It is once again that time of year when we look back over 2007 and put on our magical perfume sorting hats and declare which scents are the best of the 2007 entries.
- Amouage XXV Men – Lee says: you get those perfumes that you sniff and instantly you know – it’s a bang! whee! Ka-pow! moment. There aren’t many. But this one did it. Fruity incense drying down to a smoulder of exquisite velvetty richness, like the warm afterburn of a casked single malt. Duchaufour has done a marvellous job here with the best naturals, probably shaped, polished and refined by an exceptional palette of synthetic tones.
- Amouage 25 Women – Patty says: “What the world needs now is skank, cedary skank.” Lovely and dirty.
- Bellissima Perfect Night – Lee says: On Louise, it smells hot. Nuff said.
- Bond No. 9 Silver Factory – March says: easily the best of the Bonds to my nose; who knew incense could smell so fun and lighthearted and trippy? I wonder what Andy would think.
- CB I Hate Perfume Wild Hunt Water Perfume — Patty says: forest on the best day of your life
- Chanel 31 Rue Cambon Patty says: reinvented chypre, as if needed it. Well, maybe it did.
- Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia — Patty says: Just pretty, and there’s plenty of room on this list for pretty
- Guerlain Spirituese Double Vanille – March says: and Guerlain does it again with a scent that sounds sooo not me but has enough smoke and heart to win me over.
- Guerlain Iris Ganache – March says: another surprise success for me; I seem to have killed off the sweet notes. It’s true, iris and ganache can smell good together.
- Juliette Has a Gun Lady Vengeance – Patty says: Who cares about the juice? Good enough, not groundbreaking but kudos on the name, which puts it on the list.
- Hermes Kelly Caleche – Patty says: Again, just a pretty perfume, and JCE did it. JCE will always be on any list of mine.
- Lostmarc’h Lann-ael – March says: okay, maybe not Perfume Genius, but it’s warm and cuddly vanilla and cereals. The sort of thing I’d hate if you described it to me. Smelling it brought me around.
- MDCI Enlevement au Serail (formerly FK3) — Patty says: All of the MDCIs could have made this list, but limiting it to one, this has to be it
- Micallef Note Vanillee — Patty says: A beautiful vanilla, very different from the Guerlain one. But no less deserving.
- Serge Lutens Rousse – Lee says: still a cinnamon dream, an autumnal reverie, a Keats poem bottled.
- Miller Harris L’air de Rien – Lee says: a wonderful oakmoss drydown, though for some reason that bran accord at the opening keeps making me think of Coke…? (March says: smells like something died in the barn. Don’t go in there, man, it’s fierce.)
- Narciso Rodriguez Musc for Him – Lee says: Patty pointed out that the oil is a superior beast, and so it is. The middle structure of the scent is pretty much the same as the edt, but the first ten minutes dazzle, and the drydown is delightful.
- Parfum D’Empire Fougere Bengale – Lee says: take Sables or Eau Noire; strip out the sweetness; add a playful tarragon / anise ‘wtf is going on?’ mobility that drifts off, unanchored, in all directions, and weld all this onto an animalic beast that lasts for days. Glorious. There’s been a lot of fuss about the marketing schtick that goes with this scent, and I admit that I find all the tiger hunt imagery distasteful. But no more so, perhaps, than the same line’s idealisation of Napoleon, the Ottoman empire and so on. Perfume names are rife with the blood, sweat and tears of culture – I always find it odd that people get more worked up over animal cruelty than war and the massacring of innocents, but there you go.
- Vero Profumo Onda – Patty says: Djedi is dead, long live the new Djedi.
- Les Parfumes de Rosine Rose Kashmirie – Patty says: saffron, rose, gorgeous, probably one of the best things Rosine has done in years
- Roja Dove Unspoken – March says: wow, where did the love go for this one? Or this line? Are we just buried in releases?
- Serge Lutens Sarrasins – Patty says: Okay, maybe just on my list, but this is a great jasmine and I think will get more love as the years go by
- Tom Ford Private Blend Moss Breches – Patty says: A couple of the Tom Fords could have made this list, and others may be more popular, but this one is the most inventive of the line.
