Special for Gentlemen
Le Galion (1947)

Originally released in 1947, the modern iteration of Special for Gentlemen is a beautiful amber fougere that opens with a dry citron and herbaceous lavender than is reminiscent to that of Jicky, but the core is all opoponax. This resin, with honey- and toffee-like facets, almost salty and savory contrasting with sweet, is best known for its use in Shalimar and Bain de Champagne (Royal Bain de Caron). In fact, there are moments where Special reminds me of the latter, with lavender carrying it through the heart rather than rose and lilac.

Warmer, more cinnamic and vanillic further into the dry down, Special for Gentleman feels appetizing and almost indulgent. It's heavenly and light, this is no Le Lion denseness, its buoyancy may appeal to those who may feel stifled by thicker, stickier, labdanum-heavy ambers (I have a soft spot for those two, naturally). Those who tend to scoff at early-to-mid century fragrance will definitely want to steer clear. This is for the fumeheads who crave the oldies but goodies. I am happy to have this along in the collection—it certainly helped that I found it for a great deal, well under retail price.

The name is surely off-putting to anyone born after 1980, and if it wasn't an old and solidly established classic re-invented for the age I would bet a million it wouldn't have passed the first marketing meeting unscathed. The juice itself though is far and away the most exciting and most wearable of the three Le Galion perfumes I sampled recently, the other two being Whip and Aesthete. In a way, it's so much of its kind, such a 'special for gentlemen' that I could forgive guys (especially younger guys) dismissing it as another cologne with a mossy base and filing it under 'boring barbershop - where the flames at?'. But they'd be SO wrong! What truly took me back with this was how incredibly complicated yet subtle and cohesive the fougere composition and its meandering progress was, how the ingredients one expects (the lavender up top, the amber and patchouli at the heart and base) come and go and also dance around with other, less expected notes such as vanilla and labdanum and what seems a surprisingly heavy dose of cistus - it's the sonata form of masculine everyday perfumes, and not only that, it's late Mozart! An extraordinary wolf in ordinary merino wool.

Special for Gentlemen is a nice dirty lavender, with some fougere-ish elements, that immediately reminds me of Jicky and Mouchoir de Monsieur. Moderate sillage and longevity, with a base that is slightly dry-vanillic. I find Mouchoir de Monsieur or even Jicky to be a more engaging wear, and I don't find any reason to recommend Special over those two, especially considering the price. Affable, but not that special. On a somewhat related note, Boy Chanel is a modern update to this style of perfumes.


3/5

When I heard that "Special For Gentlemen" was to be re-issued, I immediately emailed the gentleman who bought the rights to LeGalion and engaged to buy his entire stock. It took some doing to convince him I was serious, and being perfectly bilingual and willing to pre-pay by credit card helped. As it turned out, I was shipped around 30 units of this before any of the stock orders were filled, and was happily wearing it as of the day it arrived. In the marketing phase, before it launched, friend who owns a perfumery had sent me a sample of it. They made boxes of samples to entice potential accounts, and as it happened, "I knew a guy."It shocks me still that I will lust after this, as it is not entirely like the original, which I also know well. It is, however, a beautiful re-creation of the singular feeling the original did evoke. If you knew LeGalion, you would remember, for example, that their most famous scent, "Snob," was a kind of "Joy" copy, only, not quite as serious: Heavier on the pear, lighter on the civet, and rather than this gravitas that always accompanied "Joy," in it's place there was a kind of gay frivolity. This said, they were so similar, if you liked one, you couldn't help but fancy the other, and vis versa. Interestingly, "Special For Gentleman," the original, behaved in exactly the same way, being as it was a kind of light hearted Jicky: Heavier on the hay, lighter on the civet. This is why I knew I had to grasp hold of the first bottling of the new "Special For Gentlemen" as soon as I smelled it.The new LeGalion is possibly the only modern house I admire, as I am usually a vintage-only wearer. Not only do I prefer the august houses of yore, but I also insist on preserved vintage bottles. Very rarely will anything new, that you can simply buy in a store, ever touch my skin. LeGalion is the exception. They are indeed very retro in flavour, and their quality, at least in the initial launch phase, could be compared to any fine house of the Caron calibre. We know there are few of those left, but somehow LeGalion has managed to edge its way in to this rarefied arena. Interestingly, the three that I love are all recreated by the same nose. (Special For Gentlemen, 222 and Whip) Special For Gentleman in it's revised form is stronger and bolder than the original, which was a terrifically soft and powdery scent that was remarkably light hearted yet unquestionably elegant. The new version veers slightly on the dark side, as if the original had a son, and that son himself had yet another son, and here, rather than there, is where the traits of the grandfather emerged, only the grandson was a bit of a shoe-gazer. A Romantic sort. Faintly melancholy. Persistant.I love re-launched LeGalion's (original batch) Special For Gentleman. I don't know if it has been revised or re-touched, as I know I got the very first bottles, and enough of them to never require another, as, unlike, say, a Guerlain, this new version lasts all day. It took me almost a year to wear through just one bottle. The delivery system is also remarkable in that it produces the finest mist imaginable, a bit like the old Patou "vapomiseurs." Two pumps do the trick, and the ride is definitely an E Ticket. The softness and abstract subtlety of the original is absent, but what is present, is well worth the cost. It's not a light hearted Jicky, as was the original. Rather, it is a kind of moody love child of Mouchoir de Monsieur (which, of course, we all know I love) and Shalimar (which, naturally, I adore) that has an absinthe habit. In two words, it's gorgeous. It is worth the money, and the effort, because one bottle lasts an age, and very little is required in the application process. For people in the US, it is possible to order on their website: That is how I got my bottle of first "Whip," and now "222," both of which were blind buys. I highly recommend that anyone considering blind buys from LeGalion just bite the bullet and do it. They do not disappoint. Take it from me: Celui qui déteste tout. -MdM

Spicy woody and musky, very similar to Spiritus Land 2 by Miller and Bertaux.

A dinosaur.
Heavy on the vanilla amber cinnamon and tonka. So much so that it actually made me cough and was ready to pounce on me if I breathed in too deeply close to where I sprayed it.
Don't know what kind of man would wear this. Certainly not anyone interested in classy masculinity either formal or informal.
Perhaps as a joke to put off a reluctant date. And if it did not put her off be even more worried.

Fragrance: 3.5/10
Projection: 8.5/10
Longevity: 8/10