As I noted in my recent review of Penhaligon’s Portraits Much Ado About The Duke the brand is undergoing another of its metamorphoses. The current version of the brand wants to make perfume inspired by an absurdist version of Downton Abbey. The perfumes are gathered under an umbrella called Penhaligon’s Portraits. Based on the first four releases each is meant to stand for a particular character in this perfumed serial.
No good story of the classes is complete without the patriarch of the family fathering an illegitimate heir which is what the two latest releases are meant to portray. Both Clandestine Clara and Roaring Radcliff represent the mistress and the bastard child. Clandestine Clara was composed by Sophie Labbe. It is an interesting mixture of rum, vanilla, cinnamon, and amber. This is one of those perfumes that I kept feeling I should have liked more but never connected with. I guess unlike Lord George I was unmoved by Clara’s charms. Radcliff was another matter, though.
Daphne Bugey
Roaring Radcliffe was composed by Daphne Bugey and she captures the reckless nature of the son who will never be recognized but secretly indulged by the father who shall not be named. Mme Bugey captures the scent of an eccentric ne’er do well living fast.
The scented thread which runs through Lord George, Clara and Radcliff is rum. Each perfume has a part of that note. In Roaring Radcliff it is the core upon which the entire fragrance is built. The top accord is an over spiced gingerbread as Mme Bugey uses a bit of cinnamon to amplify the warmer facets. It adds a nice twist to an otherwise normal gingerbread accord. Honey sweetens the mix and sets the stage for the silver flask of rum to make its appearance. The rum accord here is made quite rich, a well-aged version carrying a veil of smoke. That smoke deepens into a full-on tobacco. Early on the narcotic qualities of tobacco are well-balanced with the rum. Then vanilla repeats the use of sweetness to ameliorate the boozy narcotic mixture. It all settles down as the night of cake, cigars, and rum comes to an end.
Roaring Radcliff has 8-10 hour longevity and average sillage.
I will give Penhaligon’s some credit here at least through these first six Portraits releases they seem to have as firm an idea, and how to execute upon that, that they have ever had. Mme Bugey does a nice job here. She has evoked the case of the ne’er do well and his devil may care attitude quite capably.
Disclosure: this review was based on a sample provided by Penhaligon’s.
–Mark Behnke
Recent Comments