Best of 2021

2021 was a very good perfumeyear, at least from the few I have tried from the huge output to the market. Below the four fragrances launched (and sniffed) 2021 that I liked the most:

Chanel Les Eaux Paris - Édimbourg

Photo: PR Chanel (c)

Chanel Édimbourg is my current favorite, it is a rare interpretation and contemporary of the classic and not so unusual juniper-fresh notes formula. In Édimbourg the juniper in the opening smells like the real berries followed by a woody note smelling very natural, as the wood of the juniper bush. Everything surrounded by an airy, watery note and a hint of a warm, very soft, slight musky lavender. A juniper of a new era, Édimbourg mediates something new without leaving its proud legacy.

Hermès H24
Photo: PR Hermès (c)

Hermès H24 was controversial when it was launched this spring. I liked it from the beginning and the liking has groning ever since. The more I smell it, my son is the most frequent wearer of it in the family, the more I admire the simple but clever formula. Contemporary dry greenness, a pleasant metallic, not and best of all; the steam- and woolenaccord, as from ironing an excellent coolwool fabric. Unisex IMO. H24 will the precursor for the 2020s green genre. H24  and Édimbourg has something in common. Even if they smells different; both are casual, toned down, contemporary and mediates a sustainable approach.

As Édimbourg and H24 to my nose feels like fragrances in a new style, there were also two perfumes in the more classic field that stole my attention 2021:

Puredistance No 12
Photo: PR Puredistance (c)

Puredistance No 12, blue, sparkling like a fine sapphire, true clean watery earthy creamy rosy iris-y elegance  which reveals different faces in different wearings. The fine quality ingredients are so well blended, which makes it hard to catch the indivdual notes. A multifacetted pleasure to wear, chic elegance at its best. Here is my full review.

Chanel Les Exclusifs Le Lion

Photo: PR Chanel (c)

Chanel Le Lion (in some markets pre-launched already in 2020) is like a refined Guerlain Shalimar EDP to me.  The rough and though edges  of Shalimar (for example the accord that reminds me of wet, well worn, tweed a grey, rainy autumnday), which are a part of S:s personality  are missing in Le Lion. The wellbehaved Le Lion with its balanced patchouli-amber accord and sophicated vanilla note, which reminds me of the vanilla in the interpretation in Shalimar Ode a la Vanille Sur la Route du Mexique. Like the latter Shalimar, Le Lion with its contemporary vibe is less challenging to wear, but absolutely not dull at all.