Portraits : The Tragedy of Lord George (2016)
by Penhaligon's

Tragedy of Lord George is one of Penhaligon’s Portrait Series released 2016.

$268 AUD can get you a 75 ml bottle of this. That is one of the better prices I’ve seen quoted.

Listed notes are brandy, amber (ambroxan), woody notes and tonka bean. Other sites also list shaving cream, which I do pick up.

I was keen to smell this because of the brandy, but boy was it a fleeting whiff in the opening. Brandy for about 30 seconds and then straight into a heart of, well, shaving cream. Not even really classy smelling shaving cream of the Rive Gauche variety, but cheap shaving cream. I got no real wood notes and now in the dry down all I get is a sickly, plasticky ambroxan and tonka puddle.

This was very disappointing from a house that I keep wanting to like, but apart from a couple of fragrances, has continued to disappoint.

Don’t let the impressive looking bottle and cap fool you, I think it’s meant to be a distraction from how cheap this fragrance actually smells.

This fragrance is a low quality, soapy mess, and is unworthy of the high price tag. Synthetic amber, heliotrope and tonka, I can't ever imagine myself wearing this. Very disappointing. The cap makes the bottle look like something terrible from a 1970's Avon catalogue. I cannot recommend this.

A disastrous offering. Right off the bat there is the ubiquitous synthetic-woody-amber note. This is followed quickly by a dull phase that persists, with a hint of soap. Eventually there is the boring amber dry-down found in umpteen designer dreck masculine fragrances.

Any class and gentlemanly aura was well lost before the fall from grace, but this release indicates that Penhaligon's is willing to commit highway robbery. A tragedy indeed.

The cap is tacky, and as tasteless as the fragrance.

1/5

What can I say about The Tragedy of Lord George except that it is indeed a tragedy and a missed opportunity to correct shortcomings of the fougere category for Penhaligon's with possibly another classic? But No, unfortunately Lord George is a very light common hay aroma that eventually settles into a slight heliotropic nutty tonka powder. The fragrance is just ok, but suffers from mediocrity of an immediate and totally forgettable quality. The bottle top is clever and makes a nice presentation, but the price is too high class, while the fragrance is very common indeed. Is it a poor attempt to recreate Tonka Imperiale? Didn't work! Well named a "tragedy" and thumbs down for ridiculous pricing for a below standard fragrance.

Starts out promising. My immediate impression was a high end masculine shaving soap. The brandy is noticeable and is what give the masculine edge to the clean soap. This quickly goes away and I'm left with an utterly disgusting synthetic base that is typical of Penhaligon's. The synthetic creamy vanilla base is there, but is ruined by tonka. Couldn't wash it off fast enough.