Agua de Colonia Concentrada
by Alvarez Gomez

It's a bright, bright yellow sunny spring morning. You wake up with a smile, and the air is cool with the promise of later warmth. You put on your lightest clothes, splash on a load of Agua de Colonia and head out to greet the day.

Passers-by smile as they see you, you stop for coffee and a slice of lemon cake. Geranium flowers hang down over the table where you sit, yellow bees hum lazily through a lavender bush by your side. You close your eyes and smile, and let the warm sun play on your face. Today is going to be a good day.

I find it hard to feel melancholy wearing this scent. Yes, it's not so refined or delicate as others, but it possesses a rugged, Mediterranean mascufeminine charm that will just make your day go by better. As the great Catalunyan Manuel Vazquez Montalban wrote, in his book, 'Offside', "your pen should be Mont Blanc, your cologne should be Alvarez Gomez".

And it's cheap as chips too...

11th August, 2011.

Agua de Colonia Concentrada is by far the best Spanish traditional cologne I have yet to try (haven't try Myrugia yet though). AdC is far more burly and herbal and less flowery than its French, British, Italian, and German counterparts. The opening is a tart, realistic lemon supported by herbs, orange blossom, and probably a little musk. There is also a substantial whack of lavender and little rose to soften the edges. If you like citrus colognes, this is a must buy and it comes cheap in 700ml bottles, too!

4th December, 2010.

Fresh, zesty and refreshing scent from a traditional well established perfumery in central Madrid, Spain. The scent has lemon, rose and geranium notes.

My grandfather used it on a daily basis for years so it brings wonderful memories; we would visit him in the morning running into his apartment looking for him; he would nearly always be having a shave sat next to a massive square white porcelain basin checking every inch of his face for the perfect trim...

This scent is a classic if you were born in the 60`s as on those days there were not very many perfumes/scents in Spain; French scents from Paris were the only ones available...maybe General Franco had something to do with it...Paco Rabanne emigrated to Paris on those days...

Huge perfume line in general...shower gel, body lotion, bath salts, hair conditioner, soaps...etc and very well priced with decent longevity

Give it a go if you fancy a sniff of the Spanish civil war...1936-1939...

Big thumbs up...!!!

14th October, 2010.

a little too lemon pledgey for me but not bad.

20th August, 2010. (Last Edited: 3rd February, 2011.)

WOW!!!! This one is from my homeland Madrid, and I can tell you it is far beyond any fashion. It has been in spanish perfumeries ever since 1912. There are very few sensations that can compare to splashing this over you after the shower. The perfect scent to be used by all the family. And so cheap!!!!

22nd July, 2010.

Alvarez Gómez is a traditional perfume store selling their own fragrance line, of which this is its most known one. Thus, if a lover of tradtional eaux and while in Madrid you can not miss this one.

AGCC is an excelently blended Eau de Cologne that is far more zesty than the usual ones. Lemon is quite prominent in the top notes; it has a spicy edge that might be due to the presence of lavender, not medicinal yet somehow reminiscent of mint, which is attenuated by the rest of the notes, rosemary, geranium and rose.

As Ody said, you can not go wrong with this due to its fairly low price and very good quality.

5th December, 2009.