Alfred Dunhill Dunhill Edition for men - Opinios Reviews

I happen to know on authority that well-dressed gentlemen in the back rooms of very old pubs in London wear this. Too bad they can't smoke their Dunhill cigarettes in the back room anymore but at least guilty pleasures like Dunhill Edition can still be enjoyed in public. At least for the time being...

Edition certainly "smells" English to me and from a time when men were men and lads were...well, lads. From the first pull of the trigger, bitter aromatics join with lavender that gets your attention immediately. Rustic and pleasing but with an animalic note thrown in for good measure. Old-world and earthy cloves arrive and the clove cigarette is born. Or maybe not but the allusion is there. Cedar and musk round Edition out and the Edition is complete. What a joy to wear and I marvel at it from beginning to end. There's really nothing out there like this and it's a shame the Dunhill has discontinued Edition to focus on the rest of their range which can be summed up in two words, sneaker juice. Shame really.

I've been wearing this one off and on for a few years. I've never been crazy about it but sometimes it just feels right. The notes I get after it settles are sage, clove, and musk. There's a leathery note in there somewhere too. Goes on with a pungent edge. Dries down in a more charming way. Two squirts and you'll feel like last night you put back half a bottle of blended scotch and burned through a lancero. I'd say this is a fall or winter scent.

Well my perception is going to be a little skewed as its been over twenty years since I have smelled this. The old formulation opened with a fresh spicy citrus which was quite strong then it got woody and mossy in the dry down. It was strong and the topnotes were more sparkling and spicy.

The new reformulation seems very muted and light in comparison. The topnotes do not seem as spicy or as strong as I remember and this one seems to be more herbal than I remember too. It seems like a "diet coke" version of the glorious eighties version, maybe its my memory.

I like it as it still has that classic gentleman's old school spicy citrus/woody character but it smells like it has been watered down compared to the eighties version. I hate what they have done to a lot of the classic eighties fragrances as todays versions are a pale reflection to the glory of what they should be.

The Duhnill Edition I know has this composition:

Top: lavender, nutmeg, bergamot, amalfi lemon
Heart: carnation, jasmine, geranium, lily-of-the-valley, clary sage, cyclamen
Base: vetiver, oak moss, virginia cedar, amber, tonka, fir

In my opinion, Dunhill Edition is a more refined and richer version of Cacharel pour homme which was launched about three years earlier. Here is Cacharel pour homme's olfactory pyramid:

Top: bergamot, sage, nutmeg, lavender
Heart: ylang-ylang, lotus, geranium, carnation
Base: amber, cedar, vetiver, fir

Dunhill Edition is a symphony of perfectly balanced masculine notes. The lemony opening warms up quite fast and leads to a spicy carnation/clove heart. As the dry-down begins, the classy wood notes emerge along with the vetiver/oak moss notes which are the very base of this fragrance. The amber/tonka notes take away some of the dryness and the hardness of the composition without making it too powdery or too sweet. I think Dunhill Edition is a perfectly balanced EDT. It may not be a youthful and exciting fragrance but if class and prestige is what you are looking for, this is the one for you.