Royall Lyme
Royall Lyme of Bermuda (1957)

This one I could never warm up to no matter how hard I tried.

The opening to this is very sharp and acidic and fades to a gently sweet fresh lime smell. I detect some black pepper in the lime note which is okay. Not exactly what I'd call an interesting spiced lime effect versus say Jade East (which uses anise). I get some musk, but it's mixed with some sweet undertone to it that's kind of dank and odd like brown sugar. I get hints of gardenia- not a fan of this white floral. Aside from finding to be harsh this powerful floral note is in a lot of vintage fragrances for women.



Royall Lyme by Royall Lyme of Bermuda is a thumbs down rating. Aside from the natural lime and black pepper there just wasn't anything else about the fragrance that I liked.

The lime-scented cologne has its origins dating back to Victorian times, so no doubt the blurb provided for Royall Lyme by Royall Lyme of Bermuda (1957) is true to an extent, but the origins of this particular craze in the mid 20th century start here with this product, and not any which came before. You see, UK barbershop purveyors like Geo F Trumper have had lime-scented products going back to the 1800's because Bermuda was a popular vacation spot for the wealthy elite of that era, but it wasn't until this company erected and released Royall Lyme in 1957 that Americans really picked up on smelling like limes after a shave. I'm guessing you can blame that on the love of exoticism white middle-class America had in those days, with Hawaiian shirts and Tiki lounges in the backyard, Hong Kong action cinema (which inspired another men's cologne fad later) playing in theaters or TV, and products like bay rum or lime colognes wafting in from The Caribbean.

So the opening of this should be pretty obvious. You get a blast of lime, although it isn't a very sweet lime, just dry and fresh squeezed. This lasts for about 15 minutes before the citrus note starts to burn off and some trace bay rum spices of bay laurel leaf and clove move in. From there, things get a bit ambery, but still fairly dry. Bits of something kind of leathery and musky enter, which can probably be chalked up to some castoreum (it was even used in chewing gum) before the spiced bits return to finish this out. Total experience time is about two hours, then this becomes barely a skin scent of just musk and clove. Royall Lyme functions as an eau de cologne, but was very popular as an aftershave too, despite not really having anything to sooth skin in it. If you like feeling the burn I guess, this can be used that way still. Otherwise, I suggest splashing on after a shower or on a hot day when you need a fresh pick-me-up that doesn't overstay its welcome.

Royall Lyme may not have actually been the first lime cologne imported to the US either, it was just the one that exploded and caused a horde of clones from other major US brands into the 1960's, when the fad started to slowly fade out to be replaced with a round 2 of powdery vanillic fougères. Shulton, MEM, Mennen, WIlliams, and Pfizer all made lime flankers to their core men's products of Old Spice (1927), English Leather (1949), Skin Bracer (1932), Aqua Velva (1919), and Hai Karate (1968) respectively. Avon even got in on the fun with its stand-alone Avon Island Lime (1965) aftershave, which had a one-up on the Royall Lyme product for being a true aftershave lotion that took the edge off a shave. Granted, it wasn't something that could be worn for much longer than Royall Lyme could, but that wasn't the point. Ultimately though, all those others died away, while this one remains to this day on the market, so there's something to be said for it. Thumbs up

This kicks off with a delicious sparkling lime soda note that lasts about 15 seconds, before getting oddly leathery, like someone spilled club soda in a leather satchel. Given a few minutes, that leathery smell turns out to be a combination of herbs, spices, and musk that calls to mind bay rhum, with its mix of sugary bay oil, clary sage, and clove. Given an hour or so, I'm left with sweet, faint clove.

All told, I don't expect longevity from something like this, so the lack thereof doesn't bother me. As a lime scent, this disappoints because the lime is so fleeting, but as an interesting take on bay rum, this is great, so I'm voting thumbs up.

Nice inexpensive Lime Cologne with a standard Bay Masculine drydown. I believe my sample is Vintage, however this is short-lived with the Lime. Nostalgic and pleasant surely.
These days I get a better kick of Lime from Bugatti 1992
and certainly Jo Malone's Lime Basil Mandarin being EDT strength, offers a longer ride.
Still, a pleasant find if you can find it at the right price.

Royall Lyme Bermuda Ltd sold off its licensing to the Clarecastle Group, sometime in the early 2000's. The telltale sign of the change is on the box and bottle, where it now reads "Made in USA" instead of "Made in Bermuda".

I corresponded with someone from the Clarecastle Group about reformulations and they admitted some had to be done for Lyme and Spyce. They claim it's a nominal difference, but I see too many people say otherwise. However, Muske has not changed much (still pretty much as-is).

The original Royall Lyme is a great fragrance, but yes... it wears more like an aftershave or cologne than an eau de toilette. Longevity is light. So I imagine with the current release it's ridiculously short. Try to find the vintage. I have two bottles of it now (refreshed my original) and I'm still enjoying it. Not the best lime based fragrance, but for the price it's worth owning. Kitschy bottle too, with the pewter crown cap. :-)

I bought my first bottle of Royall Lyme in Pasadena, USA, in 1963, & so savoured it that I rationed it out to last until 2009(!). I have since used almost half of my next bottle (I won't be able to smell it on my shroud...).
Like others here, I was surprised to find that while the aroma was as splendid as before, the new lotion certainly doesn't last like the original. On investigating I discovered the very sad news that the company had been bought, & all its potions now made, under licence, in the US. This undoubtedly explains why the new version is inferior...