Fortitude Robert Graham 2016

Very interesting fragrance, starts out as an almost 1:1 of Tumi Continuum, as it goes into the drydown, it develops some incredible depth with multiple levels of dry tobacco leaf supported by tonka bean, patchouli, nutmeg and sandalwood which develop into a stunning a cocoa accord.

I own a bottle of Tumi Continuum, but it has always been to simple and too linear for me, Fortitude is MUCH better in my opinion and came out years before. It's blatantly obvious that Continuum was inspired by Fortitude.

Performance is very good with 8+ hours on skin, days on clothing. Projection is great in the first 2 hours. This is a fragrance best suited to Fall and Winter although it would wear nicely on cool rainy spring days and cooler nights in the early Spring and late Summer.

This is a fragrance that I would classify as masculine in terms of traditional fragrance gender conventions, but there's no reason a woman couldn't wear it. It's like a more mature gourmand fragrance. Although the notes and scent profile are different, I would say vibe wise this would make a good alternative to the legendary Dior Homme Parfum 2014. It could also be viewed as more grown up (and higher quality) version of something like Luna Rossa Black.

Fortitude has to be one of the most wonderful winter fragrances I have had the pleasure of smelling, especially when I think of gourmands. Yes this a a tobacco fragrance but it smells almost like a dessert. I would classify Fortitude (as well as Robert Graham's Valour) as being on the fringe a masterpiece fragrance. Fortitude layers very well in Valour. I have only smelled their other fragrance Courage one time and it wasn't anything special, but Fortitude and Valour are both absolutely phenomenal.

93/100

The suspicion I expressed in my statement that this is a variation of the "Héritage" theme adapted to modern fragrance tastes has not been disproven even after several more tests. In fact, the impression has only strengthened. To be more precise: It seems that the goal was to recreate the fundamental scent impression of the Guerlain classic with as few components as possible and in broad strokes, so that the olfactory center of the user has less work to understand what is offered.

Now one might say that it took a certain "fortitude" (meaning "strength" in the sense of "steadfastness") for a company in 2016 to recreate and launch such a somewhat outdated composition as "Héritage," especially since the provocatively short list of notes appears proud and confident in its own imaginative power (For example: "We have a clear vision and only take what is necessary!") - just like the simultaneously aristocratic and archaically defensive-looking bottle! However, it seems that the perfumer, when looking at the current bestseller lists, has lost his steadfastness, so he wisely opted to pull out the tried-and-true vanilla-tonka-sugar syrup broadsword to castrate the listed tobacco and patchouli content. And so it is this all-controlling vanilla sweetness that separates "Fortitude" from "Héritage" by a significant divide (as does the absence of the coriander note, which I always assumed defined the character of "Héritage," but there are probably countless possible workarounds; what do I know as a layman...).

This may sound like a harsh criticism, but it is not. I am not always in the mood for Guerlain's subtly complex masterpieces. Some days are simply too prosaic for that. And "Fortitude" does smell good.

P.S.: "Héritage" minus coriander plus vanilla... Hmm, what would that roughly add up to, my dear sirs? Right. Therefore, this fragrance is by no means a purely masculine scent, but also something for the lady who would like another variation from the vast cosmos of "Shalimar" cousins in her wardrobe.

Well, my fresh sample will have to leave me again, as I had hoped for much more considering the above-mentioned tobacco absolute. I also miss the patchouli, which I usually like very much, in "Fortitude" to a significant extent.

No, it is most likely the tonka bean fans (of which I hardly count myself) who will be shouting "Hooray!!!" here. Undoubtedly, Robert Graham has created a buttery soft, sweet (for me excessively sweet) fragrance.
It is bursting with the caramel-like, vanilla, slightly buttery, and somewhat pastry-like tonka bean.

Occasionally, there is indeed a hint of slightly dried tobacco leaf, but unfortunately only in a very mild manner.

In my Insta wine blog, which I currently feed much more frequently than my Parfumo comment database, I would probably have a rather sweetly developed Californian in focus that could have turned out like "Fortitude." Unfortunately, the fragrance gets bogged down in its over-extracted sweetness and loveliness; it lacks a counter aroma. No acidity, no tannin - hard to get down, at best ice-cold. :-)

The very beautiful, somewhat Scottish-looking bottle also evoked different expectations for the scent beforehand. I don't know if an Earl or McSomething would feel comfortable with this rather room-filling sweet. But tonka bean fans - it might make you addicted! ;-)

The designer Robert Graham is largely unknown in this country - and even in the USA, he is not a name everyone recognizes. Hailing from Venice, the famous coastal suburb of Los Angeles, he has only achieved a certain prominence in Southern California - at Bloomingdale's in neighboring Santa Monica, he is listed as a 'local producer', a term typically used for local farmers at farmers' markets. For some time now, this Robert Graham has also been selling perfumes - there are currently three: Courage, Valour, and this one, Fortitude - names that can all be translated into German as 'Tapferkeit'.

North of the 'core city' of Los Angeles lie the Santa Monica Mountains, a mountain range stretching east to west that separates the affluent suburbs on its southern slopes - Beverly Hills, Brentwood, and Bel Air are the most well-known among them - from the San Fernando Valley beyond. Along the spine of the Santa Monica Mountains runs Mulholland Drive, a winding pass road with breathtaking views in both directions, which gained some notoriety through David Lynch's eponymous mystery drama. Driving along Mulholland Drive is beautiful both by day and by night.

Some are surprised by the actual ruggedness on both sides of this road. Here, houses only line the few canyons that cross it in a north-south direction - quite impressive, although somewhat less surreal than those in Beverly Hills - the road ducks under palm trees and under sugar pines. The ground is dried out by the Californian sun, it smells of pine cones and warm earth, of mulch and oleander branches - and sometimes a bit of the gasoline from cars that drive off the freeways from downtown Los Angeles into the Valley.

It is quite possible that Robert Graham, the Southern Californian, drew inspiration from the scents of his homeland. In Fortitude, one can find the sun-drenched warmth and surprising wildness of the Santa Monica Mountains: confidently American, he arranges golden Tonka sweetness, deep patchouli earthiness, and barely more than a hint of gasoline - along with the light brown tobacco warmth of the hot Santa Ana winds that descend from the Sierra Nevada to the Pacific coast in autumn and winter - to Malibu and Venice and to Santa Monica, where he opened his first store nearly twenty years ago.

Conclusion: Robert Graham's olfactory reminiscence of the scents of Southern California - and of the sun and the sugar pines along the winding Mulholland Drive.