Landlord

CHAP is a British humorous lifestyle magazine for men that is published quarterly. Occasionally I buy a copy and like to leaf through it. My inclination to British clothing style and the corresponding "Habit" is not to be overlooked. We're not talking about Brexit, after all, the basic rule is: No politics in the club!

Now the editor of CHAP has launched his own perfume for the 20th anniversary and the 100th edition: the "Flâneur". And indeed, in these days to go idle, to let the world be the world, the politics the politics and to adopt the mode of aimless strolling, can certainly need a little olfactory support. So I grab the bottle, coat, stick and hat and let myself drift through the big city jungle...

The barbershoppige prelude of the first spray disappears fast and is probably owed only to the evaporating alcohol. Immediately the heart of the "Flâneur" captures me, and that is flowery! Now I take before flower notes in smells mostly fast tears out. But this variety of flowers (compliment!) is not overwhelmingly sweet, but has a pleasantly masculine "sharpness". I do not explicitly smell the top notes, but perhaps bergamot, verbena and pink pepper contribute to not making the bouquet appear too effusively feminine-soft. In the base, an amber-vanilla note is slowly added, which softly ends the idleness...

In fact, the "Flâneur" is a successful balancing act between an extroverted dandy and a reserved gentleman. The fragrance is declared as EdC. However, this seems to be British understatement, as the endurance of six to seven hours allows unquestionably also excessive walks in friendly warm freshness. So let's go idle...!

Transcript of my audio recording during the test (too bad you can't hear that):

HEADNOTE
uiuiuiuiui... hohohohoho... mmmhhhmmm... that's... hohoho... that's natural... yes... Sandal, patchouli, dark, spicy, warm, mild, sweet, earthy... i think it's the best patchouli opening I've ever smelt... gentlemen singing club, warm wood, unbelievable... oooooooaaaaahhhhhh... of course... to fool around with... that's not possible at all... just to bite into... Thumping Haaaammmeeer!

Heart note
very deep, warm patchouli... nutty, earthy, incredibly strong... terrific madcap so many levels... Awesome chilly... warm... gothic earthy bright and warm and dark and cool at the same time... Rum, sweetness, fullness... wonderfully... simply wonderful!

DRYDOWN
everything still there... mild and gentle... unfloating... i'm sorry, what can I say...? Full on the 10!!

Leather is a difficult fragrance theme, at least in my perception. Sometimes it gets too chemical-biting-shoe-creamy, sometimes the oud-rose note used in many leather perfumes stands out all too clearly and spoils my pleasure, and sometimes it falls far short of the expectations of sexyness, which leather simply stirs up. To create a well-balanced perfume with leather as its eponym seems to be an art in itself that I have rarely liked. Therefore I guess no leather scent has made it into my collection yet...

"Leather" by Boclet is such a little work of art. It has become a fine, spicy and seductive fragrance, whose individual fragrance components I don't want to unravel at all. The spices, floral and citric notes give the leather component a restrained fullness and ensure a great desire for constant self-testing. Here everything is harmoniously balanced, not obtrusively overly masculine, but nevertheless striking and masculine enough to justify the name. With two words: Very nice!

Good, durability and Sillage might be a bit more luxuriant, but for a nice evening the five to six hours are completely sufficient. And after that, skin proximity is completely sufficient at best... Yeah, "Leather" is definitely a scent for the evening! Too bad that the sample was emptied too fast by me, I try it now times with a filling..

This demand is probably even more familiar to the mean rugby player than Lukas Podolski (just to endure the pain of being buried under a bunch of muscle-bound guys who - whether friend or foe - are sure to weigh their two hundredweight each). And when you bite into the grass, some ERD lumps will stick to the tooth guard again and again, french. TERRE. So far my daring thesis, why three quarters of "Royall Rugby" is identical with Hermes' long-running box-office hit - and yet leaves out exactly what I find somewhat unpleasant about "Terre d´Hermes": the peppery-metallic flint.

"Royall Rugby" begins fresh and "leafy" in the beginning, a warm green with light citrus tones that I can't really define. Well, admittedly, I don't have the scent of rose geranium leaves in my nose, but they seem to give the head their note. In the heart, a very tasty black currant takes over the regiment (pretty much the only fruit that I let count next to citrus plants in perfumes). Sounds funny to say that, but the fragrance is simply "fun" in this phase, fresh black currant with its first notes of vetiver in the background - a thoroughly playful fragrance phase in the positive sense. In the base then Vetiver - not the dark, earthy variant, which I actually prefer, but a bright, clear Vetiver - and thus Terre d`Hermes very similar.

Meanwhile I often make fun of meeting scented men and saying, "Oh, you're wearing Terre d'Hermes, beautiful!" and then enjoy the rough twitching in the corners of your mouth and the hiss for unmasking you. Now I would have to say: "Hm, that's not Terre, but a bit similar, a little softer and fresher, tell me what you're wearing?" The interviewee will smile at the corners of his mouth and his chest will tighten: "Well, I'm wearing Royall Rugby. You won't know it. It is manufactured by a small manufactory founded by an internationally successful sailor from the Bermuda Islands in the 1950s. I always let it come straight from America...". And already the world is all right again...

As a big fan of the Vetiver fragrance complex I was very much looking forward to the test of "Vetiver Insolent". I've been strolling around Miller Harris a long time. I would like to include one of the Londoners in my collection, just because of the incredibly beautiful flacon design with its mixture of impressively clear form and slightly playful graphic design. Beautiful!

But sei´s well, first of all the inner values count - and they don't come across as insolent, cheeky and impudent, but they do know how to confuse in a pleasant way. In the beginning, pepper rises into my nose, cardamom and already at the beginning a hint of dark vetiver. A mixture to which I can think of nothing better than to call it earthy-gourmandig - which actually fits!

In the heart, the scent increases considerably in sweetness, there are hints of Christmas baking, cardamom remains and it becomes cinnamon and gingerbread. The earthy vetiver of the opening retreats discreetly. The sweetness is a bit borderline for my nose, but just in the area of the pleasant... until in the drydown fresh, earthy vetiver determines the scent again and provides for a beautiful, male drydown, which you can still enjoy after 8 - 10 hours...

After three tests, this Miller Harris still hasn't become a purchase candidate, but I will take a look at the souk. Maybe I can get hold of a bottling to enjoy this very unique vetiver scent this winter still occasionally...