Spice Chest: Penhalogons Elixir

I love Penhaligons, if only because they're so proper and English.  Sort of like reading an old English recipe for fish, where they will call for a "few grains" of cayenne to spice up the dish.  I never can quite tell whether that's real: do they really mean 3 or 5 grains?  Whoa, bug fella!  Don't go crazy now!

Elixir is like that.  Reading the list of ingredients you just know that if some of my other favorite perfumers were using them they would be jamming your face into them.  Cardamom and cinnamon and cumin (not listed, but I think I smell it) is in this one, but it's just a few grains and gives the sweet whisper of roses, jasmine and orange flower a bit of spice.  Those flowers dry down to an extremely handsome vanilla/tonka base that's a delight.

Olivia Giacobetti is the nose who created this 2008 scent, which I can state is completely unisex.  I'd wear it in a heartbeat.  If you've shied away from some other scents (like from our beloved Uncle Serge) whose spices have hit you like a sock full of quarters you might want to sample this.  I think it's brilliant.

$110 for 100ML at Luckyscent, where I sampled.