Lenthéric 12
Lenthéric (1965)

Lenthéric 12 is a fruity chypre, with a rich, dark, smoky base that features a tobacco-like vetiver and, of course, oakmoss. The fruit is not overly sweet, but rather provides body and balance. It was marketed as a feminine in the 1960s, but there's nothing “girly” about it. Rather, it seems Lenthéric had a respectful and three-dimensional concept of the ideal woman for whom L12 was composed. In the 21st century, this is easily unisex. In any century, it's great stuff.

The official story is that Lenthéric wanted to issue a perfume that would "appeal to women everywhere," and so commissioned 12 well-known painters (notably including Salvador Dalí) to paint their ideal of feminine beauty, which in turn inspired the name of the fragrance, if not the fragrance itself, and formed the basis of the print ad campaign. Variations on the story include a contest won by Australian artist William Dargie, whose portrait of his 15-year-old daughter was one of the 12 paintings.

I've seen issue dates ranging from 1956 (almost certainly a typo for 1965, the year BAT acquired Lenthéric) to 1968, but newspaper articles about Lenthéric 12 launch events in Bermuda and Monte Carlo were first published in May 1967, and advertisements only afterward. Though the number of paintings allegedly inspired the name of the fragrance, the existence of the earlier Lenthéric fragrances Parfum 12 (1928) and Numero 12 (1933) suggests that it was actually the other way around.