Blend 30 fragrance notes
Head
- Lavender, Clary Sage, Neroli, Bergamot, Lemon, Rosemary
Heart
- Geranium, Sandal, Carnation, Cedarwood
Base
- Oakmoss, Hay, Musk, Amber, Labdanum, Tonka
Where to buy
Latest Reviews of Blend 30

First, a green, aromatic opening; it is fleeting. Then the floral, spicy mid of pure soapiness. It is my favorite phase of Blend 30, it is not too floral nor too spicy; perfectly balanced. The final transition is this floral mid, tinged with leather and tobacco and finely accented with some earthiness from a bit of amber and oakmoss.
In fact, brimming with all the prerequisite masculine notes of oakmoss, leather, tobacco that give it some power and swagger while being refined and elegant with some lovely cedar. If one of those paid shills on YouTube smelled it, they'd faint. It smells like the kind of thing that would give an ambroxan molecule a nightmare.

If the opening were interpreted as a sound, it would be that of a flugelhorn: deep, mellow, somewhat dark, but not melancholy, more hopeful, a content grin rather than an ebullient smile. The oakmoss and hay are evident from first application, with a chorus of aromatics led by cherry and lavender. It all begins to coalesce into what could be best described as one of the finest tobacco notes I ever experienced in perfumery. It really is near perfection. I could swear that flouve absolute had been used in the composition. I am fortunate to have some of this rare substance in my possession. The fragrance expert Steffen writes of Flouve Oil, including that it is “From the dried upper part of the grass, Flouve Odorante, harvested during or after the inflorescence, an essential oil can be produced by steam distillation under certain circumstances. Originally produced by only one company in Grasse, little is known of the details of production for this oil. It is conceivable, however, that an ordinary steam distillation is insufficient to produce an oil of appearance and composition like the Flouve Oil. One peculiarity of the oil is its abnormally high specific gravity. But whatever the physico-chemical properties are, this oil can offer quite unique effects in perfumes and flavors.”
I really am convinced that Dunhill was using flouve absolute and also a sizable amount of ambergris tincture, as the base has that je ne sais quoi that results in this lingering, almost haunting base. This is from an age before the scratchy, screechy persistent fixative aromachems of today that give little nuance or true character to scores of fragrance bases. We really experience with Blend 30 it being among the last of those compositions where certain materials can be used with little restriction and budgets are not so heavily compromised for the bottom line. This, combined with a suave leather, voluminous musks, and all that oakmoss, make the base a true dream.
In summary, I know this is so difficult to obtain today, and it is really a shame that more enthusiasts of fragrances cannot experience it, but if you can even obtain the after shave, which from what I heard is in itself awe-inspiring, I suggest that you get your hands on it.
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Having spent most of my time on earth about 40 minutes south of Kannapolis, NC, home of Dale Earnhardt, my immediate reaction to the top notes of this fragrance is to reference the soda that Dale was endorsed by for most of his career.
That is by no means to dismiss this masterpiece as a sugary pop knock off. Rather to demonstrate how varied and wide a spectrum of context there is that can be brought to the analysis of a fragrance such as this.
I purchased a bottle of edt on the grey mkt and was mistakenly sent the aftershave. My lack of patience got the better of me(and I was due for a shave). What I found to be truly remarkable about Blend 30, and honestly what I expected to find, was the way that the fragrance evolved beyond and developed on top of its initial impression, and the way in which even the aftershave concentration persisted throughout several hours, even if not projecting particularly strongly.
The initial projection is quickly bolstered by a series of soft and hearty herbal aromatics and eventually settles into a caress of gentle woods that are cocooned by a salty, rich amber gris.
The most remarkable aspect of this fragrance, particularly considering the presumed age of the bottle, is how the top notes persist through the heart and into the deep dry down, creating a beautiful balanced symphonic composition.
Long live Dale Earnhardt.


