Guerlain, Vetiver, 50 ml. or 1.76 oz. Flacon, Eau de Cologne, 1960, 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, 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.

Jean-Paul Guerlain was the first (and last) family member to create several fragrances for men, and Vetiver was his début. Ever since the company's great cologne period, Guerlain hadn't made any men's fragrance except Mouchoir de Monsieur and Jicky. Vetiver filled this gap. In fact, Vetiver was first meant for Mexico, one of the biggest consumers of Guerlain's old vetiver extract — a staple since 1840. In 1957, Carven's vetiver scent became a threatening presence on the market so director Jean-Pierre Guerlain planned for a modernization, a job assigned to his 22-year-old nephew Jean-Paul since Jacques Guerlain didn't find it very prestigious. Little did he know that Vetiver would become one of Guerlain's most popular fragrances.

Being madly in love with the aroma of his grandfather's ever so green chypre Sous le Vent, it wasn't difficult for Jean-Paul Guerlain, who had been designated as Guerlain's new nose just the year before, to choose a guiding idea, mentioned as "the smell of the gardener": tobacco and grass. Vetiver's earthy astringency instantly proved successful. The way mandarin, coriander, nutmeg and wood played upon the stout, licorice-smoky vetiver grass root like a hoarse, dry cello was very unique, deeply satisfying and at the perfect point between sophistication and virility, suitable for both cufflinks and chaps. Jean-Paul Guerlain wanted the beginning of the fragrance, slightly aldehydic, to resemble the cool, hazy freshness of foggy countryside mornings; he came so close it gave you goosebumps.

The drydown was a chapter of its own, as though perfumery had produced a whole new inexplicable salty-ashy note, golden and clear like semi-dried tobacco leaves. "When Jacques smelled it, he said that it was too marvellous to be sold only in South America," the then Guerlain UK spokesman Roja Dove reveals. "Jean-Paul had created a superb vetiver note inspired by a gardener who worked on the family estate. He smelled of the country and the grass and carried a pipe in his pocket. It was the mixture of the pipe tobacco and the smell of nature that stimulated Jean-Paul's imagination." (According to Jean-Paul Guerlain himself, it was actually the gardener of a friend, not of the family, and he smoked Gitanes cigarettes, not a pipe. Just to be historically correct.) Vetiver is classified as a woody spicy scent for men.

Launched again in a more modern presentation in 1961, Jean Paul Guerlain created a masculine and elegant woodsy fragrance. The bottle was changed and the color of the perfume, but the fragrance remained gorgeous.

Top notes are Bergamot, Orange, Lemon, and Neroli
Heart Notes are Vetiver, Cedar Wood, Pepper, Nutmeg, Coriander, and Capsicum
Base notes are Tobacco, Walnuts, Oak Moss, Wood, and Tonka Bean

Offered here is lovely 50 ml. splash bottle of this wonderful Eau de Cologne. Great way to try it before investing in a larger unit. It has been lightly used. No box.