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I went to smell Penhaligon's for the first time today

I've noticed that most reviewers, and the fragrance pyramid, neglect to mention tobacco as one of the notes in Opus... I'm pretty sure that I detect tobacco from the start to the finish. Your thoughts?

I'm not sure and I apparently am not good on tobacco, because I smell it where it supposedly isn't. For instance, Floris Elite is to me a tobacco scent, yet no tobacco is listed in the notes for it. Cedar leaves and cedarwood are. I have never tried Creed Tabarome. Tabac does not smell much like tobacco to me. Arko's shave stick sort of does to me.

C&S Cuba has the purest tobacco note--unlit cigar--I know of to me, but I think others smell that as poo. I certainly smell tobacco notes in Aramis Havana. D&G has tobacco I would say.

I would say that what I smell as tobacco in Elite seems to be there in Opus, too, albeit it less intensely. Of course the smell of cigar and of cigar box could be close in ones mind, but I think there is more to Opus than cedar that is making me think tobacco, as you also are smelling tobacco.

Good point! I really think you are right.
 
I am wearing Opus today. At the risk of belaboring the topic, I remember now while it seems less special to me than Pens BB, Douro, and EF. It is a great cedary frag, but it smells to me more like other scents out there that the those other three Pens.

BB and Douro seem to me nearly unique, and EF seems like the absolute best of a category of scents--traditional fougeres--that I would think would be hugely popular and imitated by many, but apparently is neither, so it is near unique, at least in 2010, as well!
 
S

Sam

Thanks for this post Knize. Quecus smells like CK Be to me (bubblegummy but not as bad a LP9) and Elixir is so so.

So Duoro, BB and Sartorial is what I want to try
 
Thanks for this post Knize. Quecus smells like CK Be to me (bubblegummy but not as bad a LP9) and Elixir is so so.

So Duoro, BB and Sartorial is what I want to try

I do not seem to have a clear memory of Quercus, but if it is bubblegummy I probably do not like it much. I do not remember having much of a reaction to Quercus at all. I really like Elixir, but many do not. Seems like the most polarizing of Pens scents. You are the first one I recall thinking it was so-so, but that probably speaks well of you!

I do not know Sartorial. I am feeling a little negative toward Pens for releasing all of these new scents. If the old ones were that good, and some may well be very good, how come they were ever discontinued? I guess I have not experienced the new ones enough to know whether Pens is making great strides or just putting out more scents so that those who collect them all will need to keep buying! Pens is starting to remind me of Creed in this respect, except I do not think Pens would have discontinued Bois de Santal, Vetiver 1948, or Tabarome!
 
I do not know Sartorial. I am feeling a little negative toward Pens for releasing all of these new scents. If the old ones were that good, and some may well be very good, how come they were ever discontinued?

I think Sartorial is a new fragrance, not one of the "Anthology Series" re-releases.
 
Sartorial is new, not in the Anthology series, and it's pretty much totally unlike any fragrance I've ever smelled. I don't even really get a fougere vibe at all from it. The quality is phenomenal, though it's definitely something to try before you buy. I'm very much up in the air on it; sometimes I love it, sometimes it reminds me of standing in line at the dry cleaner's.
 
Re: Opus.

I think it's a quality scent, dominated by cedar, rose/geranium, and pepper, in that order. At first, the scents combine to make an almost cherry-cedar blast. That doesn't stick around long, and I think I'd side with those that say the scent isn't too long-lasting generally. The rose and cedar don't go away, and make a nice, unobtrusive scent. Classy stuff, though I'm also not sure it's worth the MSRP.

I've said before that if you like violet, it's worth it to try Lalique Equus edp. It substitutes the rose in Opus for violet. Very nice. Other substitutes (for some) include L'occitan by L'occitane, but I don't think it's a close match. Lots of lavender and pepper that stay, as opposed to the different drydown of opus.
 
I think Sartorial is a new fragrance, not one of the "Anthology Series" re-releases.

I know! And maybe it is just that good. Sounds like an update of EF as Elixir is said to be or HB. It sure sounds complex. I like the advertising copy for it. Amaranthine is new, too, if I recall. Maybe Pens is not actually pumping out lots of new frags, apart from the re-issues, and I am being unfair to Pens in the Creed comparison I made!
 
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I know! And maybe it is just that good. Sounds like an update of EF as Elixir is said to be or HB. It sure sound complex. I like the advertising copy for it. Amaranthine is new, too, if I recall. Maybe Pens is not actually pumping out lots of new frags, apart from the re-issues, and I am being unfair to Pens in the Creed comparison I made!

Sartorial definitely isn't much more than cousins with English Fern; the "tailor's workroom" vibe is wayyy too big a part of the frag for it to be an update. IMHO...
 
I will tell you this much. I have Opus 1870 in a 100ml spray and also as a 1.5 ml sample.
It is simply the most delicious fragrace i own. I find it totally hypnotic and alluring. It is divine, and it lasts for absolutely hours.

I love it!!

I'm a fairly "heavy consumer" of Pens. and I too love the Opus. It has a white cedar scent that is evocative for me of waking during a heavy snowfall in the woods, the scent of white cedar about and the promise of a fireplace to come. A result of my own bucolic pursuits here in Canada's hinterlands.

Another that is not mentioned too often, but a real beast in the scent, longevity and all around brilliance is Love Potion # 9, a real beaut.
 
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