Dunhill Edition (1984)
by Dunhill

Well my perception is going to be a little skewed as its been over twenty years since I have smelled this. The old formulation opened with a fresh spicy citrus which was quite strong then it got woody and mossy in the dry down. It was strong and the topnotes were more sparkling and spicy.

The new reformulation seems very muted and light in comparison. The topnotes do not seem as spicy or as strong as I remember and this one seems to be more herbal than I remember too. It seems like a "diet coke" version of the glorious eighties version, maybe its my memory.

I like it as it still has that classic gentleman's old school spicy citrus/woody character but it smells like it has been watered down compared to the eighties version. I hate what they have done to a lot of the classic eighties fragrances as todays versions are a pale reflection to the glory of what they should be.

Eighties original formula: 9 out of ten.
Modern Reformulated formula: 7.5 out of ten.

6th January, 2012.

I've been wearing this one off and on for a few years. I've never been crazy about it but sometimes it just feels right. The notes I get after it settles are sage, clove, and musk. There's a leathery note in there somewhere too. Goes on with a pungent edge. Dries down in a more charming way. Two squirts and you'll feel like last night you put back half a bottle of blended scotch and burned through a lancero. I'd say this is a fall or winter scent.

3rd January, 2012.

I happen to know on authority that well-dressed gentlemen in the back rooms of very old pubs in London wear this. Too bad they can't smoke their Dunhill cigarettes in the back room anymore but at least guilty pleasures like Dunhill Edition can still be enjoyed in public. At least for the time being...

Edition certainly "smells" English to me and from a time when men were men and lads were...well, lads. From the first pull of the trigger, bitter aromatics join with lavender that gets your attention immediately. Rustic and pleasing but with an animalic note thrown in for good measure. Old-world and earthy cloves arrive and the clove cigarette is born. Or maybe not but the allusion is there. Cedar and musk round Edition out and the Edition is complete. What a joy to wear and I marvel at it from beginning to end. There's really nothing out there like this and it's a shame the Dunhill has discontinued Edition to focus on the rest of their range which can be summed up in two words, sneaker juice. Shame really.

18th April, 2011.

Like Eau Sauvage and Signoricci, this is citrus and wood sophistication at its best. It is refined, understated and disarmingly seductive. Classic!

12nd January, 2011.

Dunhill Edition seems to me among the most successful of what is now a fairly familiar trope in masculine perfumery: the spicy citrus. Oscar For Men, for example, does the same thing in a quite inferior manner, as does Cacharel.

Edition posts nice longevity and it evolves from a vaguely watery citrus up top to a gradually more spicy (pepper and nutmeg?) mid to a tobacco/leather drydown not unlike Givenchy Gentleman or Ho Hang, all the while holding the herbs and spices in his hand. Woods, primarily pine, peek out from the crowd as well. Old School without being "old man", whatever people mean by that.

26th October, 2010.

My current favorite. A very civilized, long lasting fougere that doesn't leave a vapor trail or clear a room -- at least on me. Starts with cloves, cinnamon then settles into a politely boozy and mild tobacco accord. I've come to view (smell?) this as Aramis Havana's reserved, subtler and much more wearable nephew. Shame this has gotten hard to find, but well worth it.

14th October, 2010.