Opus 1870 by Penhaligon`s 2005

POSSE! Portia from AustralianPerfumeJunkies with a fragrance that I have overlooked again and again.When Michael Edwards cleared out his collection this gem, Opus 1870, was one of the ones he gave me. I think he or Clayton of What Men Should Smell Like put it into my hand to make sure I didn’t miss it. Well, it’s been a while since then and though I’ve often looked at the bottle my hand always went to something else around it, quite often Ameranthine. Until the other night….

Opus 1870 by Penhaligon`s 2005

Opus 1870 Penhaligon`s FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Coriander, yuzu, pepper
Heart: Cinnamon, incense, (English Clove) rose
Base: Musk, (Australian) sandalwood, Virginia cedar

Last year I learned that coriander is one of my favourite notes in perfumery. It has a crisp green freshness but also has a lovely sweet, almond milk feeling to it (to my nose anyway) and here paired with citrus and cracked pepper/bell pepper (the open is both wet and dry smelling) I find the whole entrance beguiling. Not particularly ground breaking but the blending is so lovely and seamless that only by looking at a note list can I pick the individual pieces apart, the whole fragrance taken as an entity is really lovely and so wearable. Without the note list I was only able to think green/fresh/citrus/almond/herbs.

Opus 1870 Penhaligon`s coriander PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Through the heart I get a soft bouquet of spices and flowers but how it makes me feel is casually elegant. Penhaligon’s sells Opus 1870 as a winter scent but I think it could be worn year round by someone, a very easy scent that would make a great signature. Very springlike with its green open, spicy heart and woodsy dry down. Letting my imagination wander as I sit bathed in Opus 1870, my mind is seeing couples on casual afternoon dates, business people who want to stand a little apart from the crowd but not be smelled as aliens, well heeled soccer mums and dads and in dry down a sensual scent for wooing and screwing.

Opus 1870 is dapper, unisex and will fit your life as a go to scent. I can’t believe I walked by it so may times. How did the boys know my taste so well? Kismet

soccer momsPhoto Stolen Flickr

In the usual Penhaligon’s way Opus 1870 is not challenging, you could easily gift Opus 1870. Unusually for a Penhaligon’s though is that it lasts really well. Fully fragrant for about 3 hours but after that dry down seems to buzz along on my skin for ages. Even this morning after wearing Opus 1870 to bed last night I have a very soft wash of scent covering my old man morning smell.

From Penhaligon’s site: …Opus 1870 is a complex and elegant woody chypre…. wonderfully warm and comforting, a fragrance to wrap yourself in on cold winter nights.

Opus 1870 Penhaligon`s  James Stewart InsomniaCuredHere FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Perfume Critic and From Top To Bottom
LuckyScent has $85/50ml + samples
First In Fragrance has €75/50ml + samples

If you’ve tried Opus 1870, what did you think? If not, are there reasons? I would love to read both sides of the coin.

Portia xx

Opus 1870 from Penhaligon’s

  • taleofahare says:

    I love Opus and it’s on my list of “must get” some time this year perhaps (especially since my samples are waning). I do love the pepper and coriander and I do get some decent longevity from it as well. It’s not a “show stopper” but it’s definitely wearable and like-able…at least for me 🙂

  • tammy says:

    Hmmmmmmmm…… I must at the very least give this a sniff, though Penhaligon’s usually manage to break my heart. There always seems to be the faintest hint of a mean little note in them that I can never identify, but is present in everyone I’ve sampled.

    • Ahhh Tammy,
      Some houses bases just don’t work with some chemistries. What a crying shame, I think Opus 1870 will probably be growlier than most too.
      Pass him by, maybe squirt it on someone near you and smell them. Or on a scarf.
      Portia xx

  • Ann says:

    Howdy, Portia! Chypre, did I read correctly? Oh, boy, now you’ve done it. Must sample this ASAP. I can always count on you to put a cool, overlooked/undiscovered gem front and center on my radar. Thanks!

    • Portia says:

      Hey there Ann,
      They are selling it as a Chypre but it is a modern one, though not mossy as such the dry down is nicely woodsy cum humus. I think you might like it, personally it has gone into quite regular rotation around here lately even in the stinking hot humidity.
      Portia xx

      • Ann says:

        That’s sort of what I figured — and definitely worth a try. And I hear you on the stinking humidity; if it does well in that, I’m sold. (Our summers here in the South make me want to run away to Greenland, ha!)