Iris Bleu Gris (1988)
by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier

I've mixed feeling on Iris Bleu Gris! While I'm totally fascinated by its opening I get somehow disappointed in the drydown.

Iris Blue Gris opens with a blast of hyper-realistic and earthy iris root joined by bitter and "wet" green notes. Outstanding, magistral and even challenging for it's extreme bitterness. It turns then to a more conventional, yet absolutely compelling middle phase where iris plays its main part. What disappoints me is the bitter green aspect of the opening that in this phase has morphed to a soapy "cleanness" softening the initial austerity. Gentle, suave and well refined (too much for my taste), but after the promising opening it leaves me somewhat unsatisfied.

Overall this is a very good fragrance highly recommended to anyone who loves iris root but also to the ones of you who simply want to releate with a master composition.

I give it a "thumbs up" on an objective basis.

29th May, 2011.

Hauntingly strange and beautifully odd. Sharp ,high pitched- bitter lemon and green -strange beginning that is weirdly elegant .Dry iris, cold - smells gray blue to my mind's eye.
Cold dry iris plus rooty, earthy, mossy ,musky, incensey notes to sum up. Very compelling .Rich in scent though quite cold of character. A scent of contrast and a work of art. I love this. Uinsex- the man or woman who chooses this is supremely independent, elegant and chic . They need no other reassurance other than what comes from within.

15th July, 2010.

I have and love Hiris by Hermes, so I wanted to try more iris, and based on the reviews (mistake!) I bought this one.
Ugghhh!
I don't understand how it can be described a gritty, earthy, austere. I guess my nose misses something, and probably I'm not sophisticated enough, but to me it smells artificial, powdery, cloying, perfumey - in short, all I dislike in a perfume.
Compared to it, Hiris shines even more: it's sober, bracing, fresh, elegant, subtle.
To me, Iris Bleu Gris is perfume an old lady of not particularly refined taste could wear.

29th May, 2010.

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 top notes are harsh and discordant, with bitter greens and sharp black currant buds. It takes roughly fifteen minutes for Iris Bleu Gris to establish its refined, yet austere iris, labdanum, and moss heart accord. The iris note here is rooty and earthy, yet paradoxically suave. It sounds like an oxymoron, but it smells very impressive.

Once it sets itself in order, Iris Bleu Gris marches on in linear fashion for a long time. 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 behind you 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 honest, focused interpretation of the iris note that I have come across.

23rd December, 2009.

Very bitter green opening settles down soon for a terrific, aromatic composition.

Iris is very smoothly blended here; it has a creamy and subtle scent here. In fact, I wouldn’t say this is exactly a “iris scent” because it isn’t that prominent at all ( like no other note either).

IBG is just perfectly balanced story of that iris root, vanilla, moss and musk. It smells very vintage without having any dated tone to it.
Earthy and ever so slightly soapy fragrance which, to me, smells very ethereal and dreamy, like the colour of blue and grey indeed.

This would make a fantastic masculine companion to L'Heure Bleue by Guerlain.

Highly recommended even if you are not a biggest fan of iris (just like me).

30th July, 2009.

I've had a bottle of IBG for a few years now, and for a while elegant was the only classification I could come up with. But, in spite of its richness and beautiful drydown, I find it difficult to wear. After having come across a number of iris based scents (Apres l'Ondee, Dior Homme, Hiris, Kelly Caleche, Iris Poudre to name a few), I think I may have mistaken Iris Bleu Gris' sobriety for elegance. Also, I may have been wrong to think that IBG is a scent to be enjoyed and worn comfortably at all times. If it could speak, it could tell me everything about late 19th century French symbolist poetry, but I can’t help but wish it would just lighten up and live a little.

27th July, 2009. (Last Edited: 9th August, 2009.)