Duesenduft
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Why 40 Knots sails under a false name and should actually be called Naxos
I admit, I wrestled with myself for a long time whether I should test XerJoff's 40 Knots. Somehow, when reading the relevant XerJoff reviews, I always had the impression that the brand is aimed more at younger to middle-aged people who prefer powerful scents. I, who am slowly out of the club-live age - well, jazz clubs excluded - place myself rather in the classic-conservative part of the fragrance universe, but am not averse to experiments and avant-garde outliers. And with a bit of sailing experience in the Turkish Aegean and Danish South Seas, the maritime bliss promise of 40 Knots seemed well worth a sniff. Even if the implied speed in the name rather refers to a speedboat ...
So that it came at all, in advance my heartfelt thanks to fellow parfumo Sergio0908, who left me an appropriately sized sample. Which was a funny occurrence, because it turns out we're almost neighbors. Well, sometimes good things are just around the corner. Thanks Sergej!
Back to XerJoff's 40 Knots ...
A fierce, fresh breeze greets me in the top notes. Instead of relying on citrus tones, it is blown in by mint and pepper. Hui, this is already going well to the point! Over the next half hour, it seamlessly transitions into a cinnamon and nutmeg mix, joined almost immediately by a jasmine note. A very pleasant sweet-salty note builds up.
Question: is this still an aquat or already not? I am at odds. I try to imagine teak planks bleached by Mediterranean sun. The salty seawater that still sprayed across the deck during the last, abundantly sporty turn before entering the marina has long since evaporated. Remnants of salt have crystallized on the planks. Hm. I don't really want to succeed with the seafaring associations, it lacks plasticity. No, 40 Knots is not a Popeye Aquat, not really. But maybe this XerJoff scent instead reflects a relaxed evening on the quay of a small marina on some Cycladic island, hardly any wind, the swell lazily sloshing around the creaky, shell-eaten wooden posts propping up the jetty. Outside, a 38" Beneteau bobs, awaiting her ouzo-stoned crew back from shore leave ...
After what seems like hours, the heart note gently transitions into the base note. Vanilla, amber, musk and a breeze of cedar now dominate. Equal, no captain to be seen, they rally spicily around a residue of sweet saltiness and let the long, sunny day pass in review, until it's time to retire to the bunks. Mind you, until that time comes, it takes and takes and takes ...
Categorical Rating:
Spicy-woody-sweet
Olfactory evaluation:
Top notes: Moroccan mint and coarse black pepper
Heart notes: cinnamon, nutmeg, jasmine
Base notes: vanilla, amber, musk, fresh cedar
Associative rating:
Colourwise: emerald green, light blue, pure white, forest honey yellow
Tactile: faded driftwood, polished teak, brass hardware
Musical: Mikis Theodorakis "Canto General"
Literary: Nikos Katzantzakis "Alexis Sorbas"
Visual arts: Sokratis Evgenidis "Santorini Magic 14" (2020)
Architecture: traditional Cycladic architecture
Verdict: A formidable fragrance that actually delivers on all the promises that XerJoff stands for - fine composition, high quality, excellent durability, very good sillage. All this presented in an opulent bottle. And wearable on almost any occasion. A place on my wish list is thus him sure.
Only: Perhaps for this fragrance the name Naxos would have fit better than the 40 Knots? ;-))
So that it came at all, in advance my heartfelt thanks to fellow parfumo Sergio0908, who left me an appropriately sized sample. Which was a funny occurrence, because it turns out we're almost neighbors. Well, sometimes good things are just around the corner. Thanks Sergej!
Back to XerJoff's 40 Knots ...
A fierce, fresh breeze greets me in the top notes. Instead of relying on citrus tones, it is blown in by mint and pepper. Hui, this is already going well to the point! Over the next half hour, it seamlessly transitions into a cinnamon and nutmeg mix, joined almost immediately by a jasmine note. A very pleasant sweet-salty note builds up.
Question: is this still an aquat or already not? I am at odds. I try to imagine teak planks bleached by Mediterranean sun. The salty seawater that still sprayed across the deck during the last, abundantly sporty turn before entering the marina has long since evaporated. Remnants of salt have crystallized on the planks. Hm. I don't really want to succeed with the seafaring associations, it lacks plasticity. No, 40 Knots is not a Popeye Aquat, not really. But maybe this XerJoff scent instead reflects a relaxed evening on the quay of a small marina on some Cycladic island, hardly any wind, the swell lazily sloshing around the creaky, shell-eaten wooden posts propping up the jetty. Outside, a 38" Beneteau bobs, awaiting her ouzo-stoned crew back from shore leave ...
