Late again — at least I am consistent — here is my review of the third and newest fragrance from actor Richard E. Grant, Jack Piccadilly '69 (for background, do see my reviews of Jack by Jack Perfumes and Jack Covent Garden). It was inspired by the actor's first visit to Piccadilly Circus in London, and encompasses a number of associated smell memories: the patchouli oil worn by the hippies, the petrol, the Earl Grey tea at Fortnum & Mason, the leather banquettes at his father's club (also in the notes: ginger, cypriol, green leaves, amber).
Perhaps that sounds, at least potentially, like a hot mess? It's really not. Most of the emphasis in Jack Piccadilly '69, to my nose, anyway, is on the bergamot tea; it wears like a middleweight unisex summer cologne, fizzy and bright and tart in the opening, and with just enough petrol and leather to provide interest, not so much that you'll immediately think of either. The ginger and cypriol provide a little hum of spicy / earthy warmth, and the base is a light woody amber.1 Any patchouli has been sanitized to meet modern standards of cleanliness: this is not your mother's patchouli (if your mother was a 1969 hippie).
Verdict: Easily my favorite of the three so far, and it really ought to come a in a travel size — it would make a perfect summer refresher and would easily make my buy list.
The very quick poll, just for fun: perfumer Aliénor Massenet, who made all three of the Jack fragrances, is going to make one for you. Pick a location and a year, and name your notes if you like.
Mine: Arroyo Seco (New Mexico) '95.
Richard E Grant Jack Piccadilly '69 is $135 / £95 for 100 ml Eau de Parfum at Aedes, Luckyscent or Liberty London. There is also a matching candle.
1. Iso e super haters, beware. I will not be sending a sample of this one to Kevin.
I’ll go with:
Málaga (Spain) ’99. Notes of mown grass, churros and diesel.
Gas seems to be a theme today!
Road trip?!
And churros are so good, especially with hot chocolate.
Austin early summer night with warm pavement, night-blooming flowers, salty skin, exhaust, and boozy dip into an unchlorinated pool? (please)
I have never been to Austin — boozy dip in pool gets my vote, though.
Highly recommended as a way/place to spend one’s 20s.
If I get a chance to re-do my 20s….
Have always regretted not going there to grad school when I had the chance.
Never been to Austin, but I think I get most of the picture, sounds great!
Haight-Ashbury ’66
Amber, tobacco smoke, pear with Peace & Love
No patch?
I’m about three blocks from there right now. Lord, I wish I could go back and buy houses at 1966 prices.
This one sounds very nice!
My wish: Apple trees blossoming on Brookline Ave., 2013. Springtime heaven!
Ah, and that will be soon!
Perhaps! I wish I could remember more precisely when they come out; I’m not planning to visit until the end of April, and I think that will be too late. But you never know!
There is almost a whole block of them, arching over the wall and sidewalk of an apartment complex there. It’s heavenly.
Great quick poll!
Côte Atlantique, France, 1990
Pine pine pine (the needles, the sap, the bark), salt, sea weed, vetiver, faint smell of cigarettes (or tobacco) and something animalic and musky.
Oh, you could sell me a bottle of that!
Where’s that time tunnel when you really need it? ????
Haha, exactly!
The atlantic coast with all the pine trees and lovely smells are still there, but…
…being a teenager, the thrill of a first summer romance, lots of swimming in the ocean. And we were too young to buy cigarettes or drink alcohol, but somehow we got our hands on that stuff anyways…hahaha, once in a lifetime right?
Oh my, my. Yes, indeed – once in a lifetime. :::le sigh:::
But I’m still lining up with Robin for a bottle…
Fun game. Okay.
Wauwinet Beach, Nantucket, August 28, 1938 (booming times, no thought of war. . . the end of the summer holiday. The Great New England Hurricane landed on Nantucket just a week or so later . . .)
Notes: Hot sand, salt water, rose hips, beach plums, concord grapes, and lavender, with hints of eucalyptus and camphor (scent of Noxzema–for sunburns) in the scrubby, resinous base.
Oh, nice! I have been to that beach, ages ago (although more recently than 1938).
Have you tried MCMC’s Maine? Definitely has some of those notes, plus salty driftwood.
I thought this sounded good (except my disappointment about the neutered patchouli) until I read you footnote! GAAAAHHHH
Thanks for the review though.
Sorry! I like iso e super so much that I’m not sure I’m a good judge of when it’s too much. So maybe you should try it anyway?
And hey, when’s the last time you smelled NOT neutered patch in a new fragrance? It’s been ages since I have.
Goutal Mon Parfum Cheri, Par Camille perhaps? 2011 …
Ok, I am sure there was ONE. But really, you can probably count all of them on two hands, and there are probably over 800 fragrances a year with patchouli now.