It's not a heavy or skanky fragrance. It's delicate, refreshing, and acutely herbal, with a spiced cinnamon undertone. Nominally a tobacco scent, I get more of an "herbal tea" impression (I love herbal tea, so, in my book, that's a good impression).
Impeccably made and, from my sampling of vintage masculines, unique. It's a shame it has become so rare!

The opening of Dunhill Blend 30 is a huge blast of galbanum, pine needles, anise, clary sage, and a peppery lavender, softened only a tad by lemon and neroli. Make no mistake, this is not a sweet fragrance, but it has a rounded smoothness thanks to the balancing of sweet elements that keep it from being too bracing on the nose like Acqua di Selva (1949) or Pino Silvestri (1955). The heart of geranium, carnation, sandalwood, and clove is all but impossible in the modern world of IFRA regulations, as geraniol and eugenol are limited and sandalwood of this lucidity is cost-forbidden due to the over-harvesting of Mysore. I'm not saying this smell niche, just "impossible" in the modern world without some really clever aromachemical tinkering, although they managed to bring Pascal Morabito Or Black back from the dead in 2014 and it smells very close to vintage, so anything's possible with enough time and cash. The base here is where things get a bit hard to place and very blended. The isobutyl quinoline leather note familiar to fans of vintage Hermès Bel Ami (1986) is here, but it is blended in with tonka, oakmoss, and musk to make a near-fougère dry down that compares mostly to the aforementioned Pascal Morabito. The very present oakmoss and sandalwood call forth parallels to the future Patou pour Homme, while all the green aromatic goodness strikes a close accord to the final skin feel of Gucci Nobile once you get past Nobile's initial soapy blast. Tobacco is the wild card here that separates Blend 30 from all the 80's masculines it seems to presage, and since Dunhill was still very much in a "leather and tobacco" mode because those were their primary products sold until they got into perfume, it's almost a given that they would appear here. This is no powerhouse, and much like Dior Jules (1980), is considered somewhat on the reserved side for the period. Sillage is not monstrous, and indeed wear time is shorter than you might suspect for an older "men's cologne" perfume, but Blend 30 does sublimely glow off skin for a good 7 hours before becoming a faint whisper. This feels like a fall-through-spring kind of wear to me, and being such a period-specific example of perfumery, might be too "dated" to the trend-conscious to find suitable context, but you can pull it off in cold weather casual situations without much disturbance if you really wanted.
Dunhill Blend 30 is a good collector's piece for the affluent vintage collector that would rather drop hundreds on survivor bottles of Chaps Ralph Lauren (1979) than on bottles of anything Roja Dove or Areej le Dore puts out, and also represents a bit of a glimpse into the progression from the soapy green masculines of Paco Rabanne pour Homme (1973) at the early end of the decade, to the leathery, musky, jockstrap-in-a-bottle of the early 1980's. Blend 30 falls just shy of being truly animalic because it has everything but castoreum or civet to give it that push from assertive into outright aggressive, so it comes right up to the line of being surly without ever actually losing poise and crossing it, showing Ron Winnegrad was capable of giving Dunhill their feeling of classic British restraint in spite of the heady cocktail itself. I can't really recommend one fragrance that comes closest to what Blend 30 shows off, but if you pick up a bottle of Or Black and layered it with Avon Leather (1966), you'd get really close and not put yourself out too much money. If soaring prices don't feel beyond your means, and dwindling sales listings do not seem daunting to you, this may be worth the hunt, as it represents something you otherwise won't be able to get outside of other similar discontinued gems that also carry stiff premiums. Simply put, this is a well-crafted and very lively aromatic representing an extinct style with extinct ingredients, and real museum-grade stuff that falls just short of being beautiful due to the fact that it isn't terribly unique in the greater scheme of what was goin' round in the time it was being made. Blend 30 is a vivaciously green and aromatic scent capable of painting a picture in your mind thanks to its unique perfumer, and for that I can respect the fervor of its die-hard fans. I may not be in the market to sacrifice my firstborn to finding a bottle, but among vintage "unicorns", Dunhill Blend 30 stands mightily tall. Thumbs up.