Castile
Penhaligon's (1998)

So classic, fresh and clean. This and Guerlain's Vetiver are my two everyday fragrances.

To me, this is 100% unisex, and it smells completely masculine or feminine depending on who's wearing it. If a woman walked past you wearing this, you'd think "Wow, she smells beautiful. Like a dewey morning garden." If you smelled this on a man, you'd think "Woof. He smells freshly showered. And expensive."

Castile is not trendy. Twenty-somethings are not going to be lining up to buy it. This is beautiful, timeless perfumery. Definitely skews more mature, which is exactly what I go for. Some people complain about the price, but if you love something, who cares? I love this, and I'll gladly pay the price.

Summer temperatures call for Penhaligon's Castile. It is a clean, vivacious orange blossom kissed with a generous portion of petitgrain and just a touch of rose splendor. It is evocative on sunlight, green leaves, and warm breezes.

When wearing Castile, it feels winsome on my skin, a real mood elevator. I love when a simple and beautiful fragrance transports the wearer, even if for a short time. Castile does wear on the skin for a reasonable amount of time, but it doesn't persist; it simply isn't built that way. Would you want the taste of a summer cocktail to wear out its welcome on your palate? Of course you want your palate cleared, whether or not you choose to have another... Castile can be applied in the morning and then in the afternoon, that's it. Don't try to squeeze 'beast mode' out of citrus aromatics and sacrifice quality with nagging, jagged aromachems that desperately prolong some idea of citrus that doesn't exist in nature. They will eventually dull your senses like MSG can dull the taste buds. Also, you can spray some on your shirt—the juice is transparent. Go for it.

Castile's dry down in soapy musk that is nostalgic and brings a smile to my face. What a treat it is to reach for this in my summer scent arsenal.

Castile has one of the best neroli openings out there - strong, fresh, vivid, supported by petitgrain and soon augmented by orange blossom. It's quite soapy and refreshing. This is essentially a classic neroli eau de cologne recipe, with some synthetic white musks added to make it tenacious. Sillage and duration are adequate considering the style of composition.

Unfortunately I don't quite get along with the base here - mostly white musk plus some vague woody nuances. The base comes across as a bit synthetic, and a notch below the rest of the composition in terms of material quality. It also smells a bit generic and unremarkable, especially after what goes on before. This one would have been great with a better dry down.

3/5

I can see why others like this, but it did not work for me. This frag has 3 distinct stages. The opening does have that neroli and fresh green/soapy vibe, followed by a distinct powdery middle stage, followed by a vetiver drydown and skin scent. The neroli only lasts an hour, maybe 2 at most, so if neroli is what you desire I would skip this one. It's more about the powdery vetiver finish, which will linger for many hours. It is very reminiscent of Tom Ford Grey Vetiver by the end, with almost none of the neroli remaining. Oddly if you spray this on a piece of paper and smell it directly, you get 90% powder and almost none of the other notes. So my recommendation is you really need to sample it on the skin over a period of hours to get the full effect. If you are a fan of scents that evolve over time you may like this, but unless you like all 3 of the stages described above, I would skip or sample only. It becomes a skin scent by hour 4-5 so overall I would not consider this a strong performer.

There are much better neroli frags out there, and I would steer you toward Profumum Roma Neroli and Zegna Essenze Mediterranean Neroli first, followed by Tom Ford Sole di Positano and Neroli Portofino.

A nice clean neroli cologne - very similar to AdP Essenza but less intense and with more citrus that makes it overall more balanced, refined and interesting. There's lots of neroli fragrances out there but it's the blend with the citrus that sets with one apart. It's become a real favourite and daily go-to for the office. I'm a big fan! Don't over spray though - it looses all the subtlety that makes it special!

In the style of neroli based, classic "colognes", Castile is a sure winner. What makes it special is the twist of rose in the middle, that I feel is what prolongs performance for the better. Castile is an extremely long lasting freshy, with at least 8 hours, and 6 of those house going strong, and 4 of those hours projecting like a beast.

I disagree that this will not fill a room, because it absolutely will. Be careful on the trigger. I over-sprayed with 6 sprays the first time (I had expectations of most of neroli fragrances with poor performance), I think 2 would have done the job well.

Well done Penhaligon's but a bit overpriced. This should cost no more than $70 a bottle imho.