LOL — wow, that sounded argumentative! I threw out a challenge and you answered it, sorry for giving you that answer — any combativeness was was directed at the fragrance industry, not you!
Yeah, no worries, I understand.
MCMP sticks in my head because I wore it to work once and someone (a young woman) wondered where the smell of fertilizer was coming from. Hard core patchouli is just not something for which a lot of people have much tolerance these days.
I don’t know if you’ll see this today, but the new one that Laurie at SSS is working on has real patch, and I’m egging her on!
She does such a good job of blending notes though that I doubt that it will be particularly noticeable.
Jack ’69 is in a rut. His dreams have not come to fruition, and he has decided to head east on a spiritual quest and boards a bus to Delhi with like-minded and similarly-scented souls. Their first encounter with the mysterious East is in Istanbul in the spring of 1972, where the scent of hyacinths, fresh herbs, hashish, sheepskin, ancient wool carpets and smog permeate the markets. This scent memory will linger as a reminder of adventure and new beginnings and the quest for what is meaningful…
LOL — excellent!
Yes!
Thank you for the review.
Garden of the Gods Wilderness Area, Shawnee National Forest, Autumn, 1985. Rock dust, fallen leaves, mossy deciduous bark, nylon tent, hiking boots, woodsmoke, dog fur, and paperback book.
Oh yes and yes!
Never been there, sounds lovely.
This sounds like the smelltrack to my life, minus the dog.
Santa Barbara, 1999: citrus, orange blossom, rosemary, eucalyptus, sea salt, hot sand, woody chaparral, and just a hint of tar.
…Maybe a bit of a mess, but I remember it blending on the wind quite nicely!
Oh, lovely. I miss Santa Barbara.
I grew up there, and I miss it often as well, particularly the citrus trees. I had to drive through an orange orchard on the way to high school, and my neighbor had tangerine and lemon trees.
Nice! I did not grow up there, but lived in San Diego for some years and we used to drive up to SB on the weekends.
OK, I’ll give it a shot.
Royal Gorge/Arkansas River, spring run-off, 1994. Whitewater rafting trip. Cold wet rocks, pinon, coffee, neoprene, and a hint of spring flowers that haven’t quite opened yet.
Perfect!
The place is Moret Sur Loing, a cute French village where impressionist painter Sisley used to live.
The time is early Fall, 2003, when the futue semed so bright. (Sigh…)
The notes would be bergamot, roses, chocolate covered orange peel, armagnac, roasted chestnuts, patchouli and kush.
This is a fun poll!
Don’t know the location but I like the sound of the notes!
It’s so disappointing that many niche companies rely on iso e super to “power” the bases of their scents. I now think of it as the niche version of dihydromyrcenol, the “fresh” aroma chemical in so many designer scents, beginning with Cool Water (I think that was the first designer scent to feature it in large amounts). What happens is that as soon as you detect the aroma chemical you immediately think, “no, I don’t want another one of those.” On the bright side, it certainly save one some money!
Kevin would agree with you!
I don’t know if it’s Iso E Super or something else, but these days every time I smell a perfume with “wood”-anything listed in the notes it turns out to be the exact same forty-story-high-block-of-lumber scent, and my reaction is an immediate “meh.” Which is a shame, because I love LOVE the smell of various woods.
Charleston, SC 1989 right before Hurricane Hugo hit. Notes of jasmine, praline pecans, sweet grass baskets, and sea salt. But somehow, also an underlying note of danger or something being “off.”
And a note of sweet tea, of course! Can’t believe I left that out!
That sounds so nice! Have only been to Charleston twice, would like to go again.
Oh I couldn’t resist commenting here! Reading Rock Festival, Berkshire, England, August 1977 – rained solidly for the first 2 days, weather glorious on the Sunday – was there with my then boyfriend (you know the score, we were 20 years old &either madly in love or not talking to each other!); Thin Lizzy headlined on the Saturday evening, lots of other great music – John Miles, Graham Parker & The Rumour, Doobie Brothers, Golden Earring, Little River Band, Frankie Miller, Sensational Alex Harvey Band (who headlined on the Sunday). At that time I was wearing Opium, courtesy of a GBP 25.00 Harrods gift certificate from the first (American) company I worked for in the oil & gas sector here in the north east of Scotland.
What a lovely memory!
Lake Charles, grandparents’ house, 1985: cut grass, murky bayou humidity, mirlitons (smell like sweetish cucumbers), well-used cast iron skillets, thunderstorm air, a soft whiff of smoke from the barbecue.
Nice! I will have to go look up mirlitons, have never heard the word before.