Daniel Craig as James Bond in Casino Royale
2005’s Isphahan – later Isfarkand – is a comme il faut classical cologne created in concert with creative director Linda Pilkington. Isfarkand takes a big jug of citrus juices and splashes it over a bed of cedar, peppery spice and vetiver. Last year, as part of Ormonde Jayne’s Elixirs line, Isfarkand got a new look. Oh, he’s still the same suave scat’s meow he was 15 years ago, but now his gaze is a bit more direct, and the smile with which he greets you maybe just a tad wolfish.
Linda Pilkington of Ormonde Jayne via Intstagram
Described by Ormonde Jayne as “a revived formula poured at extract strength” with a more concentrated cedar note” and a “citrusy charge,” Isfarkand Elixir brings a bit of dark-browed intensity to its original chipper charm. The new formula amps up the woods and adds some edge with a dose of iso super e that shadows the cedar without replicating it, giving the wood a multidimensional, modern quality, while also lending a slightly alcoholic, gin-like tinge. Pink pepper, which lends Isfarkand senior a big belt of spice in the top, is absent, giving space to the woody and citrus notes to emerge immediately as dominant aromas.
Matthew Goode in ITV’s Downton Abbey
The first spritz of Isfarkand Elixir brings a sparkly spray of lime soda – not syrupy like 7-Up, but dry and effervescent, the smell lime squeezed into a tall chilled glass of club soda. Bergamot is there, too, adding a hint of bitterness, like a gin ricky without the booze. And, in case you had any doubts of Isfarkand Elixir’s pedigree, the unmistakable woody-earthy-citrus Ormonde Jayne accord comes in right behind the opening notes. Because Isfarkand Elixir hugs the skin as soon as it hits, it may seem as if it is soon fading away. But turn your wrist slightly, and it motors back, cedar out front one moment, lime-bergamot overtaking the next. Elixir is constructed largely out of dry but bright notes: the fresh citrus rind aroma of the top, a handful of chartreuse moss in the middle. Even green vetiver in the base is stripped of its customary moist-oily quality, leaving its characteristic pungent, new root smell.
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch is photographed in the Library of The Garrick Club in London. via littleauguryblogspot
Refreshing, upbeat and unobtrusively elegant, the original Isfarkand always felt to me the sort of easy, elegant fragrance the posher Dapper Dans of London might wear to the Savile Club or the Garrick, those traditional outposts of yesteryear stateliness and quiet upper-class warfare. Isfarkand Elixir, with its emphasis on a freshened up, faceted cedar, is still recognizable, but, with the vetiver toned down and the spice spliced, it now feels more accessible to Dapper Danielles. On a still, breezeless summer day, Isfarkand Elixir manages to be the seemingly impossible: a deeply woody scent perfect for the heat, with just the right balance of zesty notes and such a lightness of touch that it feels as weightless as a white silk shirt.
Notes: Lime, mandarin, bergamot, iso-e super, cedar, vetiver, moss.
Disclaimer: Bottle of Isfarkand Elixir generously provided by Europerfumes, U.S. distributor for Ormonde Jayne. My opinions are my own.
Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
courtesy of Ormonde Jayne Instagram
Thanks to the generosity of Eden Square (formerly Europerfumes), we have a 50 ml tester bottle for one registered reader USA ONLY. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what strikes you about Ormonde Jayne Isfarkand Elixir based on Lauryn’s review, and if you have a favourite Ormonde Jayne fragrance. Draw closes 6/23/2020.
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