When I was reading the press material on the new fragrance Eight & Bob I was reminded of a scene from the 1972 movie “The Cowboys”. The cook, Jebediah Nightlinger portrayed by Roscoe Lee Browne, has told the young boys a story about his conception involving his father-to-be knocking down the gates of a castle and slaying all inside so his bride could sleep peacefully. When one of the boys asks him if it’s true he turns to him, with a smile, and says, “If it isn’t, it oughta be..” That’s the way I feel about the following story provided by Eight & Bob.

JFK on tour in 1937

According to the press release Eight & Bob was created in 1937 by the son of a Parisian aristocrat, Albert Fouquet. M. Fouquet was aided in his perfume making by the family butler Philippe. In that summer while doing whatever Parisian aristocrats did in 1937 on the Cote d’Azur he met an American doing his grand European Tour. That American, John F. Kennedy, was entranced with the fragrance M. Fouquet was wearing. He cajoled M. Fouquet into leaving him a sample at his hotel before leaving. Upon returning to America JFK wrote M. Fouquet to ask for eight more samples and “one for Bob”. M. Fouquet and faithful manservant Philippe found nine bottles and were so amused at the request they labeled them Eight + Bob. Now if that was where the story ended it would still be fun but there is an added bit of mythology surrounding the central note of Eight & Bob.

Andrea I Presume?

In January of 1934 M. Fouquet was in Chile doing whatever Parisian aristocrats do when they travel to Chile. One of the things they do, evidently, is to hike through the Andes looking for plants to add to his perfumes. On one of those hikes, apparently without faithful manservant Philippe, he found a plant he would name “Andrea” (I’m sure there is a great untold story here, too) which is the soul of Eight & Bob. Andrea can only be harvested in December and January due to the limited area it grows in and the altitude it grows at. The amount of manufacture of Eight & Bob is determined by how much Andrea can be sourced in a given year. M. Fouquet, in my mind’s eye, now wears a fedora, carries a bullwhip and a satchel full of Andrea while running away from a tribe of angry Incas shooting arrows that land behind him as he runs….oh where is Philippe when you need him?

As I said when I started “It is isn’t, it oughta be..” The one thing that is true is that Eight & Bob was my favorite fragrance I hadn’t tried before at the August 2012 Elements Showcase. With all of that history I’m not sure whether to call it a new fragrance or not but because it has finally become available to those of us who are not Parisian artistocrats, presidents-to-be, or faithful manservants to Parisian aristocrats I am thinking this is a new fragrance.

Bonjour Philippe

What I particularly enjoyed about Eight & Bob is it is a very stylish sophisticated fragrance and it was good that I tried it before hearing the story behind it. There are few fragrances that seem tailor-made for wearing to an occasion worthy of aristocracy but I think Eight & Bob carries that kind of aesthetic to it. What I particularly like about it is it also doesn’t fall back on the traditional tropes of masculine style as there is no rose or lavender to be found here. A citrus and spice opening morphs into a hybrid floral accord that feels like a cross between violet and iris; Andrea is that you? Woods swirl around this accord as cedar, sandalwood, and guaiac add depth. Eight & Bob stays classy with ambergris and vanilla adding the final starch to the collar in the base.

Eight & Bob has excellent longevity and average sillage.

I always think the ultimate question for any fragrance is “does it smell good?” Despite all of the exciting “history” behind Eight & Bob my answer to that question is yes. It is something I will look forward to wearing at my next formal occasion; where I will meet a young woman destined to be President and my fragrance will entice her into making me her most trusted advisor……If it isn’t, it oughta be.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Intertrade Europe at the Elements Showcase.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor