning and thus considered educationally valuable. Well, today I instead have to deal with the Tomato King or rather his spirit.

A heart note does not occur for me - to put it pointedly.

We rather immediately move on to the base. Vetiver and wood mix quite nobly, a dry, subtly animalistic undertone is present, which I quite like, even though I just learned that it includes, among other things (Hyrax; Penhaligon’s refers to it as "africa stone"), petrified excrement from rock hyraxes, small mammals from Africa and West Asia.

In the sixth hour, the EdR has developed into a herbaceous-distinguished scent close to the skin, fundamentally well-balanced, although I perceive a certain emphasis on the foreign-animalistic. Although the petrified hyrax poop (at least here) does not smell typically fecal, I find it less appealing now.

Conclusion: Somewhat decent, but the scent progression changes (I agree with this already expressed opinion) a bit too much and not exactly in my preferred direction. There are better options, especially for the price and certainly from Mr. Duchaufour.

10/21/2011

7Scent 7.5Longevity

Apicius
1328 Reviews

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Apicius

Top Review 10

When one goes on a journey...

...then they can tell a tale, as is well known. This also applies to fragrance journeys, and with Esprit du Roi, one can embark on such a trip. I was able to test Esprit du Roi yesterday at The Different Scent - that’s enough for me to write a report in this case.

Esprit du Roi starts off green-fresh. Aldehydes and other elements are involved. The complexity is present - individual notes are hardly distinguishable except for the mint. The mint note contributes significantly to the attractiveness of the top notes for me. I'm not sure if it’s more peppermint or spearmint that stands out here - I personally had a calm evening tea association. Thus, despite the fresh-green center, the top notes already have a soothing undertone for me.

The heart note - if one can even call it that - is quite a jumble. It was clear that something would change after 10 minutes, but no line was recognizable. I had quite a chaos on my skin that showed no specificity. A bit disappointing; I find this section to be the weakest part of this fragrance. We find ourselves on our fragrance journey between two highlights, waiting here reluctantly on a breezy platform for the next connection.

That connection comes after about an hour with a beautiful, woody base note. Terre d'Hermès makes another appearance - it’s the well-known cedarwood-vetiver combination, although not as dominant as there. The good thing is that a bright patchouli note is still perceptible. This gives the all-too-often plagiarized Hermès base note an individual character, which manages to convince all around. The cedarwood-vetiver combination is indeed quite bitter, and a bit more elegance would suit it well. The soft patchouli note delivers that - here, something good has been improved.

The calm base note is the highlight of Esprit du Roi for me. Personally, I don’t always enjoy fragrance journeys - this one leads from the herb garden into the forest. The idea with the patchouli is so good that it deserves to be placed at the center. Top and heart notes that already refer to the elegant woodiness would have made more sense to me. As it stands, the fragrance feels too fragmented - either I choose a fresh-green scent, or I’m in the mood for woody elegance. For both moods, something suitable can always be found, but please not both at the same time! Fragrance journeys are only beautiful when a direction is recognizable - but that’s a matter of opinion.

Thus, Esprit du Roi is recommended for the travel enthusiasts among perfume lovers. It hasn’t completely convinced me. Penhaligon's has a few excellent classics (e.g., Blenheim Bouquet), otherwise, new perfumes of quite varying quality are constantly being released, and some are discontinued. I think a chance was missed with Esprit du Roi. It will float around in the midfield for a while and then sink.

Unlike what is currently indicated here, I see Esprit du Roi (blue ribbon) as a men's fragrance - the counterpart Eau Sans Pareil (red ribbon) fits better as a women's fragrance.

05/24/2020

8.5Scent 6Longevity 5Sillage

Unterholz
57 Reviews

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Unterholz

Top Review

The King is dead, long live the King!

This king is no more. Apicius predicted 9 years ago that this middle-class Penhaligon’s would eventually be discontinued. Esprit du Roi was a reissue in 2011 of a perfume with the same name from 1983. I cannot comment on the 83 version; I am only referring to the re-release.

Now, I do not see the royal abdication as being based on its supposed mediocrity, but rather in the fact that consumers accustomed to effects simply demand "grabbier concepts" than one might recognize in such a somewhat quirky herbal men’s chypre.
This Duchaufour is certainly a well-crafted work of art, but upon closer inspection, it is neither fish nor fowl. And little about it seems royal. It comes from a time when classic large and loud men’s fragrances garnered a broad fan base, which still often exists today. Why this rather quiet Penhaligon’s did not succeed in the early 80s, I cannot judge; however, it certainly could not have stood miles away from its shoes with its little bit of tomato extravagance.

