Derby (1985)
by Guerlain

Kind of a softer leather soapy blend. Definitely has patchouli and some sort of herbs and floals. Great blend. Why it was discontinued I do not get. Classy and refined power. Its a nice balance.

I was in Vegas last week and checked this out at the Bellagio boutique. I'm going to get flak for this but I was instantly reminded of another fragrance I already have. I got Heritage instead after a bit bit of hemming and hawing and when I got back to the Mirage, that's when it hit me: it smells like Dior's current formulation of Jules.

After all these years writing reviews, something has clicked and I finally GET Derby. It's wonderful!

For years, Derby struck me as a fairly standard powerhouse 80's woody chypre and I just didn't get the hype. But now I get that it really is best-in-class. Yes, it has a lot of the usual 80's masculine notes - that bergamot/moss chypre skeleton, that mix of hawthorn and sandalwood that smells like expensive burnished furniture, a deep herbal facet that imparts masculinity, and just a hint of Guerlain's classic funk. But it's remarkable for how perfectly matched it all is. Powerhouse woody chypres can be beastly (it's kind of their point), but Derby is mixed in such a way that it smells classy - even its 80's-style strength comes across as expensively rich instead of loud.

Putting all of this under a Chanel-esque sparkling, fizzy aldehydic lemon top is pure brilliance, and a big part of what sets Derby apart. Without feminizing the scent, it adds lift and life in a way I wouldn't have expected. Necessary sniffing!

To the recent forum question "If you could do it all over again..." the enthusiast with thousands of bottles in collection, with decades of experience, and with over a quarter million postings, responded with but a single word: "Derby".

Well, let THAT sink in like the sports rub you used to borrow from your Dad's medicine cabinet.

Probably means something, I would think, and not a bad answer at all, I do think... Eagles & Bees... One of the absolute greats!

(The bottle that I tested from was the clear, parallelogram shaped one with inverted grey cap.)

What a time-warp to that eccentric decade, the 1980's!!
Guerlain's Derby is wonderful men's chypre cologne with plenty of spiciness, floral onslaughts, and virile muskiness: Quintessential bracing go-get-'em cologne from 1985. Smells like it's from another era (obviously, I'm testing out the original pre-2005 relaunch version that's in the fancy square bottle pictured above).

Overall perception is a leathery-woody fragrance chock full of spicy-floral goodness that keeps this interesting and confidence-building. Nostalgic peek into a decade of straight expression and fearless experimentation.