Royal Scottish Lavender (1856)
by Creed

A far better blend of vanilla and lavender than Caron pour un Homme, IMHO. Where Caron's rendition can easily become cloying, RSL remains beautiful and complex throughout its dry-down.

The clove adds just the right amount of spice to balance things out, and the amber and sandalwood in the base notes ensure a warm finish.

Damn near perfect.

Creed’s Royal Scottish Lavender is a nice composition. Subtle citrus smoothens the opening, as does vanilla the base. The lavender is pronounced, but not sharp or overbearing. I find lavender to have calming effect and RSL is no exception here. A scent I wear not to project, but to focus the mind and look within.

I would imagine that this particular lavender reacts in very different ways depending on the skin type. With my dry skin, it performs beautifully. Lavender can be brutal: Caron’s Pour Un Homme, for instance, has embarrassed me too many times by, without warning, becoming a sillage monster — I no longer wear it. There have been several times when I pushed Royal Scottish Lavender to its limits of application, heat, and humidity, and yet it has never “bloomed,” it has remained beautifully controlled, giving off a rich and natural and even fresh lavender note. The clove doesn’t misbehave at all and this scent has never gone medicinal or aromatic on me. Its drydown is quite quiet and dignified. If I were to name some complaints they would be that it gets a bit too powdery and that it doesn’t last long enough, but as far as its lasting power, it is a Creed so there’s no surprise. I think that naed_nitram is right, though, that Royal Scottish Lavender is quite stuffy — that’s probably why I like it so much.

Notes:
Bergamot, Neroli
Lavender, Clove
Sandalwood, Amber, Vanilla
Reformulated in 1975

A splendid lavender it is. All that easy to wear it is not. If I may quote the venerable de Charlus:"Poetic, quaint, fresh, prim, confectional, medicinal, old fashioned, somewhat delightful if somewhat staid."
If you want a fresh, spring-time, 'joie de Provence' lavender, de Nicolai's Haute Provence (nomen est omen) will be a good choice. If you want straightforward natural lavender, why not try the pristine lavender water from the good monks on Caldey Island, whose prices, I may add, are also more in the Christian spirit of sharing than Creed’s Royal Bill? RSL, despite its reformulation, does have a distinctly Victorian air about it, which is owed to the noticeable clove. It adds warmth and spiciness, but also makes for that certain stuffy-medicinal feel (not anywhere near the degree of Crown’s Park Royal, mind you). This, however, passes after a half an hour or so, as the clove recedes and the classical base note triad comes forth. The amber is first and adds a slightly animal/BO note, finally a very gentlemanly sandalwood-vanilla combination, interacting quite beautifully with the lavender, smoothens out matters significantly. The fresh opening and the classy drydown are the best parts of this fragrance, while the middle, which I would speculate was somewhat clipped in the reformulation, recalls memories, fond or possibly less so, of days long long past.

ZZ is absolutely right about this one; it is probably the best lavender based scent on the market that I've smelled. Unfortunately, at retail it is also probably one of the most expensive, but I have yet to find another that does the lavender so smoothly and softly. Caron PuH has always been a tough one for me to wear (the lavender just doesn't "feel" right on me), but this one manages to stay interesting all the way through drydown.

Royal Scottish Lavender (RSL) is a lavender-based fragrance of a very high quality. The top notes introduce one of the most natural smelling lavender that I have had the pleasure of experiencing. The lavender note is clean, slightly earthy and smooth at the same time. I detect a hint of citrus in the top notes too. The middle notes introduce a blend of spice and moss, before RSL ends the experience with a base of either vanilla or sandalwood (I wasnt able to find the official notes listing anywhere).

Just like the classic Caron Pour Un homme, lavender is the star of RSL. However, compared to Caron homme, the lavender note is far more complex and natural smelling in RSL. RSL is also a comparatively more complex fragrance. Overall, with decent longevity and a fantastic lavender note which makes its presence felt till the very end, RSL is an excellent fragrance worth seeking out.