When Hermès announced that it was extending the Jardins Collection with the imminent release of Un Jardin sur le Toît, I immediately hoped that Sir Jean Claude Ellena had a new cologne composition up his sleeve too.
The Jardins are OK - the fig-fest of Un Jardin en Méditerranée is of its time, Un Jardin sur le Nile made for a good book but I have an aversion to watery scents so Un Jardin après la Moussin is a bit of a scrubber for me. But with their smart orange boxes and green glass bottles, it's the Colognes collection that I love...
I discovered Eau d'Orange Verte in an airport Duty Free shop some time in the early 90s and had gone through a couple of bottles within a year. Has JCE tweaked it? Probably, but it's still wonderful. Eau de Pamplemousse Rose is utterly joyful with its fleeting stab of real grapefruit that settles into the sedate, assured smell of wealth. But it's Eau de Gentiane Blanche that I love the most, Ellena's leftfield contribution to the "neglected" genre of eaux de cologne. It's all mulchy and vegetal, fresh and outdoorsy yet metropolitan and strangely sophisticated.
So, what could he add to the line-up? A revolutionary treatment of lemons? A lavender to end all lavenders? Lime? Yuzu? Geranium? Any or all of those would be most welcome from the schnozzle of Mr Ellena. But I wish he'd just get on with it.
[By ANDREW]
Bergamot. A sharp, bitter-sweet bergamot would do it for me. He made Devine Bergamot for The Different Company and I suppose that might fit equally well in this collection, I just wish I could be brave enough to buy it blind.
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