After what seems like hours, the heart note gently transitions into the base note. Vanilla, amber, musk and a breeze of cedar now dominate. Equal, no captain to be seen, they rally spicily around a residue of sweet saltiness and let the long, sunny day pass in review, until it's time to retire to the bunks. Mind you, until that time comes, it takes and takes and takes ...
Categorical Rating:
Spicy-woody-sweet
Olfactory evaluation:
Top notes: Moroccan mint and coarse black pepper
Heart notes: cinnamon, nutmeg, jasmine
Base notes: vanilla, amber, musk, fresh cedar
Associative rating:
Colourwise: emerald green, light blue, pure white, forest honey yellow
Tactile: faded driftwood, polished teak, brass hardware
Musical: Mikis Theodorakis "Canto General"
Literary: Nikos Katzantzakis "Alexis Sorbas"
Visual arts: Sokratis Evgenidis "Santorini Magic 14" (2020)
Architecture: traditional Cycladic architecture
Verdict: A formidable fragrance that actually delivers on all the promises that XerJoff stands for - fine composition, high quality, excellent durability, very good sillage. All this presented in an opulent bottle. And wearable on almost any occasion. A place on my wish list is thus him sure.
Only: Perhaps for this fragrance the name Naxos would have fit better than the 40 Knots? ;-))
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Perfume Creedentials - or how I learned to love the pear
Between Irish tweed classics, butchering Vikings and fanatical apologists for Aventus, the Creed portfolio also includes true royals. Called Les Royales Exclusives, they cross every monetary pain threshold with the nonchalant shamelessness of British high nobility. At least, if you use bourgeois standards, as I do. So how can it be that I choose for my first review on Parfumo, of all things, a representative of Creed's high olfactocracy?
Well, it's because of the pear. More precisely: at the winter pear Pyris communis, also called "pastor pear". A variant available only in the winter months, which has all the trivial sweet-fruity summer varieties of William's Christ to Gellert's butter pear one thing ahead: an extremely fine, almost floating acidity, which never slips into the profane citrus sour and just as little to the sticky sweetness of, for example, a ripe Italian Abate pear condescends. This old pear variety has been cultivated in central France since 1760. And Creed Les Royales Exclusives Pure White Cologne is, to my nose, the first and possibly only perfume to authentically capture this unique pear tone. Different, more radical than Miller Harris' Coer de Jardin, the synthetic pear monster Arte Profumi Carpe Diem or Jean Paul Gauthier's clubbing bomb Ultra Mâle. In Creed's interpretation, less is indeed very much more. This may also be implied in the name, since white is the sum of all colors in the additive model of color theory. Let's take a sniff ...
Casually embracing the fading lemon and bergamot tones of the top note, the fine fruity pear rises in the heart note to remain there for a long, very long time. Clearly overlaying the neroline note, galbanum only hinted at, then after hours diffusing into a mountain of fragrant lalquilla rice and the classic Creed mix of amber and white musk. Which, after hours, leaves a scent perhaps reminiscent of a pile of white Egyptian cotton bed linen that has just been freshly washed and ironed by The Empress of Smooth laundry service in Peabody Square, London. Not clean, but pure. And a little bit more than that. Because even over this base note, there's still a hint of the winter pear hovering somewhere, taking away any detergent appeal. Fabulous! In sum, Pure White Cologne is fascinating and in this fragrance composition at least for me never smelled before. A gentleman's and gentlewoman's summer scent at its very best, very unique, very subtle, very confident and despite a wink completely unflirtatious. Amazingly long-lasting on textiles. On the skin a little less. My esteemed wife was able to sniff it close to the skin, as was I, for a good eight hours. The fact that the silage hardly keeps up with it is to be gotten over. Pure White Cologne is not an olfactory fog thrower and does not want to be that at all.
The price? Do not even ask. After all, even the prospective buyer of a Crewe-built luxury car, when asked about the performance of the contemplated companion, receives only the thin-lipped answer: "Enough".
