Eau De Quinine by Geo F Trumper, 1898

This opens with a light fresh powdery almost floral rosemary accord. It also reminds me of smelling hand cream. Its pleasant but it does not standout to my nose as something I would desire.

An odd duck, and a bit weak...I recommend approaching it like an eau de cologne. It starts out like a rather soapy EdC, or maybe an EdC with a dash of "barbershop" powder and spice added. Soon the medicinal quinine appears, and I recognize it because it reminds me of the juniper herbalness of Bombay Sapphire Infusion, the infamous gin-based scent. Both of these share a grassy dryness, but the EdQ adds a trace of sweet, greenish rose. It gradually gets soapier and sweeter, losing the herbal elements but never going too far. The base leaves more of the underlying powderiness exposed, but again it's too restrained to bother me, and this final transparent base lasts quite a while like the base of their EdC. It's a little more feminine by comparison, but not at all out of place for a man. I would easily wear this, but I'd probably have to inundate myself to discover more hidden aspects of the scent.

Powdery floral citrus opening blast that is somewhat strong but dissipates quickly. Dries down to faint powdery notes that are somewhat difficult to pick anything out and really weak. After an hour it is difficult for me to detect much of anything. Decent opening to this one that I neither love nor hate, but not enough there afterwards to really say much of. As with many of Trumpers offerings, longevity seems to be an issue. Can't really say that I can pick out any quinine in this either.

A wonderful combination of quinine essence, bitter herbs and citrus, with a contrasting powdery drydown. Penhaligons Quercus is similar, but Eau de Quinine is superior in every regard. EdQ deserves far more attention than it gets!

revised review -- please replace previous

Notes: rosemary, herbs and bitters, bergamot, quinine
The scent starts off in an interesting way. It is different from most scents which Ive encountered, and it is cool and bracing. Very quickly however a sweetish and very powdery note appears. Baby powder in a plastic canister. Id like to see more of the alleged herbs and bitters, more of the tonic notes of rosemary and quinine, and NONE of that wretched powder!

An unusual frag which on me goes on a bit of a rollercoaster journey - the opening notes are sweet and powdery with a strong quinine base. These notes last for about half an hour before it settles down into a powdery aromatic which lasts an hour or so. And then...then it kind of...disappears for a while. It leaves a subtle essence of something almost undetectable but definitely there, before re-introducing itself again another hour or so later with the opening notes. It then stays like this for a couple of hours before bowing out completely. I've never known another fragrance to disappear and come back as this one does. A very weird and unpredictable number which I find difficult to find the right occasion for.

I enjoyed this, without being blown away. The top and middle notes remind me strongly of Guerlain's Habit Rouge but this similarity diverges in the drydown, A bit old fashioned and fusty, but cetainly worth trying out. Is there a note of quinine in this? I honesty couldn't say. I've drunk various drinks which are meant to have quinine in, such as bitters and indian tonic water, but I must say I don't get that association here.

Very pleasant opening. Much richer, and fuller than I expected, still is remains bright and clean. The rosemary, cedar, and bergamot form the opening notes and I feel that I can smell some floral possibly iris in there somewhere. I say iris because theres an earthy sharp, powdery sweetness that seems as if it could very well be iris. As far as a quinine note is concerned, Im not sure. Im not saying theres no quinine note in the fragrance, there could very well be, but I cant separate it out from the others of the accord I think the powdery sweetness obscures things Not that Im complaining. I love the smell of this, and I find the ingredients of exceptional quality, and the blend of outstanding refinement. Eau de Quinine is likely to become the fourth fragrance purchase from Geo. F. Trumper.

Powdery citrus and weak in my opinion. Actually makes me queasy... so I'll call this Eau de Queasy. I don't appreciate this.

A wonderful soft quinine, bitter but not overwhelmingly so. This has a much bigger, fatter structure than crown's offering with none of the harshness. There is some sweetness and powder here, almost creating an unexpected semi-oriental feeling to the dry down. A beautiful, pure bergamot note sings just below the main accord, like a faint pedal tone offsetting the rest of the fragrance, somehow separate but in symbyosis with it.

Very fine stuff from one of the few houses to keep the genuine British tradition alive.