Reviews of Iquitos (1987)
by Alain Delon

As a friend said, "It makes a grand entrance, but leaves the party too soon". If it lasted on me, Iquitos would be among my all-time favorites, but it's all head and no body. While it's around, it makes a good impression.

The top notes are of a piquant fruity-floral quality I've experienced in Czech & Speake's No. 88, an accord not unlike grape crush but richer and denser. In No. 88 the effect smooth and deep, but an ample dose of aldehydes makes Iquitos effervescent to the point of brusqueness. This contrast of lush and angular notes is a little touch of genius in a bottle, and really what makes Iquitos unique.

Perhaps inevitably, the drydown fails to live up to the promise of the top. The fragrance brightens and simplifies, the heart consisting of a powdery, apple-tinted rose with a touch of jasmine, an amiable leather gradually emerging in the hushed sillage of the base. I find it neither woody nor particularly patchouli heavy, especially given how inseparable rose and patchouli are in so many modern rose soliflores.

I'm sad that this is discontinued, as it spoke "rose" in a unique way, but I could also wish had a fuller and more complex base. I can only hope some up-and-coming perfumer steals the good ideas from Iquitos and does something new with them...

How I wanted to like you Iquitos. You are strong and dark, but the opening you employ is a tad synthetic for my tastes and leaning a bit too much toward feminine.

I can see why others extol your virtues, but I cannot count myself among them.

WOWSERS!!! There are scent which employs aldehydes and then there are scents which just max it out! Iquitos belongs to the latter category. such a lovely scent! it;s become my new favorite for casual events or evenings out.
This one smells exactly like one has opened up a box of Rose based agarbattis (incense sticks). not burning sticks, but the box which stores incense's. from the rose perspective, i would put it in No.88 or 1913 category, although, it smells nothing like it. this ones too loud and much more exciting. not that No.88 and 1913 are not exciting, they are more refined whereas Iquitos is uncompromising and direct. and how i wish the openign accords would last forever..doesnt matter... by drydown, the rose is still present..but has a mineral like quality to it with touch of patchouli and leather. lovely scent! im glad i purchased a 100ml!

This was really a nice "summer" scent. It had a soft, fruity base to it. I liked the sillage and longevity of this fragrance. It always had a clean refreshing quality to it that was never cloying nor tireing. Yes, it is very 80's but in a nice, refined way. I really wish they would bring it back because I would be the first to buy it.

At first I thought this might be too feminine but after a few moments I realised that Iquitos is truly gorgeous! Straight into my top five, I quickly bought another two miniatures in case I wasn't able to track down a full size bottle (although I have managed to get a 100ml very recently).

Rose. A nicely done rose. One that I could wear because it doesn't feel like I feel asleep in a florist. Simply dark and good.

I cannot believe that there are no negative reviews for this awful juice. It does smell like juice; grape juice that's been left out in the hot sun for a week. I first smelled Iquitos at a friends house- I was paralyzed in stunned silence for a minute, and said nothing when he asked me what I thought. Go to Macy's and douse yourself with all of the testers and this is what you'll smell like. Really rancid, in-your-face, and obnoxious. A demon's elixir.

Definitely a unique scent. Gothic yet refined. I have not yet smelled anything quite like it. It is in my top 10...

I find that I prefer this to traditional (1980s) "macho" fragrances, like Versace l'Homme, which is excellent but a bit too harsh. I like the softness of Iquitos. Also, it doesn't come across to me as a too floral, as some others have, like Anucci. In fact, the fruity quality of the top notes is much better than any other fruity top I can think of, off hand. I have only used one spray per wearing, so some of the problems with this one may be related to those who spray three or more times per wearing. Longevity and sillage/projection are excellent.

I can see what they were trying to do with this perfume. They were trying to create the smell of real roses using artificial ingredients. Rose Otto is very greenish and doesn't smell like real roses, because of the process used to obtain the oil. So Iquitos tried to recreate the rose using other ingredients. If you try hard enough, you can imagine a real rose when you smell this perfume. But if you don't try hard enough, it smells like rubber. It's the aldehydes that give this rubber smell to it.

