Eau du Sud
Goutal (1995)

Why have i not reviewed this masterpiece yet ?
If Eau du Sud is a colour, it would be a light forest green with hues of blue. A real smell of nature, swimming pool, spring rain, wet grass, herbs. The impressive thing about this scent is that it manages to stay a sophisticated fragrance and not turn into some cleaning agent, because of the "overwhelming" citrusiness. Not al all weak, nor uninteresting. Citrus all the way, with a smart touch of patchouli and earthy vetiver.

Bergamot, grapefruit and orange are giving an initial blast of absolute freshness, which gives me almost masculine cologne like for the first minutes. After about an hour, it starts to ease into a fresh and grassy vetiver that really sounds it out nicely with the sparkling citrus notes still present but much quieter. It is completely inoffensive - you would wear it in a lift or a commuter train and nobody would mind, unlike some heavy sillage scents. Only those who come in to give you a hug or kiss will think it is just your natural clean scent.

While I find much of the Annick Goutal fresh citrus aromatic scents to be beautiful, they are so ephemeral on my skin, that it isn't practical to spend the money for something that would have to be over-sprayed and reapplied (I have many other lovely ones that come at a lower price point).

Eau du Sud is a noteworthy exception, as its fixative notes of oakmoss, vetiver, and patchouli keep the motor running. The opening is all radiant lime, lemon verbena and basil on my skin; tart, crisp, olfactory sunshine and dew. The lime really reminds me of the zest and the pith along with the flesh, rounded and vibrant. This persists through the heart with the mint extending the illusion of its presence on the skin. No wonder why lime and mint complement each other so well as flavors. As it further dries down, there is this 'crossfade' from the aromatic to the herbal and earthy, growing stronger as time progresses. Here it is all rendered more savory, almost salty, due to the vetiver and other base notes coming to the fore. I must also mention that, while they are not listed as a notes, both cumin and oregano is evident to me, very subtly so, adding further interest to Eau du Sud, as if, along with the mint, these two serve to prolong the impression of citrus well into the base.

This is another great one to spray on a t-shirt, as those top notes remain and interact with the dry down on the skin. In my humble opinion, one of the best citrus scents I've experienced!

[Rectangular bottle]

Pleasant but nothing new eau de cologne very similar to Nicolai New York but cheaper with slightly less projection and similar longevity. So its a bitter orange smokey cologne and in fact a bit more subtle than Nicolai and so better for me. I like it.

Like 4711 (Echt) Kölnisch Wasser but with added lemon verbena. Not bad but not my thing. I'll have to give it a negative rating because coming up with another iteration of the OG EdC in '95 is not partcularly groundbreaking. However, if you're really into the (dated) stuff, you might really like this.

This is a very interesting and to my nose pleasant take on an eau de cologne. I appreciate the idea as noted in reviews here that this is a lighter take on Pour Monsieur, and that is clearly a reference point. However, given the dry, sour, and grapefruit notes, I'm a little surprised not to see Terre d'Hermes referenced as well. You could just as easily say this is a cologne version of Terre as of PM.

EdS opens with dry citrus, definite grapefruit and a hint of that sour minerality that in Terre would be described as gunpowder. Florals come in quite quickly. The last act is one of a touch of violet, a touch of woods, and a fleeting appearance from oakmoss. I would say that this is more a masculine than not.

For my money, this is superior to the other Goutal eaux, although I would rank it below Villoresi's Theseus in terms of priorities for my own wardrobe.

This has changed over the years. I remember it once as a basil-infused Eau d'Hadrien, with a slug of oakmoss.

The latest packaging (and I assume formulation) adds an odd cumin note to the top, which eventually dries down to something oddly like Diorella. It's like a long-forgotten formula that Roudknitka had burried away.

I have to say that I liked it before, but now it's love.