Jicky
Eau de Parfum, Guerlain (1889)

After reading so much about this scent and it's famous wearers, I decided to try it. It was nowhere to be found in all of Chicago, not even at Guerlain counters. Only one sales person had ever heard of it and told me that it was wonderful, but she hadn't seen it in 10 years! I finally decided to buy it online - a first for me to buy without trying it on my skin first. When I got it (Jicky EDP) , I sprayed and got the sharp spice/citrus smell, followed by something very akin to Old Spice. This took me back to when Old Spice was probably the highest selling men's aftershave. After it settled on my skin, I got a very deep vanilla/incense/spice scent. Having a very good memory for colognes, I distinctly remember smelling this scent one time in a theater as a little boy. I did not actually detect the civet, but probably do not have the experience to have picked it out. It must be very well incorporated in the formula. This scent is deeper and heavier than most of my colognes which are lighter - Chypra family. I do like Jicky and actually found it addictive! I could not wait to put it on the next day! Maybe it was the undercurrent of civet! As others have said, it is not for everyone and best sampled on the skin before buying. My one complaint is the longevity. It comes on very strong for 20 minutes or so, then starts fading fast. After a few hours it's barely detectable.

Jicky has been my go-to since the late 80s, when I first discovered it. No words adequately describe this fragrance except that I want it close to me througout the day. It's my fall/winter signature when I especially welcome its intimacy and warmth. There's something almost primal about Jicky as if, by some brilliant turn of fragrance alchemy, Guerlain discovered "human scent at its most desirable". There are no potty or poop smells here. But Jicky can faintly allude to groin, armpit, and other human nooks and crannies that have ensured the continuation of the human species since the beginning of time.

Jicky can be beguiling if it jogs your primordial olfactory memory. It did mine 40 years ago and the fascination has never left. Those who know me well call me a 'fragrance nut' and that's because my mom had a wonderful frangrance sense a few generations ago. She adorned her vanity with Shalimar, White Shoulders, Antelope, and Tigress. But she allowed me to discover, years later, the very best of them all. Jicky. 10/10

After a decade and a half of serious fragrance testing, I do not know how in the wide world I missed out on Jicky! I seriously thought I had tried every worthwhile scent that existed, and from this point on scent-smelling would simply be a matter of treading and re-treading old olfactory ground. Well, HA and HA!

The best I can explain my enrapturement: There's simply something about the pairing of the mammalian with the botanical that speaks to me or 'of' me (perhaps an idealized me). Guerlain's Jicky contains and combines the two fragrance-families that I adore the most: herbs and gentle animalics. In much the same way that Eau d'Hermes seduced me with it's double-fisted punch of the fresh and the skanky, Jicky's wild garden patch baptized by a civet cat's nether regions sends me swooning. I haven't felt this level of infatuation since I first got a whiff of Siberian Musk (yet another green animalic).

I'm so very thrilled to find a brand new love at this late date in my fragrance journey. And the fact that it's such an ancient scent, adds a touch of irony to my supposed 'new discovery.'

I wanted to leave a short review of the 'Les Legendaires' version of the Jicky EDP. I had tried a sample of the EDT, which I believe to be from a previous formulation, and did note that the 'bad breath' smell was present, although not overwhelming. Other reviews highlight other objectionable notes.

This is not a factor in the current EDP, which only has a hint of civet, to give a sort of organic presentation to what could otherwise be a very fresh and strident perfume. It is especially helpful in rounding off the lavender, which can be quite harsh and medicinal in other fragrances (Caron Pour un Homme for example). In Jicky it is smooth, sweet and beautiful.

Fresh and fougere enough for many men, delicate and supple enough for many women.

The modern-day "Legendaires" version gets a 10/10 from me. This is a perfect Guerlain fragrance, and spectacularly resurrected by M. Wasser.

As with most of my favourite Guerlains, the scent is too composed to detect and single element, until the unmistakeable lingering delicious vanilla dry down. Fun, light but not "clean", breezy but not "fresh", this is probably my most frequently-worn fragrance.

I have smelled both a vintage extrait and (strangely) a modern extrait that they had available at the Guerlain desk for sampling (but not purchasing). It's all incredible. This is the heart and soul of my love of fragrance.

Just had an “Ahhhh-ha!” moment - YSL’s Kouros is an early 80’s version of Jicky - civet and vetiver and bergamot.
I would not wear Kouros - it’s too grimy - but I like Jicky a lot.