Quadrille
Balenciaga (1955)

This is a review of the vintage "Perfumance" (probably an early form of eau de parfum). Smells like liquor and wood. My dad had an old liquor cabinet, and when you opened the doors to it the scent "whoosh" that hit your nose was exactly this. Hard to believe this was a woman's fragrance from the 1950s, but I guess Senor Balenciaga was quite an outlier in his time. Men could easily wear this as a cologne. Considering how sickly sweet today's women's fragrances are I doubt most of today's females would care to wear this. Quadrille is an awesome name, the bottle is gorgeous and the very plasticy cap is laughably cheap.

Great body and sexy act. Lily St. Cyr wearing a diamond necklace, a swipe of red lipistick and not much else, she kicked her legs, splashing, as pink bubbles effervesced from a glass tub. This fragrance is mature, serious, but at the same time lascivious to the core, without being obscene. As many of vintage classics, Quadrille takes her time to open, develop and settle, so don't be the inexperienced nose and judge on the first whifs. Wait. It makes me think of the smell of skin, sort of peachy-musky.

It combines every element of the classic chypre in such an effortless and elegant way that it fully deserves it's place in the masterpiece category of perfumes. Rich and strong warming fruits up front with peach and plum. Mellow spice weaving in and out. A subtle but clever citrus that provides just enough bitterness to undercut the fruits and spices. Cloves, with spicy carnation and a touch of jasmine to create a tantalizing melange that feels warning rather than spicy. A powdery, earthy, musky underbelly which makes this wickedly feminine and delicious.

Vintage, eau de cologne, decanted into an atomizer... The tiniest blip of lemon at first application. Or, perhaps, it is just wishful thinking, from past memories. The other fruits are well-disguised within the middle notes. Plum, what's left of it, stands out more than the ghost, of peach. Clove and cardamom with the vague fruits are delicately sweet. Quadrille is as beautiful as I remember. I quickly burned through a bottle in the late 80's. It wasn't easy to procure and alas, I never replaced it, until recently.

This is a perfect combo of spice and jasmine, in the heart. The aroma borders on milky, with a shot of seltzer. Jasmine is pure "floral" - no dirt, no indole, no green.

It doesn't take long for the base to creep up. An old musky smell appears. Delightful sweet-soil, sweet bark oakmoss density. The amber has a honeyed accord. Every note present is married well. An orchestra, a dance. Quadrille is a beautiful classic. That it was discontinued, is a travesty.

I suppose only those who appreciate the classic "styles" would enjoy it. No modernity, here.

Sillage is good. Longevity, because my bottle is old, about five hours.

Quadrille on me is a warm spicy Chypres that is very similar to Mitsouko. I am comparing the vintage Extrait in both fragrances. I get a middle note of faint Jasmine after about an hour, otherwise it is really similar. Mitsouko is slightly stronger in the first 10 minutes but after a couple hours, they are very similar on my skin. I love them both. I will stick with wearing Mitsouko since it is so easy to find in Perfume formulas. Quadrille I will seal and store because it is so hard to find it in good shape after 50 to 70 years.

The vintage parfum:

The top notes consist of a delicious melange of rich, ripe and fruity plum/pear/peach notes, which have some citrus freshness infused such as to display great balance. The more I get down the drydown phase, the more I appreciate a lovely jasmine that at times sees cinnamon and cardamom impression added such as to give it a spicy and at times darker edge.

The base switches gear into a lovely bright amber, that is characterised by a light, elegant powdery background, upon which a white musk is added towards the end. This all is supremely well blended out of ingredients of the highest quality.

The performance is very respectable with moderate sillage, decent projection and eight hours of longevity: on my skin at the end of the base phase it gradually peters out, with the slightly bright soapy powderiness fading out as the swan song of this venerable creation.

A grand but not pompous, perfectly balanced fragrance of great expression; ideal for spirng and warmer, sunny autumn days or evenings. Noblesse with elegant restraint. A classic. 4/5

*This is a review of the original formula vintage Quadrille EdT.

Quadrille (vintage) opens with a nose tingling blast of deep, boozy plum wine with significant musk and mossy green oakmoss support. Moving to the early heart the boozy plum recedes to a supporting role, leaving the animalic musk and mossy green oakmoss as co-stars with hints of dulled peach fruit and cardamom spice. As the composition moves further through its mid-section, the musk fades as the oakmoss switches gear, now featuring its powdery facet while maintaining some of its prior mossy green nature. During the late dry-down the composition stays linear with the gentle powdery oakmoss remaining almost through the finish, as hints of earlier obscured jasmine show up towards the end of the composition's development. Projection is excellent, as is longevity at well over 12 hours on skin.

Balenciaga has a fine history of releasing outstanding compositions, and vintage Quadrille shows off what the house can do at its best. The opening boozy plum wine assault is extremely intense and I loved every minute of it. Adding to the opening barrage is the musky oakmoss that melds perfectly with the boozy plum, amplifying its impact and depth, while ratcheting up the brilliance factor exponentially. The composition then impressively shifts gears from its boozy open to a more green powdery oakmoss led accord with the animalic musk playing co-star. I am not a huge powder fan, but the powder level never gets out of hand, and the mossy green facet of the oakmoss somehow holds things together throughout. The last surprise well after the composition was little more than a skin scent was when a fine, slightly sweet jasmine emerged right at the end of the composition's life cycle, and it is one of the best jasmine notes I have ever sniffed. How the jasmine was hidden for most of the development is a mystery, but smelling it at the end made for a very fine finish indeed. Quadrille (vintage) is the kind of composition that makes one really long for the "good old days" where IFRA regulations and focus group testing weren't the rage. Yes, it smells like it is from another age, but by saying that I mean it with the highest respect and compliment. They just don't make 'em like they used to. The bottom line is Quadrille (vintage) checks off all the boxes as to what makes a perfume classic and great, earning a "near masterpiece" rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 and a strong recommendation to vintage perfume lovers of either gender.