Epicéa
Creed (1965)

A pleasant, traditional, bergamot-led eau de cologne that goes heavy on the green herbs. I smell thyme and tarragon especially, but the listed notes are there as well. The clove comes in clearly once the bergamot fades to the background.

There's nothing earth-shattering here. Unless you're a die-hard Creed collector, you could find something similar and much easier to track down within the collections of Trumper and the like.

Spruce beer: 90 kegs
Added to the ship's wardrobe
As a nutrient

For perfumistae
Known to prevent the dreaded
Aesthetic scurvy

Sore affliction of
Fragbro and nichester alike
On long voyages

Of discovery.
Used somewhat judiciously
Thereby avoiding

The addiction called
"Conehead fever" by such types
We were able to

Circumnavigate
The greater olfactosphere
In less than a year.

Also known by the
More charming French monicker
Of "Épicéa"

This fine concoction
When dabbed or sprayed as a mist
Provided relief

From the absence of
Tropical and citrus notes
Normally found in

Tommy Bahama
Aqua Allegoria
Acqua di Parma

And other perfumes
Of hespiridic nature
Or standard colognes.

Sadly, it is known
That modern fragrance habits
Frequently omit

Proper hesperides
Resulting in dubious
And curious tastes

Leading, shall we say
To artifice and excess
Quite unnatural.

That the common spruce
Should ward off said scurvy was
Revealed to us by

Our Indian scout
Improbably named Sternberg
Through accident of

An apprenticeship.
Now, as to the nature of
This natural cure

Some have likened it
To gray-capped Creed toiletries
Of citric nature

Particularly
Both Santal Impérial
And Bois de Cédrat

Although foresaid scout
Swears that Épicéa is
Kin to an essence

To be called "Pine-Sol"
In some distant future where
All shall be revealed.

While it is alleged
That our fine spruce beer contained
Clove and lavender

And some of the crew
Swore that they could detect these
I personally

Was not so impressed.
Rather, I was entertained
With being in some

Fragrant Valhalla
Surrounded by conifers
And alpine flowers.

Such was my pleasure
That without reservation
I can recommend

This healthy liquor
When used regularly and
Appropriately.

An Aventus-like experience before Aventus came out.

Creed's Epicéa is a pleasant, lavender-leaning scent with only a modicum of discernible pine and a hint of bright clove. Ultimately, Epicéa is a light, aromatic green scent with some spice from the clove and a touch of bergamot in the opening that fades away pretty quickly.

The pine note is there, but not as much as I'd ordinarily crave in a fragrance. That being said, Epicéa is indeed spicy and pleasant to be sure.

Epicea is such a pleasant, relaxing, and calming pine scent. And that's primarily what it is to me: a pine fragrance. There is a little citrus and it's slightly spicy, but the major star is piney evergreen goodness. I don't pick up lavender, but it does explain the calming effect I get. It could easily be a signature scent for someone who just wants to smell nice, but not necessarily be noticed. Epicea is very different from Creed's modern millesimes, but is still recognizable as a Creed. It gives me light but persistent projection for 6-7 hours, then a bit more sporadic for the next 3-4. Not bad performance for a Creed EDT. Being a pine fragrance suggests it as a cold weather perfume. I can't speak to that, but it works well in a fairly cold air-conditioned office environment. It also works well in the heat, which is when the citrus is more noticeable. I'm very happy to have this now discontinued Creed EDT in my wardrobe.

This juice is growing on me. I think I may have almost caught a very slight hint of pine when I put it on this morning. It's not even close to the brilliant Creed's, but it is fresh, clean and enjoyable...just wish it had better longevity and sillage.


Trying Epicea again today. I am frustrated by this fragrance because it's not what I wanted it to be, which is the pine scent I was hoping for after reading many reviews about it. It's not a bad scent. It's very soft bordering on weak, but it's not unpleasant.




I'm only selecting a neutral rating on Epicea, because my experience so far is all I have to go by. I want to like it, because I love pine scents done well. SO...I bought a bottle of Epicea off of Amazon. When it arrived, I inspected the box, the cards, the bottle, the sprayer, the cap, and every other piece of evidence that would suggest that this may be a fake. They all checked out as authentic from everything I could see. I sprayed some on and was immediately disappointed, because all I could smell was lavender with a hint of clove. There was no pine at all. I had read how the Russian Pine was the bottom note, so I thought maybe it would show up in time. Unfortunately, it never did. I then tried to apply a lot to see if the pine scent was just very weak. Once again, there was no trace of pine. I was so very disappointed as I was so looking forward to finding a wonderful pine cologne. As others have stated, the longevity and sillage are short. One hour for a couple of sprays, and only about 3 hours when applying 4 to 5 sprays. Has anyone else found their Epicea to have no pine scent, or am I looking at a fake?

I wore Epicea again yesterday and noticed that it almost reminded me of the smell of a mint julep. I still don't get pine from this fragrance, but I asked someone else if they could smell any pine, and they said maybe just a very slight hint of pine. I felt it was more of a lavender spice scent the first time I wore it, but I really noticed a mint aspect to it this time.

A pleasant blend of pine, bergamot, and lavender, Creed's Epicea achieves the "fresh/citrus pine" categorization effectively. More bergamot in the opening, and more pine revealed in the dry down, but otherwise pretty linear, Epicea has the woodiness of a woodsy fragrance but the freshness of a citrus/aquatic fragrance. I don't get as much spiciness as most seem to---the clove is slight at most.

The only pine-dominant fragrance I own is Imaginary Authors' Cape Heartache, which is a heavier expression, blended mainly with strawberry. Epicea is a fresh, woody experience that really has all-year wearability, despite the popular association of pine with colder weather. This goes hand in hand with Epicea not being outstanding with respect to projection or longevity. It's definitely poorer on projection than longevity. Frankly, though, I don't regard this as much of a departure from the other fresh Creed scents. Most--Aventus, Silver Mountain Water, Himalaya, Green Irish Tweed--aren't terribly strong either, and I see their performance exaggerated. While I'd generally argue for the stronger being better, in the case of Epicea and other fresh Creed kin, the silver lining is that one need not at least be so judicious with sprays.

Epicea is definitely not an all-star in the realm of Aventus, but it feels a unique spot in the Creed house, and for fans of pine, it could prove essential.

8 out of 10