Essentially British Essence

You simply must follow my nose to the nearest half-decent pharmacy stocking Trumpers grooming products.

Life in the aromatic matrix

Geo. F. Trumper now do their Eucris fragrance from 1912 as an eau de parfum and it's a smell to behold.  Try it once and you will become lost in a heavenly aromatic matrix, forever removed from red-pilled reality. I promptly peeled out the readies to enjoy further blasts of euphoria from this dangerously potent scent. Goodness gracious, it's ace!

Clever noses

Cleverer noses than mine say that Eucris eau de parfum is one of the greatest fougère perfumes out there, with a tone of strangeness and mystery that makes it rather unique. I suppose there's something rather Gothic about it when one thinks about it. It's not hard to imagine Peter Murphy wearing it to a funeral in the Carpathian Mountains.

My nose doesn't know enough to argue the point — out of its bailiwick, old boy —  all it can do is echo the words of Trumpers: 'Eucris sweeps the gentleman into the realms of utter sophistication and pleasure.' That's a decent realm to be swept into.

The scent has oakmoss and sandalwood base notes, the ones that stick around, with jasmine and lilly of the valley in the mid-range and cumin, coriander and blackcurrant top notes. It's powerful and long-lasting so you can use it sparingly.

Sharing the love

I suppose Eucris is better suited to cooler times of year or day. That wouldn't stop me taking it on my summer holiday, but as I like to share my love for Best of British fragrances it will be jostling for space with others.

Blood and brandy from Beaufort London

The scents produced by Leo Crabtree's Beaufort London are uniformly brilliant. I've tried most of them and they never disappoint. A favourite is the 1805 Tonnerre eau de parfum.  When they say the scent is intended to conjure the Battle of Trafalgar, with 'accords of smoke, gunpowder, blood and brandy', they are really not kidding. Smelling is believing. It's simply amazing and as masculine and sophisticated a scent as you could imagine. It's like a bottled MMA fighter, but a refined one with a good haircut, nice suits and who knows how to use cutlery properly.

I'm sorry, but I'm must formally command you to order a set of samples from Beaufort London. Ponder and deliberate before you make your final move to victory. Let me also say that Leo is a really nice chap. Support the nice people!

Richard E. Grant's Perfumed Piccadilly

Richard E. Grant's bergamot-infused Jack-Piccadilly '69 is closest to a typical summer holiday scent of the ones we feature here. Richard starred as Withnail in one of the greatest British films known to man, Withnail and I. When one of the original 'perfumed ponces' gets involved in the perfume business with Jack perfumers we should sit up and smell. Actually, Richard (top photo) is something of perfume buff and has tremendous olfactory know-how. Away from acting, he is engaging here in something he has a profound interest in.

Perfumed ponce

Jack-Piccadilly '69 is blended and bottled in the UK. To underline the point, the perfume is supplied with a neat calico Union Flag bag. A nice touch, Richard. Why 1969? Well, that's when Richard first landed in the UK from Swaziland and copped an awestruck eyeful of the mythical-sounding Piccadilly Circus, which was littered with patchouli-scented hippies at the time.

The scent opens with the bergamot, but also ginger, then we get the grassiness of cypriol and the warmth of amber. Jack-Piccadilly '69 may be inspired by London's Piccadilly, but my nose sends me to Sardinia to sit at a rosemary-scented terrace breaking those lovely flatbreads they have there. This might be my nose being obtuse or in need of a holiday.