Calèche Eau de Toilette (1961)
by Hermès

An incredibly sharp aldehyde. This smells great and I can tell it is vintage, from the 60s. There is a floral note of ylang ylang, jasmine, and iris. It's mostly an aldehyde, but the floral is a nice balance.

Took a whiff of this Feminine and thought "This is a contemporary Equipage with Adelehydes and softer Leather."
I see from others reviews they have witnessed the same.
Lots of similarities. Beautiful and classic Hermes finesse. Must try the Vintage as apparently there was a reform in the 90's.

August 2018

Vintage has a Rosey Sandalwood drydown like it's younger cousin 70's Rive Gauche. Yes, 1970's Rive Gauche had a plonk of Sandalwood. I know because I wore it at that time.

Caleche is crisp & sharp, it's primary accord seemingly composed of 2/3 aldehyde & 1/3 sour citrus. That's an oversimplification, but it really is very crisp and fairly linear. The aldehydes are ratcheted up to a high degree and the effect is strange and soapy.

Roja Dove tells us that perfumer Guy Robert here created new types of both floral (less sweet) and chypre, less severe, opening with sparkling citrus notes.

Barbara Herman notes the "blend of classic floral notes and balsams that provide a hint of Oriental sweetness" and its "masculine base."

I found it to be for me a sharp and musty floral chypre, drying down to cinnamon. I compare it unfavorably to La Renta's Oscar.

Top notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Neroli, Mandarin
Heart notes: Gardenia, Ylang, Jasmine, Rose, Orris, Muguet
Base notes: Tonka, Sandalwood, Oakmoss, Cedarwood, Vetiver, Amber, Musk, Cypress, Olibanum, Coumarin

Nice but unremarkable.

Genre: Chypre

Calèche starts out smelling like and aldehydic green floral chypre – a sort of softer and more floral Givenchy III or a muted 1000. It’s the “muted” that impresses me over the first part of the development, as Calèche rapidly settles into a slightly spicy floral leather skin scent with a mossy background. Besides a delicate transparency that’s rare among floral chypres, it’s most appealing feature is an almost-but-not-quite edible, nutty quality about its chypre core. The soapy moss and woods drydown that plays out after a few hours is in keeping with the rest of the scent’s refined development.

With its clean, prim demeanor, Calèche occupies a significant niche in the realm of chypre scents. It’s sophisticated, elegant, and somewhat formal. With its conspicuous aldehydes, it’s also a touch “perfumey,” in the same sense as, say, Chanel No. 5. It strikes me, paradoxically, as very gender-neutral as well, perhaps because it is so dry and understated. At any rate, it is a scent worth exploring if you enjoy chypres but find some of the other classics of the genre too opaque or heavy.