Les Colognes : Néroli
Goutal (2003)

This is a review of the older Eau de Toilette version, which was launched in 2003 as a limited edition and as part of the soliflore series:

The néroli in the name makes an appearance right form the very start. It it fresh and very good. It is accomplished by a note of bitter oranges with an undertone of petitgrain that make an invigorating contrast.

The drydown adds a lovely orange blossom aroma accompanied by touches of orange pips, which initially merges with the top notes, but gradually replaces the petitgrain and taking the bitterness and crispness out of the whole. Over time this becomes smoother and rounded, with the néroli morphing into a glowingly and smolderingly warm and bright impression.

The base adds a wood note, which is mainly a cypress, and it merges smoothly with the néroli that only gives way towards the end.

I get moderate sillage, very good projection and seven hours of longevity on my skin.

This is a delightful summer scent, which is composed of ingredients and excellent quality, beautifully blended and of very good longevity. 3.75/5.

For the first few minutes, this reminds me of a grassy citrusy neroli/vetiver mix in the vein of Mugler Cologne or Creed's Original Vetiver, but darkened with basil and therefore more masculine.

It quickly dries down to a soapy orange blossom, but with a sour green hue that seems to be a mix of bergamot and that basil, made somehow bitter with a careful application of mossy patchouli. This phase is significantly weaker than the opening blast, so this takes it cologne status seriously - it's clearly designed for repeated reapplication to get the most out of its topnotes.

In all, I've smelled quite a few of these. I like Goutal's herbal darkness in the topnotes, but not the odd sourness or weakness of the heart, so I'm voting neutral.

A scintillating orange blossom experience from Annick Goutal!

This is a truly natural-smelling ode to the commonly used neroli accord. This lovely fragrance feels like it was collected by hand from orange flowers, petitgrain, and neroli proper, distilled and put into bottles straight up! Houses like Creed are known for creating high-class creations like this, which - IMHO - can be enjoyed by either men or women, really. Parallels come to mind of Bulgari's Au The Vert scent, which also smells clean and well-made.

A definite must-try for orange blossom lovers!

The Calm Sea BY Gustave Courbet 1869

Summary: brilliant, crisp orange blossom

Note this review is of the newer EDC concentration in the rectangular bottle, not the older EDT in the ribbed bottle (ribbed bottle is a different fragrance by the same name).

Goutal's recent Neroli EDC (part of the Les Colognes series) is a brilliant, bright, and crisp orange blossom fragrance.

It is really only two-faceted. The brief opening is a fresh burst of the romantic orange groves of southern Spain and Italy. This opening is succinct an to the point. The neroli oil used is of the highest quality. If the fragrance stopped here, it would be perfect.

The drydown, while brief, is a very light white floral musk, which would usual be a buzz kill for me, but here is light enough that it essentially compliments that neroli and helps it last more than the few minutes it would on its own.

Overall, I feel Neroli is nearly a perfect fragrance that is highly unisex. Lovers of orange blossom and neroli unite! Goutal's neroli reminds me of what Penhaligon's Castile should have been--beautiful neroli without the synthetic musky/soapy vibe.

Goutal's neroli is truly the meeting an 18th Century eau de cologne (say Farina Gegenuber) meets early 20th Century cologne (say Acqua di Parma). Anyone who loves traditional colognes owes it themselves to try this.

A lovely, light neroli scent--fleeting, to be sure, but while it lasts it is lovely. Not a solifore neroli, this has a very light sweet and slightly bitter aura to it--all orange blossoms, cut green flower stems and underlying everything and elusive incense note (the cypress/cedar?). This would work very well as an eau de ligne and is the perfect way for a woman to stay fresh and lovely on a hot summer's day.