500 Years (2019)
by Etat Libre d'Orange

500 Years is the final instalment for me of ELDO’s ‘Orange Extraordinaire’ trilogy of spiced woody roses and the one I find least tempting. There’s a feint at the start with a brief impression of a mumsy sugarbomb rose in the manner of Oud Satin Mood, but, surprisingly it dissipates swiftly and almost completely, even the sweetness. What follows is a dried rose petals, sawdust and spice combo that, while successfully unified, seems content to go for the middle ground rather than the stars. ELDO’s marketing department takes a rather lofiter view, though, claiming ‘the story of mankind [sic] delivered to you in a perfume’, no less. They’d have done better to go for the desert spice routes clichés more suited for this one.