Lord Molyneux
Molyneux (1988)

Lord serves a splendid gothic-dandy-of-the-80s, a confluence of all the decade's masculine chypre and fougere hybrids: honeyed, musky, darkly woody, earthy and aromatic. As others have observed, this recalls such juggernauts as Boss (Number One), Ho Hang Club, even Davidoff Zino, but this isn't to suggest that Lord is merely a derivative amalgam. Rather, it feels like a suave and sensual distillation of these tropes into a measured and sensuous masculinity.

It may prove a bit too dirty to those more accustomed to the modern palate; this was the age of Civettone, Muscarome, Animalis, Tonquitone, and the like, and these were accenting many of the scents of the time. To be clear though, this was released at a time where it would soon go out of vogue, so Lord soon met its fate in a world where aquatics and sheer fougeres would reign supreme. There is, however, something to be said about the plangent patchouli and animalic hum of the lingering dry down that makes this a charmer.

Excellent sparkling herbaceous in the same vein as Boss no1 / Boss Spirit/ Michael Jackson and Egoiste Platinum, (but less sharp than the latter). A great fragrance for hot summer days to keep you fresh.

FYI, notes stated on a vintage Lord Molyneux tester:

"Aromatique Hespéridée": clary sage, lavender, bergamot, citron, tangerine

Spices: coriander, pimento, pepper

Woody Amber: patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, cistus, maté

Les Parfums Molyneux has existed as an entity outside the main fashion house of Molyneux for decades, since this house was something of a stop/start entity from its inception in 1919 until the retirement of Edward Molyneux in 1950. The house was revived as Studio Molyneux in 1964, but Edward died in 1974 before any masculine fragrances were made, although the cult classic Captain Molyneux (1975) was released the following year. Therefore, it's difficult to ascertain if any of the few Molyneux masculines were made with the style of the late namesake designer in mind, but outside the original Captain Molyneux, most have dwelt in the shadows of independent perfume shops for years even after discontinuation in some cases. Lord Molyneux (1988) was a long-awaited follow-up to the pioneering moss bomb that is the Captain, itself having presaged much of the early 80's style, while the Lord goes more into the Victorian revival style which had been gaining ground since the mid-80's. Lord Molyneux presents itself as an animalic floriental chypre/fougère hybrid, a powerhouse of considerable color but laid upon a darker palette, standing between the vivid nature of something like Lapidus Pour Homme (1987) and the gothic tones of Salvador Dali Pour Homme (1987). These values are married to the honeyed civet and patchouli of Boss/Boss Number One by Hugo Boss (1985) and the musky qualities of Balenciaga Ho Hang Club/Le Club de Balenciaga (1987) to make quite a character. I hate comparing this to so many other perfumes, but Lord Molyneux is such a Venn diagram of them that to describe it otherwise is impossible.

Lord Molyneux takes an approach to perfumery similar to some niche or prestige houses in the 21st century, being massively referential to a half-dozen influences to produce a chimera that either smells totally resplendent to the nose, or a gawd-awful cacophony of values. The top here shows a bergamot, lavender, and citron that seems inspired much by Guerlain Jicky (1889) and Mouchoir de Monsieur (1904), with mandarin sweetness and coriander spice added for a then-modern oriental touch. Clary sage and the souring effect of civet let you know where Lord Molyneux is headed, with a lactonic peach effect that recalls classic chypres like Guerlain Mitsouko (1919), but it doesn't stay in Guerlain worship land for long as the middle emerges. An indolic jasmine/rose core appears, dried by the clary sage some and similar in tone to Penhaligon's Hammam Bouquet (1872) but crossed with the green geranium/rose tones of Aramis 900 (1973), is flanked with pimento and cardamom just a touch to keep it dark and dirty. A sandalwood, patchouli, and oakmoss base do most of the talking after this, with a honeyed skank reminiscent of the aforementioned Hugo Boss and Balenciaga masculines merging with musky labadnum and painted more seriously like the Dali, offering up a "dad's cologne" vibe of masculine aromatics next to the dandy florals and animalics, but with the machismo and flamboyance both kept on a tight leash by some late-stage vetiver and tonka. It's quite a ride from start to finish but performance is controlled rather than sporadic like some 80's powerhouses, with a moderate sillage throb that lasts 10+ hours. I imagine this was likely meant for romantic or formal use, so let's go with that.

Bottom line here is Lord Molyneux is an extremely blended example of what is otherwise a fairly clear-cut style of turn-of-the-century perfumery brought into 80' vogue. Fans of animalic floral masculines such as Monsieur Jovan (1977), Zino Davidoff (1986), Joint by Roccobarocco (1991) or even Tom Ford Noir (2012) will probably also like Lord Molyneux to some degree, and the stuff was made from 1988 (where it first appeared in a 4.2oz/125ml bottle identical to Captain Molyneux), until original distributor Sanolfi Beauté was acquired by Gucci and renamed YSL Beauté (from which point Parfums Berdoues picked up Molyneux and discontinued the Lord). Every different size variation had a different bottle shape, but I don't think Lord Molyneux underwent any significant changes because it was only made by Sanolfi and didn't survive Les Parfums Molyneux changing hands. This kind of scent was semi-niche even back in the 80's, and clearly lost to the rise of aquatics and fresh fougères, meaning this genre is by and large extinct or at least in the realm of high-end niche or artisanal perfumers only. Not many folks want cat butt rubbed in mossy florals and patchouli anymore, but if this kind of challenging eloquence and top hat-adorned gentleman on the bottle speak to you favorably, Lord Molyneux may be worth seeking out while enough of it survives in the wild. I'm crazy about "stinky" stuff like this, and it's honestly tame compared to some higher-end ouds out there, so Lord Molyneux has me written all over it and gets a thumbs up, but for everyone else looking into vintage styles without such animalic or extremely anachronistic quirks, this scent is probably best left in the eighties.

Stardate 20170113:

A great fragrance from the house of Molyneux. It reminds me of Aramis 900. There is no rose but I still get the rose accord - perhaps the mixture of cardamom and peach are playing a trick and reminding me of lactonic rose.
I don't find it vile of offensive like the other reviewers. Perhaps it went through a bad reformulation like the Captain.
I think one should try the vintage version.

It seems that I am really at odds with everyone else on this one.
I am very impressed with it. It reminds me very much of Boss Spirit. It is, as with Boss Spirit, VERY STRONG, so it is easy to overdose.
This fragrance, released one year before, was very much the forerunner to Boss Spirit.