GFT
Geo F Trumper (2001)

I find the lemon on this a little too sharp - it reminds me of Fairy Lemon washing up liquid. That note stays throughout, although the drydown becomes more mellow and enjoyable.

I have a few of the Trumper samples left over and so can talk to some of them now I've started to write reviews. GFT is from a bunch of colognes that differ only slightly, and which it is hard to tell apart in many respects.

GFT opens with some bright citrus that skirts but never fully succumbs to the furniture polish effect. It then pulls off the trick, also seen in l'Instant de Guerlain, of providing the illusion of citrus-with-endurance by bolting it on to heart notes in a seamless fashion. Where l'Instant uses jasmine to follow the citrus, GFT takes up tarragon, leading to a slight illusion of French cooking.

And really - that's about it, other than a hint at some musk in the base. It's a cologne, so lack of performance can be understood. I feel a little wistful, though, that this isn't at EDT strength to allow the listed base notes to come through at the end. It could have been a contender... as it is, it's just pleasant, and a well done refreshing scent best reserved for hotter weather.

This is a fantastically well rounded summer evening fragrance. Simply put, it opens with fresh lemon similar to that of AdP Colonia Essenza. But IMO its better! AdP may have longer legs, but this is much cheaper. It doesn't last long and 6 sprays won't go far. A little musk towards the end, but then by this point it is so weak its hardly noticeable. Recommended.

I'm on my third bottle of this wonderful cologne and only now am I starting to tire a little. For me this is one of the very best chypre's in the current market. It's affordable , has amazing longivity and oozes class. Lemon and bergamot in the opening that seems to last forever, for a citrus that is a rare thing and can only be achieved through luck or intelligent blending. The cedar and musk add a soapy sophistication to the dry down and the fragrance remain's fairly linear for hours.

Sorry to be a spoil-sport, but GFT hasn't really won me over. There's that trick of candy-sweet lemon leading into verbena that a lot of the Trumpers seem to use. GFT is pretty much based on that, with some juicy orange on top instead of the old-fashioned bergamot that they usually use, so GFT feels much more modern than most of the line. I don't think I would have recognized the tarragon without the other reviews - it's more of a subtle supporting smell. Really, it's mostly just that sweet lemon candy smell (too sweet for my tastes) leading to the verbena.

I love a good citrus eau, but they have intriguing floral hearts and woody supporting notes. GFT just smells lemony and sweet. Meh.

What a delightful pick-me-up! To my tastes, this, along with Balle de Match, is pretty much the pinnacle of men's semi-sweet citrus fragrances. It begins as grassy lemon, somehow capturing the brightness but not the sourness of the peel, with just enough soapiness from the blossoms thrown in to mellow it out. In a sense, it's lemon dishsoap, but only in the most delicate, ephemeral way, with just a hint of that sharp soap fizziness that irritates my nose when overdone. It also has a bit of the creamy headiness that I recently found in Creed's Royal Water, but it actually backs it up with something! As it fades, it manages to keep the ratio of tart lemon rind, sweet fruit, and soapy blossoms surprisingly constant, and slowly introduces woodier basenotes. It does venture closer to the brassy, golden metallic aura of Colonia Intensa or Lalique White, but like Burberry Original, GFT stops short of crossing over into that zone; I might call it an "organic" alternative to CI or LW. What's probably the most unusual here is that the stuff has superhuman longevity for a citrus fragrance. Even at the end of the day, I can still smell the quiet, soapy-citrus base, as almost a "clean linen" or "white musk" type of scent, but again in only the most natural, unforced sense, and with sweet lemon juice persisting hours beyond the point where you'd normally expect it to disappear. One of the best in its class.

One of the best citrus based scents period. Opens with a nice lemon and citrus accord that actually stays present throughout, though fades a little as expected. With the heart comes the herbal notes based mainly on tarragon with the citrus ever present. Slight woodsy notes show up towards the end. Longevity on this one is excellent and this is hands down one of the best citrus fragrances in a crowded field.

GFT is an bright masculine, highlighted by a fairly persistent lemon note and the herb tarragon, which gives this fragrance a unique character. Drydown is musky. I don't see this as cypress or cedar centered at all. A pleasant fragrance.

Straight up citrus in the opening volley–an excellent, non-synthetic accord that bubbles with effervescence. It reminds me a bit of a more refined, less minty Monsieur Balmain opening–it's that bright and lively, and like MB, GTF's opening is very long lived for a citrus. The herb utilized in the heart notes is the more rarely used tarragon, which makes it rather different from many other citrus / herbal fragrances, and gives the heart notes an atypical warmth –atypical for a citrus fragrance, that is. I must say that the tarragon is beautifully presented because I often have trouble liking accords with that herb. The cedar in GFT is a dominant note, second only to the citrus accord, but this particular cedar is not as domineering as cedar notes can very easily become. In fact, after the bright and lively citrus opening, this fragrance is quite warm, rich, and very well behaved. GFT is a clean and long lasting citrus fragrance with just plain wonderful accords.

Originally submited 24 May 2007, Taiwan

Notes: mandarin, lemon, cypress, tarragon, lavender, cedar, moss, muskI should like this. It has the sort of ingredients that appeal to me. It isn't a bad scent, but it winds up as a Wellington lite clone. Like Wellington, it has that distinctive fusty smell of stale lemon drops. Unlike Wellington, it lacks a redeeming note of rosemary or pine. It is supposed to have cypress but I don't find any resinous notes. I don't see much similarity to Cypres-Musc.It starts with lovely lemon and other citrus notes. These are good, and persist. Green notes appear, largely the tarragon which has a sweet hay and grass chord. Moss and musk appear, with hints of wood. And then those old lemon drops appear…

This review is for the old formulation from a few years back. A quite brilliant modern take on their classic (and itself still brilliant, albeit short-lived on the skin) West Indian Limes, GFT is a lemon/orange citrus frag with some delicate herbs thrown in to compliment. The tarragon, often lending an unusual and almost gourmand accord to many juices it appears in, here is only just detectable in the middle and acts more as a supporting frame for the lemon to latch onto, which means that over four hours later the lemon is still there. Impressive for a citrus. Slowly, but surely, the whole thing melts into a light woody base, similar to Azzaro Pure Cedrat, slightly freshened by the "light musk" in the pyramid. Very well blended and balanced, GFT is probably the best frag Trumper have released since the 90s, specifically since Ajaccio Violets. The best thing about GFT, though, is the usual cloyingly sweet-powdery house accord, the down-fall of many a Trumper frag, is, by and large, a no show, leaving the simple notes to speak for themselves. The current formulation is, happily, pretty much identical to the original - the only difference I detect is that the citrus opening is not quite as intense, but otherwise it's still a five star frag and one of the most natural smelling synthetics currently available on the market.

My love affair with colognes continues and GFT offers one of the most bracing citrus openings you'll encounter. The transition to the cypress and lavender heart takes place while the citrus still exists, very smoothly blended, the cypress doesn't dominate. The cedar base follows and the overall experience is fresh and clean without any calone; a winner then!Longevity is above average for this excellent fragrance. Truly versatile GFT will not scare anyone in an office environment, but is also suitable for any occasion where one requires understated elegance.