Cologne Grand Siècle is no. 7 in the Parfumerie Generale line, which now comprises 15 fragrances. It was launched in 2005 and has notes of tangerine, bergamot, bitter orange, grapefruit, lemon, cardamom, herbs, ylang ylang, dry woods, vetiver and wheat.
I am very fond of classic colognes. The term cologne is now used somewhat generically to indicate any fragrance with a concentration that is less than an Eau de Toilette (usually that means less than 5%), but here I am referring to the descendants of the original, citrus-based Eau de Cologne first created in 1709 by Johann Maria Farina, an Italian perfumer who had settled in Cologne, Germany.
According to Parfumerie Generale, perfumer Pierre Guillaume limited his palette for Cologne Grand Siècle to natural, certified organic ingredients that would have been accessible in the 18th century…