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Guerlain Coriolan: aged to perfection or vinegar?

Guerlain Coriolan: aged to perfection or vinegar? 10 years ago
Aside from wearing Jicky on occasion I've never really explored the Guerlain line. No particular reason, just so much perfume so little time.

Anyway, I'm making up for lost time. I've been trying L'Âme d'un Héros (beautiful!) which is apparently the re-issue for Coriolan. Even though Coriolan has been discontinued for quite a while it's still available "new" from the original stocks at very reasonable prices. However, in reading about Coriolan I've come across a few reviews claiming that these old/new bottles have not held up well in terms of maintaining their potency. Urban myth or has anybody else had first hand experience with original Coriolan becoming, ahem, impotent? Should I go ahead and snag a bottle or should I put those pennies in the piggy bank for a bottle of L'Âme d'un Héros?
10 years ago
My bottle of Coriolan dates back to 1999, according to batch code. I don't detect any obvious off notes, even though I am generally very picky when it comes to old fragrances. To me, Coriolan projects modestly, not a sillage monster at all, and longevity has always been only average. I haven't tried L'Âme d'un Héros, so unfortunately can't say how the reissue would compare to the original, maybe they improved it using new technology. One reason I think 'old' Coriolan may be worth having is its unique flacon. Brass-plated strips holding the curvy bottle and the cap that you flick to open with your thumb, a very pleasing and beautiful design for a masculine perfume.
10 years ago
Epimedes:
One reason I think 'old' Coriolan may be worth having is its unique flacon. Brass-plated strips holding the curvy bottle and the cap that you flick to open with your thumb, a very pleasing and beautiful design for a masculine perfume.

I like bottles with some sort of mechanism. The periscoping sprayer on Terre d'Hermes or the rotating cover on Voyage d'Hermes.

Epimedes, I'm going to use your idea for a new thread...
10 years ago
Epimedes:
My bottle of Coriolan dates back to 1999, according to batch code. I don't detect any obvious off notes, even though I am generally very picky when it comes to old fragrances. To me, Coriolan projects modestly, not a sillage monster at all, and longevity has always been only average. I haven't tried L'Âme d'un Héros, so unfortunately can't say how the reissue would compare to the original, maybe they improved it using new technology. One reason I think 'old' Coriolan may be worth having is its unique flacon. Brass-plated strips holding the curvy bottle and the cap that you flick to open with your thumb, a very pleasing and beautiful design for a masculine perfume.

I went ahead and ordered Coriolan and I'm wearing it for the first time today. It's really very nice and I'm looking forward to doing a side by side wearing with L'Âme d'un Héros. I checked the batch code and my bottle is also from 1999. Everything seems just fine with mine, as well, and your other observations seem consistent with my experience so far. Dries down to a nice leather which I find reminiscent of "Derby".

Yeah, and the bottle is cool. And speaking of Guerlain bottles, I wonder why they decided switch from the bee hive bottles to the ugly wood frame bottles for the men's Les Parisiens (L'Âme d'un Héros, Chamade) collection?
10 years ago
I'm not taken by the wood frame design either. I remember reading the official blurb from the company's English web site (www.guerlain.com), which goes like this:
The fragrance is showcased in a bottle with clean lines, simply framed in wood for a terribly contemporary allure.
It took me a few seconds to grasp the meaning, at first I thought it read 'terrible'.

I'm really curious to hear about how L'Âme d'un Héros compares with old Coriolan. Fifteen years apart and surely some tweaking done in the meantime...
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