- Worth Courtesan – March says: I have almost killed a bottle of this, which for me is, let’s face it, unheard of. Its very very slight cumin-y note is sensual rather than in-your-face. In fairness, I’ve now been teased by folks who smell a pleasant fruit salad scent and cannot figure out what I love about this.
Join other perfume blogs as they weigh in with their thoughts on perfume in 2007. Aromascope :: Bois de Jasmin :: Now Smell This :: Perfume Posse :: PerfumeSmellin’ Things ::
Helg at Perfume Shrine also has some thoughts on 2007 in Perfume
Man, I haven’t smelled nearly enough this year. I have some catching up to do, it seems. Waiting on the Amouage samples with bated breath, but I’m finding my nose drawn to the Fougere Bengale, PETA be damned, and the L’air de Rien. Something strange in me wants to smell this death in a barn business. Great list, anyway, the ones I’ve smelled, I love, the ones I haven’t, I want to. Good job!
I think the Bengale was pretty great. It’s not one I wear a lot.
Thanks, we like the list too!
Ok, so everybody praises the Amouages, ELPCTG, Chanels and Silver Factory. Either the scents really are that good or we all have been…you know…:d:d:d
Yeah, weird, huh? 🙂 Seeing that I don’t think any of us are Perfume Rubes… They are great scents. You know, I think this year was better than I thought it was. I wish there had been more greatness, but I think production of good, wearable scents that weren’t completely unoriginal was fairly high. :-\”
Ok, just to come completely out of the closet here. I’m feeling really rubelike here, but
–while I do like the Amouages very much, I haven’t been tempted to buy them yet b/c I don’t think I’d wear them that much (may change).
–I have clearly missed the “Wow factor” in Silver Factory. Just meh on me. Maybe I need to get another sample and spray it.
–ELPCTG smells like Kai on me–or is it Child? One of those anyway.
I really feel like I’m missing all sorts of wonderful things. . .
I guess that’s why I don’t write a blog!
:d
Hon, if you haven’t sprayed the Factory, I think you really need to do so before you give up. (I’ve been stalking you on blogs, leaving that comment!) Several folks said they got nuthin’ until they sprayed.
And I’m not whipping my cc out for the Amouages either, even though I think they’re lovely. I didn’t feel the world tilt on its axis, you know?
Can’t comment on EL because that is SO NOT my type of thing, bleah. So I want to sit on the rube bench with you.
I got the message this time! Haven’t sprayed SF, will do when I get another sample (of course I WAS pretty happy not having too many lemmings, so I won’t be crushed if it doesnt work). Thank you for making me feel less out of it.:)
Oh, stop! I’m usually sitting in the Perfume Corner drooling over something everyone hates or finds insipid. 🙂
<:-p
Love you back!
Love these lists!! As I’ve said, the Amouage Jubilation scents are my hands down favorites for the year. Look forward to trying Onda! And I’d like to add that Isabela Capeto’s scent may be sneaking under the wire into my favorites list. Can’t resist the pimento and cardamom and *love* the bottle! I don’t normally keep bottles out, but I have left this one on my desk just because it’s so wonderfully silly and makes me smile every time I glance over at it.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of Onda. I need to spend some more time with the other two scents of hers. One is an orange blossom type and the other has some lavender, I think? Both very nice, but got overshadowed by Onda.
I LOVE that Capeto bottle. It may be my first purchase of 2008 for the bottle alone. Who cares what’s in it? 🙂 If there’s a good scent in there, then I’ll be tickled pink.
I got that bottle unsniffed (w/in a couple of hours of having ordered a sample). Couldn’t resist it. I like either simple and clean or fun – pretty and/or feminine are the only ones I avoid or hide.
Meant to say before that I’m glad you included FK3 in your list. Absolutely adore that scent.
What a perfumed year! I have a two-way tie for 1st, Ambre & Diamont Noir and the Amouage 25 Women. Amazing list, many that I need to revisit and devote some time to and there are 5 more lists at the other blogs! 😡 and :)>-
It easily gets overwhelming for me. There are several even on our list I haven’t tried.
