Les Nuits d'Hadrien
Goutal (2003)

The perfect summer accompaniment for my excursion to Vermont this week, with its coniferous forests, rolling hills, and sweeping landscapes, is Les Nuits d'Hadrien. It is bittersweet citrus peels, fresh spruce tips, juniper berries and distant hay bales. It begins as an invigorating eau de cologne and simmers down to a bucolic dream.

On me, this smells like a standard citrus Eau, but with extra herbs and greens. I don't smell 80% of the listed notes - mostly just citrus and basil.

I always enjoy a nice old-fashioned Eau like this, so I'm voting thumbs up, but I can't help but feel that this is a little bit unremarkable.

EDIT: A few wears later, I feel bad for calling this "unremarkable". I guess it is, in that there are a lot of colognes that follow a similar recipe, but I have to add that, as I've worn this, I've repeatedly caught little whiffs of it and thought "what's that fantastic smell??" before realizing it was Les Nuits d'Hadrien wafting up in the warm summer. So I'm changing my rating from a regular "thumbs-up" to a much more enthusiastic "thumbs up"!

Sweet patchouli flanker of Eau d'Hadrien. Clever. Not sure it works though.

***

Cardless vial, part used

The opening is mostly a bergamot blast, with lots of mandarins and a bit of lemon, but it is less fresh than this citrus bash would make one expect: this is more a dark-ish nocturnal (the name!) glowing and smoldering citrus opening - reminding me a bit of Versace' Versus.

Soon a sandal tone develops, but at times it is not a very specific sandalwood. A sweeter development sets in, with touches of juniper and whiffs of redcurrant present at times. This combines with a light ylang-ylang that is in the brighter sind's and lacks any creamy characteristics.

The next important step is a turn into a spicier direction, which is almost singlehandedly achieved by a powerful cumin note. Reaching the base, a soft and ambery patchouli stays more in the background, as does an gentle tonka that is equally unobtrusive. What does not remain in the background is a strong lashing of white musks, which rises to become the dominant component towards the end.

I get moderate sillage, adequate projection and eight hours of longevity on my skin.

A scent for cooler summer days or evenings and somewhat different for Eau d'Hadrian, it is not exactly a fount of originality, and it is crafted skillfully. The base is a bit too generic, but there is a lot of development longitudinally. Overall still quite a good composition. 3.25/5.

Old-school, mature scent with a creamy lemon opening. Leans feminine to me.

I get good longevity but below average projection.

As with the original Eau d'Hadrien, 22 years earlier than Nuits, this is a citrus based on orange and tangerine, with lemon supporting. This is for me an equally well done "evening" version, with sweet support from amber and musk, and grounding with patchouli and cumin. The other notes listed do not reach my nose.

The original Eau has been one of my five favorite citrus scents for many years now. The Nuits joins it as a darker, quieter version. Very well done.

Turin calls it "orange fennel" (reminded of a salad he constructs) and gives it only three stars. I would say it deserves at least four.