Une Ville, un Parfum : London
Guerlain (2011)

Starts off with citrus, but at the same time offset by a nice set of balanced accords, including rhubarb (coming off like blackcurrants), cardamom, violet, and rose. These all are sweet, but balance off the citrus and vetiver. There's some woods and tea that reminds me of Burberry London, but much less synthetic and tobacco like. Excellent fragrance. I could see this worn by someone in an airport or on a plane, going to an interesting destination.

Why doesn't anyone note the leather here?

It's a jammy rose with rhubarb, but the leather is clear. It's even noted on the colorful map in the box.

Clearly a unisex. The bottle is a bit uninspired: a glass rectangle with a platinum image of Tower Bridge.

Good longevity and very unique. I don't understand the dislike of this. I bought a backup and, sure enough, it disappeared.

The fresh-fruity opening is based on a bergamot base, with rhubarb and a bitter orange giving a restrainedly pleasant freshness. Not a blast, more a breeze. The drydown is signaled by a turn towards the floral, but these floral notes are overall fairly bland and unimpressive, with the exception of a medium-brightish rose. Hints of cardamom remain too ephemeral and too much in the background to really influence the overall development significantly.

The base is actually a tad more interesting, with an agreeable tea impression mixed with a very middle-of-the road vetiver and a rather generic wood component.

The performance is characterised by moderate sillage, adequate projection and eight hours of longevity.

Not a strong, passionate composition, more tepid,
quite pleasant in spring and overall restrained. Like a cool English summer day.

Neutral? Positive score? Somewhere in between, but the reasonable performance and some bright spots in the top as well as in the base notes pushes it across the line - just by the skin of its teeth. 3/5.