And I plan to be even more selective in 2008…
That Diamant is a beauty to be sure, and I’m not even that big of fan of amber. Wish they would be a little better about distribution! 🙂
Wonderful choices (though see my note on Marina’s post):) I have been really liking Onda for awhile, ever since I got hold of a sample; I’ve only been putting off buying the bottle in the hope that it will come to Luckyscent or something and be cheaper (well, the shipping will, anyway).
Love it that Moss Breches (far and away my fave TF) made the list. Compelled to add CdG Patch (despite the ridiculous price) and Querelle (a really original fragrance, I think).
I completely forgot Querelle. I love it; it smells like nothing else I own.
Onda is on my must sniff list. And Vero strikes me as a delightful person. I’m a little embarrassed that I’ve been aware of her work for over half a year and still haven’t sniffed anything!
Moss Breches is the only TF that holds itself in my memory and yes, Querelle is probably PG’s most inventive s cent yet. Unfortunately, the vet+oakmoss (and whatever else is in there) combo makes me sick, and my love for the smell can’t get round my visceral reaction to it..
I keep rethinking the Patch not being on there, and I reserve the right at some point in the future to declare it on the list. 🙂 it really is a great scent.
Awesome list guys, and so well rounded. To March: yes, we are buried in releases!
Loved yours too, R. Unfortunately been so busy I’ve not had time to read until today. A cold has slowed me down…:)
Great choices, wise ones.
It makes me realize what a perfumed year I’ve had when I note that there are few I haven’t tried (and samps of most of those are in the mail). Several of my tops are on the list-Perfect Night (thanks, Lee!), Mosses Breches, Rose Kashmirie, Kelly Caleche, Rue Cambon, Wild Hunt. I deeply admire, but don’t well so well the Amouages, the Guerlains, Unspoken (Enslaved is better on me). And will spray, not dab SF, promise.
To add? Got to go with the CdG Patch. So many other delights are just new to me in 2007, and some are very old (en Avion). What a fabulous year!
Perhaps we should’ve squeezed the CDG Patch in, but the price point puts even Amouage to shame…
I think overall, it’s been a better year in scent than at some points I thought it was. I have a lot of new scents that I’ve loved this year, so that’s a great thing!
Okay, okay, that darn patch. :-w I do tend to agree and can’t remember why I didn’t make sure it was on there.
Thanks for the link, P.
I enjoyed reading your team’s thoughts. Glad to see the L’air de Rien club is growing and I am eager to sample Fougere Bengale and Courtesan (fruit?? did you say fruit?).
😡
Helg, my lovely: I could send your some of the Fougere – plenty to spare!
You’re so sweet! I won’t say no to a little sample.
Mailing you 🙂
Happy New Year to you, Helg! Not sure if you’d like either of those, I think you’d like at least one if not both, but they are both surely worth sampling. Courtesan works a ton better for me in the summer, but my sister is a huge fan of it. She’s about gone through one bottle and is working on her second. 🙂
This sounds like a wonderful list…certainly one to go through carefully. I see how very lucky I was to have been picked for the draw. I humbly thank you. The item I am most excited to try is Vero’s Onda. It sounds marvelously unique. I hope, like Judith, her line comes to Lucky Scent. It would give great exposure to her methods and vision and certainly cut down on shipping. One of the best things to have happened to me, because of reading the blogs, is the discovery of individuals, not off-shoots of corporations, who craft such exquisite scents. Ormonde Jayne, Mona di Orio, Mandy Aftel, Tauer, CB, Roja Dove, now Vero….My shelves are primarily filled with works from these sorts of individuals. I’d rather follow their developments than any other. Perhaps that’s just the artist/artisan in me.
I’m pretty sure that the Veros will land on our far shores sometime in 2008, just a hunch.
But it also means you have exquisite taste, C!
I’m very excited for Mona di Orio’s new release in 2008.
My best of 2007 was discovering this great blog and the wonderful Perfumed Court. :x:x:x
I loved the Chanels, especially 31 and Coromandel but was disappointed to see Chanel make the classic perfumes exclusive to Paris (22, Bois des Iles, Cuir de Russie, Gardenia). Yeesh, at least carry the perfume strength somewhere in the US so we can experience them in all their glory and actually support the house by buying the product! (OK, I’m done ranting).
