Guerlain, Quand Vient L'Été, 'When Summer Comes', 80 ml. or 2.7 oz. Flacon, Eau de Toilette, Ltd. Ed., Flacon Fleuri, 1920, 1998, Paris ..

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, Empress Sissi of Austria 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. Aime, created several fragrances for the perfume house, these include Fleur d'Italie, Rococo, and Eau de Cologne de Coq and his greatest creation, Jicky. In 1914, Guerlain moved to 68, Champs-Elysees Paris.

The business was then handed down to Gabriel's sons, Jacques & Pierre Guerlain. Jacques became the third master perfumer and created many fragrances in his lifetime. His creations include Eau de Coq, L'Heure Bleu, Apres L'Ondee, Shalimar, Vol de Nuit, Ode, and Mitsouko. These perfumes were so successful that some are still sold today. Jacques grandson, Jean-Paul Guerlain is the fourth generation master perfumer and has authored several perfumes and men's colognes including Vetiver, Habit Rouge, Samsara, Nahema, Jardins de Bagatelle and many others.

Launched in 1920, "as the name suggests, Quand Vient l’Été .. “when summer comes” .. was meant to evoke the impression of a sunny summer day. It’s another example of the full-bodied floral oriental signature that Jacques Guerlain introduced with Sillage (1907), using rich absolutes and tinctures. In his time, the practice of classifying perfumes into olfactive families had not yet been established, but today Guerlain labels Quand Vient l’Été as a tobacco fragrance, because it features a prominent, very characteristic hay accord.

The summery theme of Quand Vient l’Été is evident right from the start, with a luminous, radiant mixture of lemon, jasmine and golden honey, contrasted with minty green freshness. Typical of Jacques Guerlain’s condensed style, dark leather and civet rise to the surface immediately and blend with the top notes. The scent gets warmer and spicier as it develops, with rose, sweet heliotrope, and the white-flower creaminess of ylang-ylang and orchid, before culminating in a strong clove note. The medicinal eugenol scent of clove and carnation, now perceived as a bit outdated, was a frequent inclusion in the Jacques Guerlain works. However, the spicy clove note was perhaps what most clearly linked the modern Voile d’Été version with Quand Vient l’Été." Monsieur Guerlain

"This is a very fresh and uplifting floral with a most appropriate name (When Summer Comes). Clove, citrus and mint are at the center, providing an immediate rush of warm and spicy notes. The jasmine, rose and honey give it a solid and voluptuous heart, while the heliotrope, vanilla and civet provide a warm and comforting animalic base line. I am reminded of my favorite Guerlain, Sous Le Vent, which did not arrive until the early 1930s. This spicy scent was created for Josephine Baker, but it seems it had its inspiration with Quand back in 1910." Basenotes Review, Jack Twist

The drydown has the aforementioned scent of hay, derived from coumarin, which together with orris and vanilla gives the perfume a comfortably warm, dry, slightly aromatic and suede-like profile. It's what Guerlain describes as tobacco, and some may recognize it from Mouchoir de Monsieur and Voilette de Madame. As usual in the vintage world of Guerlain, the whole thing is smoothed by a long-lasting cocoon of nitro-musk and civet.

Top notes are Honey, Jasmine, Mint, Lemon, and Bergamot
Heart notes are Rose, Heliotrope, Ylang Ylang, Orchid, and Hay
Base notes are Clove, Leather, Orris, and Vanilla

Offered here is a sumptuous bottle of this fabulous Eau de Toilette, presented in the flacon fleuri. This fragrance was discontinued in 1953 but was relaunched in a limited edition of 2500 pieces in June of 1998. This bottle is No. 1485/2500 and has the batch code of VK 1QN. Very rare to find a bottle of this perfume nowadays! When Summer Comes!! I have read that some people find a tobacco note in this fragrance too .. but it could come from the Leather and Hay combination .. Highly collectible .. ! No box. The bottle has not been previously opened, and the baudruche over the cap is intact. So lovely .. !