A spray of Guerlain Coriolan, and right away I smell the high desert on a summer’s evening, the time when the ground still holds the hot scent of the earth while the wind is cool and fresh. The earth smells of hot rock, pinyon pine, immortelle, dry wood, and the piney sage that grows gnarled on the ground. The breeze delivers the bite of mint, citrus and fennel. Somehow the cool air and hot landscape meld into a singular fragrance. Coriolan reminds me of eastern Montana in August.
Jean-Paul Guerlain created Coriolan, and it was released in 1998. It’s a woody chypre with notes including lemon tree leaves, bergamot, juniper, absinthe, coriander, nutmeg, oakmoss, patchouli and everlasting flower. I also smell dry wood, amber, musk, and what I swear is mint.
Coriolan bombed. Despite its gorgeous bottle, caged in pink-gold metal with a flip-top lid, sales were weak enough for Guerlain to pull Coriolan before too long. Although I like Coriolan a lot, I understand why it didn’t set the market on fire. It’s a difficult fragrance. Men expecting a fresh fougère would be put off by the perfume's complicated sweet-spice, especially the immortelle. Those looking for a warm fragrance with a dose of Guerlinade would reject Coriolan because of its masculine citrus opening.
But to me Coriolan is a worthwhile addition to the collection of someone who is willing to spend some time getting to know a fragrance. The curious juxtaposition of cool and warm, herbal and sweet takes some attention to appreciate fully. The unexpected combination of coriander, fennel, bergamot, sage and patchouli shows its beauty only when you look beyond the soapy-fresh fresh tingle of Coriolan’s first, cologne-like burst. You have to give up your expectations of what a man’s fragrance is supposed to be to truly appreciate Coriolan.
Once you’ve made peace with Coriolan, you’ll find it easy to wear. I like Coriolan when it’s hot out and I want something that will cool me but leave a sultry but close, chypréed dry down. I treat it much the way I treat any cologne and consider it interchangeable with Pierre Cardin Choc, Guerlain Eau Impériale, and somewhat with Annick Goutal Duel.
Coriolan is a cinch for men, but women who aren’t used to wearing fragrances traditionally marketed to men might find it hard going. I’d say if you’re comfortable wearing Hermès Bel Ami, you won’t have a problem with Coriolan.
Although Coriolan is discontinued, it’s still available on the back shelves of some perfume boutiques and here and there online — sometimes for a very good price. My 50 ml bottle of Coriolan Eau de Toilette cost $45. If price is no object for you, Guerlain “reorchestrated” Coriolan in 2008 as L’Ame d’un Héros Eau de Toilette, and it is available as part of their Les Parisiennes collection for $245 for 125 ml.
Lovely review Angela, a really good one! And I must absolutely agree with you here.
Last month I got myself a perfume swap. I had some unloved samples to give to a new home. My offerings matched the searchings of someone else so we agreed on a swap. He didn’t have anything certain to offer, he just said “look into my wardrobe and ask if you can have it.” So I did as he said. After few penalty choices I was clueless what else can I take as my swap end. And then I found Coriolan in his wardrobe. I only knew it’s chypre and I was familiar with the name, nothing else. This way I swapped 5 smallers samples for a 10ml decant of Coriolan.
And gosh, how gorgeous it was when I got it and sprayed some on my arm. I was in heaven! The citrus opening and then the herbs and a lot of oakmoss, a true, full-bodied chypre.
That’s the way, aha, aha, I like it, aha, aha!
A lucky score! I think Coriolan is one of those fragrances that has its ardent fans and its staunch detractors. Me, I’m a fan.
Looks like I’m a fan (a smaller one) too! I think this 10ml would be enough for me. Actually I’m saving money for a planned perfume purchase in November, so have no place for Coriolan on my list, but who knows, maybe one day I’ll score a vintage bottle
That’s much more sensible than paying an arm and a leg for L’Ame d’un Heros.
That’s without a doubt!