As a newbie, I am enjoying discovering the Lutens line – none of the new releases from this year wowed me but discovering Douce Amere was a highlight for me (surprised this one doesn’t get more love).
I second Kim’s comments on finding this blog as a “best of 2007” AND I rant right along with her on the discontinuation of the Chanel Exclusifs parfums too. Frustrating as hell trying to communicate with their customer relations person who just wants to send canned responses on this issue!
Thank you both, from all of us, for making us a highlight of your perfuming year! We’re touched.
As for Chanel – I guess it’s all part of the infuriating luxury and exclsivity trend we’re seeing more and more of, as the great unwashed (i.e. me!) try to get their hands on beautiful ‘fumes…
Love your list! I must try Worth Courtesan at last. 🙂 And yes, there are just too many releases.
There are too many, but a good thing there are, or maybe w wouldn’t have found 25 to make the list. 🙂
Love your list!
But wasn’t l’Air de Rein 2006?
I actually think l’air was 2006, but for some reason BN shows it as 2007, so… it needs more love, being that it’s one of my favorite childhood milk barn scents. 🙂
Correct you are Patty! It was launched in September 2006 per the Vogue article featuring the quote of Jane Birkin about what she wanted to evoke (her brother’s hair, the pipe, etc).
It is a mystery why BN chose to put it as 2007 release: maybe because so many (?) of us fell in love with it this year? 😕
Stop the press! I got ahold of a sample of l’eau d’epices – I think maybe this is Andy Tauer’s but it doesn’t say on the bottle. This is what heaven smells like!n Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Maria, don’t you have an inside track?? 😉
Did I send that to you? I think so. And I can’t remember if he plans on releasing it or not. Marie should know!
I emailed Andy Tauer to ask about this scent and this was his response:
“I have not decided what to do with it. Actually, I wanted to take some time between january and February and look into it again before deciding whether I want to launch it or rather continue optimizing it. You know: My only trouble these days is to make sure that I have enough resources to get things done. But next year will be the year of more time to work on scents and make them available.”
Let’s keep our fingers crossed and pray to the perfume gods that he releases this. I’ve not even sniffed it and I’m lusting for it in a major way.
Thanks for the info… and I find it completely lustworthy!
Love your versatile list! I’m with Judith on Silver Factory – just fail to see the appeal. It smells like an old man on me. Go ahead, throw tomatoes at me now! :d
:-\”
I can actually see how SF would go off the rails. It warms up on me and is just magic, but if it didn’t.. oy, it would suck.
Great lists, my lovelies!
2007 will not go down in my book as one of the nicer years I’m afraid, but having you in my everyday life means more than I could ask for. 😡
Have a happy New Year everyone, wishing us good health, smiling faces and, of course, tons of pleasant scented surprises in 2008!
>:d<
Ah, and it’s been lovely having you spend 2007 with us, you don’t show up often enough for me!
Happy New Year to you.
ITA w/ Patty!
Thanks for commenting Patty. I guess I will have to sample them both and form an opinion. I trust your judgement that they are worth it! :)>-
Oops, that should have been placed under your reply to mine, Patty. Sorry!
i really love your list 🙂
you picked so many of my favourites (though i need to sniff the amouage jubilation scents as well as silver factory). IMO 2007 wasn´t such a bad year – perfumewise.
i love several of the chanel exclusifs (coromandel, 31, rue cambon & no.18) & i was surprised that i didn´t loathe the TFs, i really thought they´d be much more worse! moss breches is among my favourites, too.
moreover, i´m really grateful 😉 you mentioned roja dove unspoken 😡 !
my biggest perfume discovery was my love for chypre scents – i never paid attention to them before & now i can´t recall how i lived without chypres LOL
one fragrance i would like to add to the list is vero profumo´s kiki. it´s a lovely, smooth, powdery lavender scent, comforting but not boring & very feminine. i like onda & rubj as well & couldn´t pick a favourite one in her line, but kiki is definitely unique.
Lee, I too loved L’air de Rien this year. I will have to try the others you mention.
Best wishes to you all in the New Year! 🙂