I don't hate this perfume, but come on, this could never be considered a masterpiece. So I'll give it a neutral rating.

Can we agree that this is the best celeb fragrance of all times??

The top notes can be quite harsh and synthetic, but the drydown soon reveils a marvelous, bold composion of rose, moss, vetiver and musk (civet). Very green with red accents. Of course, could easily be used by women too. Lasting power is stunning and the sillage is quite outrageous, so be carefull on the trigger.

Provocative, eccentric juice in a most beautiful bottle.

Lots of great reviews, but I think this is too feminine. It really smells like a fragrance an older woman in her 60s would enjoy. And why must there be a rose fragrance for men? Cacharel also tried this, though that offering is better.
Yes, the dry down is nice, but you can skip the feminine part and go strainght to the dry down by going with Michael by Michael Kors instead.

There is little I can add to the reviews of this fragrance that have already been posted on this site. Iquitos is what I consider a "deadly" fragrance - if applied too heavily, it is capable of causing whole subway-cars to start sneezing and sending small children to hospital with respiratory distress.

But despite it's potency, I adore it. Perhaps my skin chemistry is favorable. Or perhaps I have just convinced myself that it smells great. It is a shame that it has been discontinued, but there are still small stocks of it here and there - I purchased a 100mL bottle from an internet supplier just prior to writing this review.

So if you want it, get out there and find it, because I don't think the company will be recommencing manufacture. That's a shame, because compared to the other Delon fragrances for men, Iquitos is clearly the best. Just be sure to use it judiciously!

I did so much want to like this, odd-ball, mainstream fragrance. I so much wanted a masculine rose in my wardrobe. Iquitos is synthetic rose married to some very macho notes. Unique to the extreme, but unfortunately it's like Lillian Gish playing James Bond. I wore this out to a concert the first night I got it and someone looked at me and said, 'Granny?' I put it on my swap list the next morning.

Iquitos opens with extreme aldehydes, which soften into a primarily rose based scent. While it is very feminine at first, it develops into something a little more masculine and even dark.

Very 80's in nature, yet not outdated. It's a shame it's been discontinued. I highly recommend trying this for those who like rose-based scents. Iquitos fits perfectly for spring wear.

Wandering idly through the park of Madame ****, I found myself humming the ancient air "Roses Pour Madame, Roses Pour Monsieur". It put me in mind of Iquitos. Whilst no great lover of rose-based scents, I feel I should make an exception in the case of Iquitos.
Quite brazen and luscious in its overture, Iquitos (all too often mistaken for a feminine fragrance) unfolds into a development where the root of the flower joins the sweet, warm earth. In that bravura of scented depth, I found myself pondering on the darker, even fossilized, remains of that deep and fragrant soil. Arrowheads, amorous primates, mythical deities, long forgotten wars, lustrous dawns and earth quivering cataclysms.
Whilst Iquitos will never figure in a list of my favourite fragrances, I feel I must grant it, as surely you must too, a certain air of poetic profundity. (de Charlus).

I agree with the other members that the drydown on this one is surprisingly nice. I didn't expect much from it, but was really quite impressed. Having briefly smelled in transit a few other Delon offerings, I'm bewildered why they chose THIS one to discontinue. It's by far the best of the bunch. Worth a try if you can get your hands on some.

The rose notes and aldehydes are a bit much in the opening notes, but OH! the drydown is MARVELOUS. Crying shame that Delon's (stupidly) discontinued this wonderful blast from the past.