But why did the royal head have to roll now? It can hardly be due to the quality, as this scent is indeed made of high quality. Does the royalist naming not correspond enough to the spirit of the times?
When looking at the latest Penhaligon’s outputs, it is precisely the nobility factor that the brand is relying on... albeit now also equipped with a touch of British humor, which the poor tomato king always seemed to lack. So, are we seeing the failure in the joyless marketing that finds its consensus in this boring white label?

Be that as it may, I do not want to philosophize for long about why a product can succeed in the market while another cannot. However, it is interesting that it cannot solely be about the scent concept, as various "old-fashioned" formulations have experienced an almost exaggeratedly celebrated renaissance in recent years. For example, "Chypre Palatin," "Sartorial" (both by Duchaufour), "Invasion Barbare," "Masculin Pluriel" (Kurkdjian), etc., all indicate that the dead often live longer.

With Esprit du Roi, a certain perplexity spreads. This scent cannot quite decide. The king reigns, but he does not rule.
In the years I have been dealing with fragrances, my taste has changed significantly in some ways, and in others, it has expanded to the point that today I count perfumes in my collection that I would never have liked before.
For example, at the beginning, I was only drawn to citrusy, relatively nature-close scents without any sweetness, but I have since engaged with ambered, sweeter, or even gourmand fragrances and often made friends with them. The same goes for floral scents, which I did not appreciate at all at the beginning.

And I still remember well my first test of this Penhaligon’s. I received a sample together with Endymion, which I liked immediately.
I found the royal top note quite appealing, herbal-minty, then follows a fresh, not too extreme floral soapiness in the heart, which I like.
The very slightly sweet ambered vetiver-moss base seemed rather inappropriate to me and left me feeling somewhat helpless. I rated it back then with only 6.5 points and left it at that. My judgment must have been subjected to my then all-or-nothing maxim: spicy-exotic or citrus-fresh. I realized that this approach did not have endless validity since I started testing the classics from Guerlain & Co., where citrus complexes and floral hearts work wonderfully in conjunction with a well-tempered vanilla-wood base. I consider some compositions of this kind to be the greatest (and most complete) perfumes of all time.

This Penhaligon’s is essentially quite classically arranged, and one could easily overlook it because it does not really present anything new. However, the much-cited tomato note does propel it somewhat out of the habitual and may indeed be the bone of contention for some.
Esprit du Roi is still worth a test if one can generally appreciate British fragrance craftsmanship. You can still find some cheap leftovers online, and I also unhesitatingly grabbed one of those.
And surprisingly had to rehabilitate the king.

Long live the dead king!

03/30/2020

9.5Scent 6Longevity 5Sillage

Mörderbiene
46 Reviews

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Mörderbiene

Top Review 10

Penhaligon's - An Obituary for Headless, Vegetarian Fragrances, Eighth Stroke

Esprit du Roi is, in my opinion, a significantly underrated fragrance from the traditional house. Created by Duchaufour in 1983 and reissued as part of the Anthology Collection, it has received some harsh criticism here - "Heartless Tomato King" titles a valued commenter. I find this somewhat understandable, as it does work with a rather unusual and in this context very atypical note - the tomato leaf. Nevertheless, I would title this fragrance differently, something like the Courageous Mint King. For me, that is the truly standout note of this fragrance, which is also presented in a variety of ways. In the opening, there is a very fresh, invigorating mint, accompanied by the aforementioned bitter-fruity tomato leaf and distinct citrus notes, which later develop into a more herb-tea-like character, when a dull, dark green impression reminiscent of Jelängerjelieber becomes noticeable. Here, Esprit du Roi gives a very calm impression. Additionally, there is the rose geranium in its distinctly minty expression in this case. At no point do I have associations with toothpaste or chewing gum. The unifying element seems to be, as with Night Scented Stock from the same series, a dark undertone of vetiver and patchouli, which here, complemented by a gently scratchy moss base, forms a distinguished foundation for the otherwise somewhat rustic fragrance experience described above. Altogether, the components come together well and create a surprisingly chypre-like perfume for the established gentleman, capable of shining with quirky beauty and British humor.
Duchaufour plays here, fascinatingly for me, with invigorating and calming aspects that somehow form a cohesive whole. Another valued commenter concludes with the following words: A rarely noticed gem in Penhaligon's back row. Although it has now even fallen to the back. Nevertheless, I will just leave it at that.

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