Eau de Quinine (1890)
by Crown Perfumery

Probably beloved of Sherlock Holmes, possibly enjoyed by Oscar Wilde in certain of his moods, perhaps appreciated by Jack the Ripper, almost certainly dismissed by King Edward "Tum Tum" the Seventh, Crown Eau de Quinine could well inspire the following adjectives: medicinal, metaphysical, mysterious, reserved, deep, complex, uncanny, sinister, quaintly traditional and oddly modern. In fact, a bit of an enigma.

18th November, 2011.

Bubbly, boozy and peppered with bravado, Eau de Quinine combines the herbal edges and angles of fresh coriander, monarda and artemisia, the tartness of bergamot, the slightly bitter powder of petitgrain, and the heat of nutmeg and clove. I always feel energized and quite the bon vivant when I wear this delicious concoction. My only question, should one apply it shaken or stirred!

24th June, 2008.

out of the bottle, very much like tonic water, on the skin more green notes... overall very dated, too dated even to be considered retro. I really don't think I could pull this off around people anywhere near my age (23) and I'm the type of guy to wear alot of (what can be considered) weird stuff... definatley not a blind buy!!

22nd August, 2006.

Quinine itself is not the kind of thing you consume and go, "Oh, delicious, must have more! Immediately" It's rather to be savored, a fact to which those who appreciate the perverse pleasure inherent in sipping tonic water - or even certain bitter apertifs like my personal favorite, Campari - might attest. I bought it because I love this kind of bitterness, and because the fragrance is genuinely original and not, in my opinion, so strictly masculine that I couldn't possibly wear it (though it does smell good on my husband, too!) And too because I'm drawn to anything containing petitgrain, which has its own little weirdly medicinal, old-fashioned apothecary thing going on at times. The topnotes of this scent take you right into gin and tonic territory, complete with a healthy slice of lime (the bergamot), and then that burns off into the heart of petitgrain, which is cool, powdery and characteristically a little aspirin-like and here nicely complimented with some spicy counterpoints courtesy of the nutmeg et al. The powder base definitely works for me as well and makes this an ideal scent for incendiary days when even the idea of fragrance almost seems to be almost too much. Eau de Quinine and Eau de Patou - which also contains petitgrain and a fresh herperides top - are two staples of mine for moments like those.

27th September, 2005.

Talk about retro... How old is this one 1890? Reminds me of my old doctor, maybe he wore it. Either way I like it because it's so different to anything you can buy today. Definately try this one if you get a chance

17th August, 2005.

I hate it! Stinks like medicine for malaria!

19th August, 2001.