Categorical rating:
Aristocratic-citrus-fresh
Olfactory evaluation:
Top notes: juicy yellow lemon (bergamot, grapefruit, lemon)
Heart notes: winter pear (pear, galbanum, neroli)
Base notes: lalquilla long grain rice and white musk (ambergris, rice flour, white musk)
Associative rating:
Thermal: cool like freshly fallen snow
Colorwise: bright white (canditus), ranging from frosty pure white to sunny warm white, ending in a misty light gray
Tactile: airy batiste linen
Musical: The Beatles' "White Album" (1968)
Literary: Peter Høeg "Miss Smilla's Sense of Snow"
Visual arts: Kazimir Malevich "The White Square" (1917)
Architecture: Le Corbusier with a dash of Taj Mahal
Conclusion: for me, I am in fragrances rather (but not exclusively) classically conservative oriented, next to Royal Mayfair the highlight of Creed. Highly recommended!
And finally, to return to the headline: Does the love of the pear now make me a Dr. Strangelove?
Well, it's because of the pear. More precisely: at the winter pear Pyris communis, also called "pastor pear". A variant available only in the winter months, which has all the trivial sweet-fruity summer varieties of William's Christ to Gellert's butter pear one thing ahead: an extremely fine, almost floating acidity, which never slips into the profane citrus sour and just as little to the sticky sweetness of, for example, a ripe Italian Abate pear condescends. This old pear variety has been cultivated in central France since 1760. And Creed Les Royales Exclusives Pure White Cologne is, to my nose, the first and possibly only perfume to authentically capture this unique pear tone. Different, more radical than Miller Harris' Coer de Jardin, the synthetic pear monster Arte Profumi Carpe Diem or Jean Paul Gauthier's clubbing bomb Ultra Mâle. In Creed's interpretation, less is indeed very much more. This may also be implied in the name, since white is the sum of all colors in the additive model of color theory. Let's take a sniff ...
Casually embracing the fading lemon and bergamot tones of the top note, the fine fruity pear rises in the heart note to remain there for a long, very long time. Clearly overlaying the neroline note, galbanum only hinted at, then after hours diffusing into a mountain of fragrant lalquilla rice and the classic Creed mix of amber and white musk. Which, after hours, leaves a scent perhaps reminiscent of a pile of white Egyptian cotton bed linen that has just been freshly washed and ironed by The Empress of Smooth laundry service in Peabody Square, London. Not clean, but pure. And a little bit more than that. Because even over this base note, there's still a hint of the winter pear hovering somewhere, taking away any detergent appeal. Fabulous! In sum, Pure White Cologne is fascinating and in this fragrance composition at least for me never smelled before. A gentleman's and gentlewoman's summer scent at its very best, very unique, very subtle, very confident and despite a wink completely unflirtatious. Amazingly long-lasting on textiles. On the skin a little less. My esteemed wife was able to sniff it close to the skin, as was I, for a good eight hours. The fact that the silage hardly keeps up with it is to be gotten over. Pure White Cologne is not an olfactory fog thrower and does not want to be that at all.
The price? Do not even ask. After all, even the prospective buyer of a Crewe-built luxury car, when asked about the performance of the contemplated companion, receives only the thin-lipped answer: "Enough".
Categorical rating:
Aristocratic-citrus-fresh
Olfactory evaluation:
Top notes: juicy yellow lemon (bergamot, grapefruit, lemon)
Heart notes: winter pear (pear, galbanum, neroli)
Base notes: lalquilla long grain rice and white musk (ambergris, rice flour, white musk)
Associative rating:
Thermal: cool like freshly fallen snow
Colorwise: bright white (canditus), ranging from frosty pure white to sunny warm white, ending in a misty light gray
Tactile: airy batiste linen
Musical: The Beatles' "White Album" (1968)
Literary: Peter Høeg "Miss Smilla's Sense of Snow"
Visual arts: Kazimir Malevich "The White Square" (1917)
Architecture: Le Corbusier with a dash of Taj Mahal
Conclusion: for me, I am in fragrances rather (but not exclusively) classically conservative oriented, next to Royal Mayfair the highlight of Creed. Highly recommended!
And finally, to return to the headline: Does the love of the pear now make me a Dr. Strangelove?
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