Wonderful review! I’m almost always sold the instant someone says, “it bombed.” If it doesn’t have mass market appeal, in todays market, that usually means it’s wonderful (at least to me). I’ll be checking it out.
I’d be curious to see what you think!
It’s on my sample list currently, buying a full bottle off eBay is a bit out of my perfume budget for few months and who knows when MUA swaps are going to be back in business. I’ll let you know when I’m able to get some.
I didn’t know MUA swaps weren’t happening now! Wow am I out of it.
I think it’s some kind of a glitch with the site. You can still communicate w/people who already had stuff posted, but you can’t post anything new for swap. 🙁
That’s too bad!
I loved it’s opening notes but found the drydown to be decidedly masculine, hence it’s not for me. It’s interesting how the cool opening/warm drydown was echoed in L’Instant de Guerlain Pour Homme, similar to Jicky. The bottle really was beautiful, the name was from another love story. I’m glad it was re-issued.
It really is more masculine than most things I wear, but for me on a hot, dry day, it’s a winner. I’m glad they reissued it, too, although I wish it were in the less expensive Coriolan form!
I bought this blindly a few years back, and agree that it is a bit difficult to pin down this fragrance. I don’t enjoy it as much as I used to, and that is mostly because I am really noticing what must be the fennel, but it reads more ‘celery’ to me which I am not fond of at all.
I love the bottle though!
I get a lot of celery in Yatagan, and I agree it’s a tough note to live with on skin!
I have a small decant of Yatagan, and the celery note is precisely why I cannot wear it. The note is much less pronounced in Coriolan, thankfully.
Now if that note was anise or licorice instead of fennel/celery, I would probably be swooning!
SOTD: Lolita Lempicka Au Masculin, a licorice powerhouse!
You smell terrific!
I’ve almost pushed the BUY button a dozen times with this scent being the confirmed Guerlie Girl that I am, but just never have! Your “hot scent of the earth” description is one I’ve often seen used in conjunction with another JPG fragrance: Terracotta Voile d’Ete. Have you ever tried that one? It’s another good one for summer.
Wonderful review – thank you!
I used to have a bottle of Terracotta Voile d’Ete, and I remember liking it. (I think I must have swapped it away, because I can’t find it now.) It’s much softer and more feminine–and a little less complex–than Coriolan, but it’s lovely. The bottle is nice, too!
Buy it if you can live with the possibility of liking the experience of it but not often wearing it. Mine, I wear it rarely but as a collector I like having the cute (or is it MANLY!) bottle and as a Guerlain enthusiast I like knowing what it is and how it fits into the canon.
IMO it has little to do with TVdE which I finally tried.
Re: “you have to give up your expectations of what a man’s fragrance is supposed to be to truly appreciate Coriolan,” I get what you’re saying, but in some ways I think Coriolan is more classically what a man’s fragrance is supposed to be than what is popular today. I think Coriolan was unsuccessful b/c in 1998 it was backward-looking rather than forward-looking. It’s very old-school, subtle and complex. Also rather manly but not brash. So I guess I’m saying I agree. 🙂
I have a bottle of Coriolan thanks to some soft enabling from the folks here.
You describe it very well! I can’t say Coriolan breaks new ground, but it does something interesting and complex. Another fresh fragrance that goes cool-warm–although it doesn’t overlap them as much and certainly isn’t as herbal–is Angeliques sous la Pluie.
These desert fragrances! Let’s see: Coriolan, Dune, L’Air du Desert Marocain … what have I missed … ? Lots, I’ll bet. Of course like Orientals fragrances, they mostly evoke the idea of a place rather than the reality. I don’t know what a desert smells like; I wish I did. A few weeks ago I flew over desert country in Central Australia and I wondered mightily what it would smell like. I didn’t see any French perfumers running around sniffing the air, that’s for sure!
That’s hilarious! I think JCE is overdue for one for Hermes. Eau du Sahara or something like that.
You´ve nailed it. The sweet smelling accord was too off-putting for me.
I even saw a very well priced vintage (sealed) bottle on a store a couple of years back, and the memory of that sweet note kept me from buying it.
