Astor 
Geo F Trumper (1880)

Gentry from Kent, but he's always preferred the city. Eton, Cambridge, Sandhurst, some years in India, diplomatic service in Italy, Berlin, then at Whitehall. Very well read, one hears, patriotic, but quite the cosmopolitan - he loves caraway, apparently. Knows Elgar personally. Suits by Anderson & Sheppard. Very low key, quite elegant, but mind the pocket squares, he does indulge in slight eccentricities and has quite the sense of humour. An aesthete as well, always wears a jasmin blossom on the lapel - yes, he has contacts at Kew - and he has old regimental chums sent him very fine sandalwood from Mysore. At the Liberal Club mostly. Yes, quite the gentleman Astor is. Very fine chap indeed.

Another interesting scent from Trumper, redolent of assertive masculines such as Tuscany, and, to an extent, Kouros. The performance is a little less at EDC concentrations, but not ever so much, and I think that Astor might be too much for many modern noses.

The theme is of a standard cologne with the added spice and astringency of what is listed here as caraway; but I wouldn't be surprised if artemesia and/or cumin were in there as well. Jasmine, citrus, and aromatics are present as a matter of course for the genre.

Good to try and nice to know that a throwback such as this is still available. I can't say it has really grabbed my imagination at the moment, though, although that might change in time.

I've quite enjoyed wearing Astor lately. I'm not sure what it smelled like in 1880, but as of now, it's a 70's/80's-style masculine woody chypre. It's got a rather focused chypre structure that actually does smell vaguely of cypress, with slightly mentholated mint and citrus on top and a judicious mix of cedar and sandalwood in the middle, with just a pinch of sweet pine played against a nutmeggy mace backbone.

I think what's most notable about Astor is its refined subtlety. Most masculine woody chypres are, almost by definition, loud and brutal. But Astor doesn't have the nuclear patchouli or hawthorn that belch out from your typical 80's powerhouses, and it also lacks the Aramis-inspired herbal dank that adds ugliness to so many masculine classics. Instead, it's carefully balanced between woody, spiced, and sweet. Sillage and longevity fiends may want to skip Astor (or, for that matter, pretty much the entire Trumper line), as it is content to wave out subtle spicy wood sillage that lasts all day without the crass shouting that some woody chypre aficionados require. But, if you love the genre, Astor is very much worth a sniff.

A light sandalwood mossy scent with a clean fresh feel to it. That sums up this fragrance to my nose a nice pleasant simple frag. I could imagine the barber splashing this onto my cheeks after a cut and shave. I like it.