SAMPLE .. Guerlain, Djedi, DECANTED SAMPLE from Flacon, Parfum Extrait, Baccarat, Flacon Djedi, 1927, 1996 Reissue, Paris, France ..

The House of Guerlain is one of the oldest perfume houses in the world. It was founded in 1828 when Pierre-Francois Pascal Guerlain opened up his first perfume store on 42, Rue de Rivoli in Paris.

Pierre-Francois composed and manufactured custom perfumes with the help of his two sons, Aime & Gabriel. His unique approach was to personalize perfume for a specific person, place or event. Honore de Balzac commisioned his own eau de toilette during the writing of Cesar Birotteau, and the periodical La Sylphide, le Journal des Elegances, scented each issue with a different fragrance by Guerlain.

Guerlain catered to the high society of Paris, and obtained a very loyal following. The perfume house was so successful that Guerlain decided to open a flagship store at 15, Rue de la Paix in Paris in 1840. The house was at its peak in 1853 with it's fragrance Eau de Cologne Imperiale. This perfume gained Guerlain the prestigious title of His Majesty's Official Perfumer of France. This in turn led him to create perfumes for other royals such as Queen Victoria of England, the Empress Sissi of Austria, the Queen of Belgium and Queen Isabella of Spain as well as other crowned heads of royalty.

Pierre-Francois passed away in 1854 and his sons inherited the perfume house. Aime became the master perfumer, a tradition that would be upheld for the next master perfumer in lineage. Gabriel managed and further expanded the house.

Djedi is an oriental chypre perfume, created in 1927 by Jacques Guerlain, who was inspired by the Egyptian mythology. Djedi has been called,"the driest perfume of all time" according to Roja Dove and a "tremendously animalic vetiver” by Luca Turin. It takes its name after an ancient Egyptian magician related to the Great Pyramid. It is as magical, as soulful and as strange a perfume as entering an ancient burial place hidden behind rocks in a far away desert.

Djedi by Guerlain is an analogous example in perfumery. It is as magical, as soulful and as strange a perfume as entering an ancient burial place hidden behind rocks in a far away desert.

"The perfume itself is a strange and perfume-y mineral affair of dry leather and ambery, animalic decomposition that almost defies description. Its opening is jolting, disturbing, the weirdest thing; yet it beckons you to continue smelling till the end of the prolonged journey into the night. There is deep grief manifesting itself through bitter herbs, artemisia-like, and copious amounts of earthy vetiver with cold air. Those elements fan out into feminine, yet dusty, almost musty rose and a powdery base. This is no opulent rose for a bourgeois eager to show off her wealth or powdery sweetness for an aristocrat who wants to keep her man in difficult times. This is a regal lament for the loss of a favorite son, perhaps lost forever in the cold waters of the battle of Salamis or the trenches of the World War I, no matter; this grief transcends cultures. This is unmistakenly Guerlain, unmistakably animalic with a rather fecal warmth at the end, exuding the grandeur of another, elegant era." Perfume Shrine

This is unmistakenly Guerlain, unmistakebly animalic with a rather fecal warmth at the end, exuding the grandeur of another more elegant era. It is classified as a chypre / leather fragrance.

The notes are difficult to position, but they include Coal Tar, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Civet, Ambergris, Orris, Oak Moss, Black Amber. It is really primarily and literally a base note perfume. There is a subtle soft floral combo of Rose and Jasmine that keep it from being totally made up of base notes.

Notes include Bergamot, Jasmine, Rose, Lily of the Valley, Bitter Herbs, Vetiver, Oak Moss, Patchouli, Ambergris, Amber, Orris, and Leather.

Offered here is an opportunity to buy a tiny decant sample of 1/2 ml. of this extremely rare parfum extract from 1996. This is the formal reissue of Djedi. It is still wonderful, but not quite as wonderful as the 1927 version.

It is the most bewilderingly lovely scent, hard to describe, but wonderful in every way. Excellent for both men and women. The overriding note is wormwood, that bitter sweet aroma found in Absinthe.