Une Fleur de Cassie - should I go for older or new?

Hi. Ive been a lurker for a while but now I need, well Id love to, ask the opinion of BNers. Thank you very much in advance -

I have an opportunity to buy a 100ml bottle of Une Fleur de Cassie either an older stock (FAB: 2008) or a new one. And I have to make up my mind rather quickly, I only have a few days to decide. Which one would you recommend?

The 50ml bottle I have and cherish is also 2008. I wore it for my wedding, I absolutely love it.

What is disconcerting is: FM does indicate when the perfume is made as well as EXP date which, for 2008 batch, is 2013.

When I bought the body butter of Une Fleur de Cassie a few years ago, I didnt realise until too late that I picked up one which was past the EXP date. I kept using it, but the scent altered for the worse by the time I reached the bottom of the jar.

This experience makes me think perhaps something in the composition of the perfume is prone to deterioration. Thus picking up a 100ml of 2008 batch now is a bad idea?

However, there is this thread here: http://www.basenotes.net/threads/250366 In which an esteemed BNer comments that the new bottle he picked up was different, he suspected cassie / mimosa absolute used are changed. Oooh, would I miss the lovely dirtiness then?
I did spray the newest batch the other day at a shop, and indeed it did smell slightly different even to my unsophisticated nose. For one, it had a much brighter top note (or, has the bergamot in my old one deteriorated already?) The rest of the development I felt was similar to my old one but lighter in feel.

HELP!

Thank you, friend in the Fragrant Harbour! Thank you, friend in the Eastern Empire! Thank you, friend in the Land of Hope and Glory! How reassuring to hear what you say, especially re: expiry dates.

Considering that even since 2008 mysore sandalwood continues to become harder to source, and the use of jasmine, musc ketone, and bergamot are being more and more restricted, I thought the older bottle is it for me. Quite beside the important issue of the scent itself I prefer the matte black caps of the older one, too.
I suppose the expiry date they put on their product is like the best before dates on food… it’s not going to go poof! just because it’s past the date. Scary, though. Especially, as I suspect the place I buy it from does NOT store their FM in the FM fridge!

Then again I have a few scents which were stored in chest of drawers in a badly insulated house in Japan for 30 years (gifts my mother never used) which I enjoy – and doesn’t seem off in the slightest.

I think because I love Une Fleur de Cassie so much I’m more anxious than I should be. I want it to stay the same and last and last and last…

I should relax…

Thank you again for your help.

Apologies for being silent for quite a while. In the end I went for the older one. The content seems identical to the 50ml bottle (2008) I have been treasuring. Hurray!

I have been back to the shop 3 times to compare the current formulation against mine, too. I’d spray one wrist with the tester with the shiny cap, then spray the other with the bottle I brought from home, and see how they develop. As far as I can tell there isn’t any marked difference, sometimes it seemed one was brighter in tone than the other but it could as well be the different stages in its development, which is rather complex, and which seems to be influenced by conditions present, such as ambient temperature and humidity, my body temperature, etc. Longevity, too – sometimes it seemed one would last longer than the other but this can be the difference in the amount of actual perfume which landed on my skin. (I’m one of the lucky ones: Une Fleur de Cassie lasts for a very long time on me, mostly as a delicious, comfy yet slightly naughty, multifaceted skin scent.)

One piece of information I picked up: they stopped dating their bottles a while ago – the ladies at the counter said originally they had to put the information on the bottle to comply with the laws but it is no longer a requirement. I don’t know if this is true… But, Larimar, if you are reading this and if you still have your older bottle, could you look at its bottom and see what is on there? I’ve already promised myself that I won’t drive myself insane by trying to hunt down an earlier version, but just very very curious, for, it seems the formula must have been changed before 2008.

Thank you all for your encouragement!