Aldehydes! I love scents that open with aldehydes, and Iquitos’s opening handles them wonderfully. Even without the aldehydes the opening would be very good—excellently balanced greens and citruses and spices—and florals from the middle. With the aldehydes added, it takes on an airiness that lifts the scent above the ordinary scheme of things. When the aldehydes die out, they are replaced by patchouli, which continues surrounding the accords of the fragrance with an air of intangibility.
The powder and the rose and the jasmine provide a very strong floral element even in the opening. As floral as they are, they stay masculine—probably because the rose note is so dark. The spice, the rose, the sandalwood, and the civet darken Iquitos, while the aldehydes and the patchouli raise its vibrations to a higher olfactory frequency.
To my nose, the dry down is primarily woods, moss, and musk. There is some vanilla to sweeten it, and the florals, especially the rose, continue well into the base. The dry down stays for hours—I can still smell it the next day.
I find this scent excellent. It’s rather difficult on the wearability factor but not impossible, so it needs to be applied with considered discretion.

A heady, excellent scent with a very strong rose feel, almost like a garden of them. It's not one-dimensional, though - there are enough spicy and woody notes to balance it out. Not like anything else that I own.

With the strong rose vibe, I can see where some guys may feel uncomfortable wearing it. To me, it definitely could be worn by either gender, and I often like that sort of scent.

I hear it's discontinued, but it still can be found at this time.

Could this be a poor man's C&S no. 88? While there are certainly differences, I happen to think the commonalities cannot be ignored. The "brighter" notes in Iquitos - mainly in the top and middle: ginger and citrus - positioned against the darker, earthier rose note immediately brought to my mind memories of no.88. Iquitos lacks the incense that no. 88 has, but it is a complex, dark, almost intellectually stimulating scent nonetheless. Give this one some time. The first few times I sniffed it, I was very disappointed, and actually moved it to my swaplist! I am happy to say it has found a home in my wardrobe. In the end, it's a dark, earthy, dry rose, with sparkling topnotes that add complexity throughout. As it dries, it gets more leathery, picking up a touch of sweetness (it moves into Montale Black Oud territory, only without the oud and perhaps a touch sweeter in the end). When does one wear this? I don't know. At home. On a date with a significant other (not a first date, I presume). On a solitary autumn stroll in the woods.

I remember wearing this about twenty years ago. And I know I enjoyed it and would very much like it if the brought it back. These days you dont see much from Alain Delon in Sweden.
benb

Wow! Waaaaaaaaay ahead of its time. A wonderful rosey chypre, completely unique and slightly gothic! Perfect for colder weather and the drydown is incredible.

I believe that this scent in 80-s also is some kind of precursor of modern trend we smell today: men`s colognes smells like a women`s. Get in touch with your feminine side, being man! Not only rose note - but sweetness and intention to please. In that times perfumer chemists invented Heroic Rose (words of L. Turin) - so they put it everywhere, not only in feminine perfumes.

The ultimate 80's era rose scent for men. This is not a bright pink rose characteristic of so many, mainly women's fragrances; Iquitos is a dark blood-red rose whose petal tips have started to brown and wither. More "thorn" than "petal," the genius of this composition is the balance between patchouli, amber and green (vetiver?) with the humid rose not that lasts from top to bottom. Smells like...? Nothing else I know.

Griff

I once had Iquitos described to me as “Roses with balls”, and I can’t say I disagree with that assessment. Iquitos is a very dark and dry rose based fragrance. This is one of the few chypre rose fragrances that work for men. This is earthy, dark, and dry. A unique fragrance that can be had for pretty cheap.

Don't let the rose note throw you. Most of us know that there are now several rose based fragrances out there admired by men (L'Artisan and Diptyque's are but two). This is yet another. Excellent.

I bought it 12 years ago,very different. I think [Iquitos] smells very similar(floral notes) to Poison by Dior.

Spicy, mossy, somewhat akin to Equipage Hermes or Karon Pour Un Homme, although Iquitos is more floral. Dark and a bit heavy. Good to wear in a colder weather.

I have found this scent to very unique among the many that I've sampled. It has a certain nuted floral quality that tends to, I think, reflect a trend movement away from the heavier, chypre-like scents of the eighties into something else. I found it nice, but wore it seldom as the occasions never seemed to conincide with its tumultuous make-up.