Derby (1985)
by Guerlain

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!

(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.

As expected of Guerlain, Derby is made with quality ingredients. Beyond that, I don't understand why this fragrance is so universally loved. It doesn't blend with your body chemistry, so it will smell the same on everyone. It has a thick, cloying-sweet harshness to, similar to Poison (remember that one?!). I admit that I hate rose, and this has a significant dose of that, so that may color my review. Overall, though, it strikes me as a kitchen-sink kind of blend, with too many elements battling. One part "old man" cologne, one part open-shirt-with-a-male-symbol - it just doesn't work for me. Heritage and several other Guerlains are among my favorites (not Habit Rouge, though, LOTS of rose), so choose wisely.

Bullfight # 2 Salvador Dalí 1966

Never quite in style
Derby evades fate, falling
Never out of style

Derby's existence
Not truly violating
Perfume's second law

The first being that
Truth is conserved, the second
That beauty must fade

Seen more beautif'lly
Through Coco's eye: Style remains
While fashion passes

Never truly loved
By the masses, its motion
Never up nor down

Perpetually
Hiding short dinosaur days
From long scrutiny

By some solar cell
Hidden from the accountants
Midst our fragrant love

A toast to Derby
One day to depart from us
Always remembered

In some better place
Truth and beauty both conserved
By rules above ours.