Bergdorf’s
Portia talked about immortelle in a recent post and that sent me off to Surrender to Chance for a few samples (including the one he bought- coming in a future review.)
But for me the GOAT. the original, the reference scent of immortelle is Sables.
A bouquet of Immortelle
Sables came out in 1985 and I do remember it as being very strange. Especially considering that, at the time, AG was known as the house of delicate white flowers and citrus: Hadrien and Eau de Lavande held up the masculine end while Folavril and Eau de Ciel was doing their duty on the women’s side. Yes, Eau de Monsieur did kind of travel the same ground but Sables really turned it up to 11.
Whenever I smell Sables I am taken back to NYC where i first smelled it. This was the New York City of the early 80’s, before Giuliani and the big clean-up (for better or worse.) Some wag at the time that you could get rabies from just sitting in a Times Square movie theater and they weren’t exaggerating. Much. Urban blight still, well, blighted block after block in New York, even in the trendy East Village where I lived.
Perfect Sables weather..
At Bergdorf’s however, it was, as always, perfectly serene. I remember it as being fall, with the smell of roasting chestnuts in the air (do they still do that? I thought and still do think they taste vile but the smell is so 80’s New York in winter it’s transportive.) and a wooly scarf and tweed jacket pulled up against the cold..
Me, back in the 80’s. I was an ovum.
IDK if the sample I received is vintage or not (and I am too lazy to unearth my bottle to compare) but when I smelled it the memory of old New York and my reckless, feckless yoof came running back.
AG is the original (and best IMHO) packaging
What does it smell like? A lot of people say that it reminds them of pancake syrup and that’s a part. The discernible cinnamon in there does sort of reinforce the effect, but in a way that’s just maximum comfort. Reading Raymond Chandler by a roaring fire on a stormy night comforting. Black tea and black pepper take it out of Mrs. Butterworth territory: It’s not just for breakfast anymore.
Sables is apparently still out there. I am not sure that you can get it retail but it’s out there on eBay and at decanters like Surrender to Chance, where I got mine.
Are you a fan of immortelle? Let us know in the comments.
Photos: My iPhone, Pexels, Wikimedia Commons