Grafton
Truefitt & Hill (1983)

Truefitt and Hill Grafton is one of those more formal fragrances. It isn’t really suitable for the office. Maybe for going out clubbing or to the nightlife as a good curve ball. I do get many favorable comments from people when I wear it. I even had one person exclaim out of the blue, “What is that heavenly smell!” It is very rich, so not much of a spray is needed and it lasts on the skin for streets and miles. Best bet is for a formal dinner or dress up and not around people unaccustomed to smell goods.

Grafton by Truefitt & Hill (1983) is right on the money for an eighties aromatic fougère, produced by one of London's storied old barbers. Much of masculine-aimed perfumery and indeed much of perfumery overall originated from barbers if we're talking the UK, with other outliers being dedicated perfume outfits like Floris or the defunct Crown Perfumery. Progress moves achingly slow with most of these brands, as they're tradition for tradition's sake because what ain't broke don't need fixin' I suppose. However, the winds of change reached many of these surviving outfits by the 1980's, and they either modernized, or died. Thus, we see what was once probably quite a contemporary composition from Truefitt & Hill,

Grafton sits somewhere between Drakkar Noir by Guy Laroche (1982), and the much later Tsar by Van Cleef & Arpels (1989), so much that it is possible Van Cleef & Arpels took some inspiration from this scent, which would not have been distributed much outside the UK then, making it a prime target for a globalized designer market take elsewhere. The opening is a bit camphoraceous, unlike either thing I referenced, while the cool slightly-sweetened minty lavender and geranium profile mixed with ginger makes the most comparison to things like Jazz by YSL (1988) or Pasha de Cartier (1992). This stuff impressively predicts the lot of them, and had it gotten a wider release in the era it came out, might have been a bigger hit.

The base is where things remind you this is a brand that originates in the barbershop, as things settle into a soap accord touched with incense and amber, a bit of pyralone leather and cedarwood over hay-like coumarin with a sliver of oakmoss in older bottles, evernyl in newer. This functions rather well, and although 40 years removed it may not seem such a smart looker as when it first hit the shelves, Grafton is nothing if not a clean and groomed smell that people will appreciate being around, despite perhaps not particularly enjoying the smell. Tsar, Jazz, and many of their contemporaries are also long gone and a bazillion dollars on eBay, so having this older, more-obscure model as an alternative to them isn't so bad; plus it's very reasonable to purchase too. Thumbs up

Pleasantly bracing aromatic fougere-themed cologne, with adequate performance for the concentration.

However, given that it could use a big slug of oakmoss to finish, a bit of a shame it's not constructed somewhat more robustly.

I hereby redact my scathing review from about a year ago. I had tested a decant of Grafton and may have received a bad sample. I bought a new bottle after trying the shaving cream. I already owned the aftershave and it is one of my favorites. It is my signature aftershave after three passes with my double-edged razor. As with the aftershave, the opening of the EDT is tonka, lavender and a bright juniper--the father of Le Male by Gautier. There is a bit of talc. It's a nice office, barbershop fragrance on the fougere category. I like the incense. Initially it projects well, but doesn't last very long and stays close to the skin. Three hours tops. A bit synthetic as well, like the current Le Male version in stores right now. It resembles Mr Taylor's of Old Bond Street cologne. I'm convinced the perfumer who created Le Male used Grafton as his/her inspiration. My wife likes it. I can't imagine anyone hating this. A classic? Maybe not. Yet, it has been around since 1983. So there is something to be said about its longevity. I'm going to layer a little True Lavender by C&S to see if I can give some strength to Grafton.

I can smell only some cognac scent . Scent is quite mild and disappear very quickly (for me only 5 minutes). Maybe this is classic but I don't like it does not stay at all.

This cologne has a wonderful clean soapy smell with plenty of green layers...slight citrus but this doesn't stick around any longer than ten minutes ...The problem for me is that this cologne needs more balls and to say I'm grafton ...poor projection and longivity ..i get around 2 hours ..it seems shy of who it is and shouldn't be because it has potential to be a star just needs better projection of its notes (maybe more oils used ?). I use this with grafton shave cream and spray this cologne a few more times than I should to get sum oomph and projection. I like to smell my cologne in the car going to work but by the time I've parked up I'm deep into dry down stage (bout half hour drive) love the fragrance tho