Iris Bleu Gris (1988)
by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier

A bit sweet, a bit powdery, but not too much of either. Others have mentioned that the drydown is awesome, as it indeed is. Personally, I don't find the opening at all taxing to my nose. I enjoy the whole journey. It is a bit dressier than some others, but nothing you couldn't wear on a day off for a little excusion to someplace nice and fun. This may be elegant, but it's far from stodgy!

TV Lampboy’s reference to Grey Flannel is right on. Though it’s not listed in the pyramid, I think Iris Bleu Gris contains violet leaf, and I tend to overreact to violet leaf – it smells horribly synthetic and obnoxious to me. Once the violet leaf note wears off, Iris Blue is a smooth, sophisticated, masculine, iris / light woody / mossy / musky / powdery fragrance – a bit edgy, a bit formal – but for me it isn’t worth the journey to get to the excellent, long-lasting, unique drydown IMO.

It’s taken me a long time to come to terms with iris, so I was slow to appreciate Iris Bleu Gris. Now, after having sampled great many iris scents, I’ve come to esteem it as one of the two or three iris scents I know, as well as my personal favorite.

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be bludgeoned with a monster iris root, here it is. The iris in Iris Bleu Gris is so real, immediate, and potent that it seems like an hallucination. Definitely a whole-body experience. If orris root is your thing, you're going to love it!

The topnotes are harsh and discordant, with bitter greens and sharp black currant buds. It takes roughly fifteen minutes for Iris Bleu Gris to establish refined, yet austere iris, labdanum, and moss heart accord. In contrast to Dior Homme, this accord is not sweetened by much fruit of vanilla. Once it does, Iris Bleu Gris marches on in linear fashion for a long time. The iris accord here is rooty and earthy, yet paradoxically suave. It sounds like an oxymoron, but it smells very impressive. When the drydown does come, it reveals light leather, vetiver, and residual moss.

The scent projects quite well, but you will not leave clouds of sillage in you wake when wearing it. Like some other scents from this house Iris Bleu Gris is probably a love-it-or-hate it fragrance, but it’s also the most hones, focused interpretation of the iris note that I have come across.

Grey Flannel in a tuxedo, liberally sprinkled with orris root.

Good juice!

Could have fooled me...I didn't realize this scent was specified as 'masculine' until now! Comes off a little sweet, I interpret it to be more unisex. ZZTOP's commentary is oh so true ~ and I also detect a leather like note. Possibly the dry moss lending a smokey edge to the base. The top notes are vibrant and herbaceaous, lingering only long enough to direct your attention to the smooth drydown. A quite nicely done fragrance, I might actually wear it for myself!

Notes:

Top Notes: Leafy green, lemon, bergamot
Middle Notes: Iris absolute, vanilla, jasmine
Base Notes: Moss, vetiver, musk.

Let me start off by saying that if you love Iris, you will love this. And even if you dont, this great MPG offering warrants investigation. The fragrance lures the casual fragrance fan with its green, subdued lemony opening. The middle notes smell sweet for about a minute or so, before one of the most accurate renditions of the iris root reveals itself - the exquisit root then further blends with the base of vetiver, musk and a hint of leather. I think its impressive how MPG have created an iris absolute based fragrance which not only caters to iris lovers, but to any casual fragrance user as well. The longevity is decent (not at the level of Santal Noble). This is definitely one of the stars of the house of MPG !