Eau d'Hadrien
Eau de Parfum, Goutal (1988)

This is the most atypical, shady, low down smelling antithesis of all citrus colognes you could ever imagine; the Evil Twin of Extra Vielle; cologne from the Dark Side.

After the most perfunctory of citrus fanfares, Eau d'Hadrien EdP keeps only the most tenuous relation to citrus via an herbaceous and choppy textured note of lemongrass.
But this is a fig leaf, there to give a surface cologne-like respectability to the caustic ginger that struggles to control its temper, and a dark bitter liquorice molasses that's found brooding in the depths: these are the ones who rule here, so make no mistake.
All those who imagine Eau d'Hadrien to be a sunny Mediterranean sketch of citrus and cypress - think again.

And then, you may wonder; in one hour! ... where did it go?

[Distant, booming Comedy Villain voice comes vanishing from the depths]

'No poxy white musks here!
Ha ha haaa ... '

Eau d'Hadrien Eau de Parfum by Annick Goutal (1988) is inspired by the 1951 book Memoirs of Hadrian, plus Annick's own personal experiences in Italy. This fragrance is a stronger iteration of the 1981 Eau de Toilette that helped launch the Annick Goutal house, and was considered a signature scent for the celebrity-turned perfumier herself. Completely unisex and based around citrus, following a tradition set down by Ô de Lancôme (1969), Eau de Guerlain (1974), Yves Saint Laurent Eau Libre (1975), Eau de Patou by Jean Patou (1976), and Sisley Eau de Campagne (1976). Goutal's version of the unisex aromatic citrus chypre is very fundamental, and some may say bare-bones, focusing mostly on lemon verbena, grapefruit, ylang-ylang, and a woody/mossy base. As an eau de parfum, performance was tweaked without noticeably changing the scent profile of the original Eau de Toilette, but your opinion may vary.

The opening is pretty straightforward, with lemon, mandarin, grapefruit, and green verbena notes boosted by a bit of galbanum. Aldehydes also boost projection but burn off fast, as the jasmine and ylang-ylang filter in. Stronger versions of the creamy woody tones of santal and cedar from the original EdT move in, with sage for roundness in the aromatic department but no detectabe lavender like in the original. Still very chypre however, the oakmoss and labdanum settle this down into a clean long-legged subtle wear, while the lemon and grapefruit melt into the heavier EdP base. Performance is better than the EdT but this is not a powerhouse. Some of the lucid citrus is sacrificed for a more pillowy-musky finish too, with ylang-ylang being a bigger player here. This could be a signature if you just wanted a subtle clean skin-scent, but the typical perfumista or "cologne guy" might yearn for a bit more extroversion.

The hard-to-beat simple goodness of Eau d'Hardien set a standard to be followed into the 80's with fragrances like Heure Exquis (1984), Sables (1985), and Gardénia Passion (1989). The original Eau de Toilette seems to be the preferred vector for fans, especially ones who covet vintage examples, but the eau de parfum seems a bit easier to find either new or old batch. Since both versions of the fragrance are extremely alike outside of moving the equalizer faders to the left or right, I count one review with a few modifications as representative for both concentrations. However, Les Nuits d'Hadrien by Annick Goutal (2003) is a true flanker and entirely different. Francis Camail did good work alongside Annick Goutal herself, although some may argue subsequent reformulations of both EdT and EdP haven't been kind. I leave that up to you. Thumbs Up