Un Jardin sur le Nil (2005)
by Hermès

This fragrance is very nice for summers and smells very citric. Although other people say it smells like a garden, that isn't really the case for me as I smell mainly sweet citruses, particularly a strong and realistic orange note (which makes the whole thing smell similar to Atelier Cologne's Orange Sanguine in my opinion). I do smell the mango in this, but I think Polo Black has a better take on mango (Polo Black has salted mangos while this has the sweet kind). There is a hint of a sweet fig note in the background as well, along with a very mild hint of green notes. But it isn't green enough to smell like a garden in my opinion. I also don't detect the garden note of carrot much (although maybe I do but haven't been able to detect its aroma). There is a slight aquatic vibe underneath the whole thing as well. Overall it's nice with subtle sillage and ok longevity in the summer, but isn't as green as I'd like and leans a bit feminine.

4/5

This smells like a grandmother exploded all over another grandmother. Onto a rose bush.

Story became you,
Soft strange smell so distant, yet
You became story.

The opening is a very pleasant citrus, a sort of fresh tartness. I initially perceive it as a mix of grapefruit and orange, but after reading Chandler Burr's article about the creation of this fragrance, with which Jean-Claude Ellena wanted to capture the smell of green mango, one day it just clicked! Now I perceive it as a green, tart-sweet mango (not the ripe, sweet red-yellow type).

It then dries down to a green-woody, even a little bitter scent with a small touch of flower. I get a carrot note all way long, which is a very interesting twist. It's indeed a very fresh fragrance and the subtle bitterness can wake you up in a sleepy summer afternoon. Ieal for daily use in spring and summer. Suitable for men too.

The longevity is about 7h and the sillage is close.

Originally written in 2013

So what does this smell like? Chemicals. That's not a complaint - what made Sur Le Nil so groundbreaking was the way that something so chemical and abstract could still characterize a garden and fruit. But speaking specifically, this mostly smells like Cis-3 Hexenol (an artificial green grass/leaf smell) with a lot of salty Calone and some Grapefruit Aldehydes and probably a ton of Hedione, because there's a disembodied juicy brightness as well. As such, Sur Le Nil is extremely abstract - it's juicy and salty and green and sort of fruity and citrus, but nothing is expressed in a literal way.

It's interesting coming back and smelling Sur Le Nil now, after all these years. It's weird how something that smelled so groundbreaking and compelling when it came out now smells kind of, well... common. Here and now, in 2016, ten years later, if you go to a fancy hotel, their soap will likely smell a lot like this. If you smell the candles at a cute boutique, there will probably be one that smells like this. Somehow, Sur La Nil became the blueprint for the smell of products associated with upscale relaxation. It's not that it smells bad, it's just what expensive shampoo smells like now.