Colony (new)
Jean Patou (2014)

Colony is strange, and a bit of a disappointment. It starts out with citrus-pineapple and floral, then dries to a floral smoke scent that reminds me a bit of (new) Cabochard. I find the dry smokiness in both to have more of an old ashtray vibe than sweet pipe tobacco like Habanita. It is certainly a unique scent - a bit odd like Sira des Indes (green banana peel and rice pudding, imo). Neither one is anything like the fruity scents that are out there now. I would say Colony is unisex and might work best on a man. Longevity is not great, sillage is moderate. It is an office-safe scent and works best in casual and/or hot weather. It is Patou, so worthy of consideration if you can find it for a good price, but not one of the best from that sadly defunct house (damn you, LVMH!)

Pineapple - sweet and ripe - and bergamot are evident in the opening blast, and the fruitiness of the pineapple is the dominant element here. The bergamot freshens it up, aided by a pleasant mandarin in the background.

Soon a spiciness - a green clove mainly - is added, as is a nice jasmine impression. The fruitiness is still pervasive at the stage; this pineapple is sticking around for quite a long time.

The base is the lease interesting phase, with a soft and predictable patchouli combining with a somewhat palse amber; a touch of new suede is gracing the end stage but also is quite generic.

I get moderate sillage, good projection and six hours of longevity on my skin.

This spring scent, sampled in the Paris flagship store, is pleasant all right, but does not reach the standard set by Patou's great classics. Quite pale and full of synthetic sweetness after the opening phase, the second half is a bit to generic to convince. 2.75/5.

The old Colony is a pineapple chypre; a syrupy pineapple set against bitter oakmoss, unusual and striking, and clearly from a different time period.

The new version is called "a modern adaption" by Patou. It's no longer a chypre, but a polite fruity floral. It opens with a fresh pineapple, together with a smoky note, it then sweetens slightly, with other sheer fruity notes mixed in, and ends with an sweetish, indistinct musky base.

Not a lot of projection, it stays close to the skin and has decent longevity.

I'm glad they made the pineapple so prominent, and the smoky note added some interest, but after the opening it goes pretty flat. The push-pull elements that made old Colony interesting is missing. In their quest to make Colony elegant and adult, and compatible for a new millennium, they forgot to give it much of a personality.