Eucris EDT by Geo F Trumper

Year: 1912 (allegedly)
Nose: Unknown

Eucris opens with a beautiful, gloomy oak moss accord with leather notes, spices (cloves), pungent and poisonous herbal accords, with perhaps castoreum too (a subtle, sticky and animalic heart note) with a prominent and deep "barbershop fougère" vibe, really dry and shady. As a sweeter and more breezy counterpart, a classic fougère floral accord and dusty vanillin notes. The central note is a genius black, carnal, decadent note of blackcurrant, which delivers a really peculiar morbid and funereal bittersweet fruitiness, something like certain sides of Dalì pour homme. The graphic fits the scent perfectly: you think of laces, green ivy embracing old mansions, dusty ebony furniture, rust, dry pot-pourris, a total immersion in the Edwardian era, in a small, ambiguous barbershop in the suburbs of London. Halfway Jicky and many classic fougères with their super dry and strong leather/oakmoss accords – I think of the martial, austere drydowns of scents like Krizia Moods, Knize Ten, Quorum by Puig, Portos by Balenciaga - but with a palpable XIX century gothic feel which makes Eucris stand quite apart. I had a bit of a hard time in reviewing this scent because I was so used to it; I've never worn the fragrance, but it's years I use Eucris shaving cream, being a traditional wet shaving enthusiast, so it was fun to finally "dissect" this scent which has been under my nose for years now. Sophisticated, dark, austere but totally "wearable", utterly classy and elegant, probably not for everyone, but not challenging and not smelling "old" – or better yes, but more than old, charmingly "antique". Fragrance fans often look for older (rarer, and quite expensive) fragrances, like many discontinued fougères, to get "this" overall feeling and this mossy/herbal/leather-ness, while this one is available for a cheap price and zero "haunting" – and it's not the only one, if you like this type of scents you may find good offers among the ranges of Truefitt & Hill, Taylors of Old Bond Street and D.R. Harris, basically the slightly less known little brothers of Penhaligon's or Czech & Speake.

8,5-9/10