Perhaps it is time to give it a go if I find it?
If you didn’t like that warm herbal sweetness then, you might not now, either. But then again….
Oh, Angie, how could you? I’m sitting here HOT and bored and what better moment to tempt me to BUY something, anything…UNsniffed. A bottle of Coriolan is on its way to me; 30 ml spray/$20. Certainly won’t be a huge loss if I’m allergic to it! HA!
What a deal! Of course, you know I would have sent you a sample. I hope you like it.
I’m pretty warm down here, too. The evening is cooling off nicely, though. It looks like I won’t have to sleep in the basement tonight.
No worries Kevin! Someone-already on his third bottle of Coriolan (who happens to also have 2 spare ones hidded under the dresser in the guest bedroom) would be happy to take it off your hands, should you happen to be allergic to it.
🙂
I wonder who that might be? I’m scratching my head….
OH MY GOD! MARRY ME ANGEL ANGELA??!?! When Coriolan First Came out I was ECSTATIC to smell it, Mainly because it was named after a Shakespeare Play and A Beethoven Overture! 😀 And when I first Sniffed it, i have to say, the love was IMMEDIATE, Passionate, Obsessive! It was one of those scents that i was hoping I would get as a gift or hopefully buy when i climbed out of debt! 😉 i never got a bottle. Just like the other long lost masterpiece of that era by Guerlain, Mahora (Total and Complete GENIUS There!) this is one of those scents that will always be a head scratcher and a Head Turner in the same Breath! I am now going to Ebay and Find a bottle Tout De Suite! 🙂 Thank You again Angela for Blowing My Mind! 😀 if i could send you a Dozen Damask Roses, I would!
Oh my gosh! I’m so glad you liked the review! Coriolan is out there, here and there–I hope you find a bottle. (And I love your description of Coriolan as a “head scratcher and head turner” in the same breath!)
Coriolan is one of the gems of my large collection. Something about chypre fragrances always gets me!
I’m a sucker for them, too!
Woody chypre, you say? I’m there! I need to get a hold of this one. The notes sound intriguing.
It’s a woody chypre, but it’s also quite masculine with its strong citrus and herbal notes. But, yes, it’s definitely intriguing!
I have Coriolan and I love it a lot!
I first sniffed it when it came out in the latest ’90: I was young and didn’t get the amazing retro-feeling…
I then tried again few years ago, and it was immediately love (even if I do not like the bottle, with the zippo-like cap).
I still have half bottle which I use on very special occasions.
I tried L’Aime d’un Heros, but I have to say that to me it’s closer but very different from the original: lighter, and with some missing notes (am I the only one detecting Chamomille notes in Coriolan?).
You don’t like the bottle? To me, that’s one of the attractions!
Now I’m really curious about the chamomile note. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it’s there. I just sprayed myself down in another fragrance, but when this wears off I’m going to put on Coriolan to see if I smell the chamomile, too.
Chamomile, depending on type and quality, and helichrysum (immortelle/everlasting flower) can smell pretty similar especially when blended with other ingredients.
Well, then, it totally makes sense that the fragrance of chamomile would come out!
Oh, that’s interesting!
Thank you very much
I may just have to try and find a sample of this.
I’ve been looking for a fragrance that reminds me of the wonderful smell of the air in Taos, New Mexico. The description in your opening paragraph sounds like it might fit perfectly!
To me, Coriolan smells like the high desert for sure–infused into a men’s fragrance.
Someday I’m going to visit Taos! I’ve heard great things about it.
You definitely should! It is a very special place. Once I went, I was hooked.
It’s on the list!
Angela, you definitely need to spend some time in Taos – a beautiful place, and I’d love to hear your take on it. As far as scents go, I found that Bois de Paradis was perfect for cool weather in Santa Fe (it seems to echo the smell of pinon smoke), so probably a good choice for Taos too.
I’d love to spend time there! I’d love to find a ranch with a room I could hole up in and write, with long excursions walking outside or riding.