It's rum and dried fruits to open, and then settles with some woods and spicy on the dry down. All beautifully enmeshed in a spinning kaleidoscopic eruption of mineral accords, vanilla notes and tonka beans.For those outdoor walks in Winter. For those outdoor Christmas events, for those late night impulsive BBQ's because why not. HALFETI LEATHER Quercus is supposed to be a men’s perfume but we found it too sweet to be a mens’ fragrance. The citrus was overpowering and made it smell like furniture polish. Quercus is on our miss list and not something any one in my family would wear.

Halfeti Leather and Halfeti Cedar rest, as expected, on the notes that make up their names and are fairly stable as they fade. I would wear this to events where you'd like to look your peers in the eyes and say, I'm one of you now. I belong at this table, now hand me that cigar and pour me a bourbon. HALFETI As you'll see, the 'DNA' notes are actually slightly different depending on the flanker - the only constant amongst all three in the top notes is the cardamom, whilst the middle notes of Halfeti cedar differ completely to the original. All have a cedar base, but outside of that, it's a free for all! I don't think I was alone in that thought though and, when the company was bought by Spanish outfit Puig in 2015, it underwent a marketing rebrand. The brief was, no doubt, to keep the things that people liked about the brand (high end perfumes and a sense of British tradition), but ditch the stuffiness. Top hats and tails were out and the 'Trade Routes' and 'Portraits' series were in, followed swiftly by a lot of money from consumers, it seems.

How we tested

Babylon eau de parfum is another unisex fragrance from Penhaligon’s Trade Routes collection. I had a feeling this would be too masculine, spicy and woody for me and it was. It’s a warm, wintery scent that you may like it you like perfumes that are heavy on the spice and wood.

Mr. Provenzano has also worked on each of the flankers, with Halfeti Leather being an early 2020 release and Halfeti Cedar being a late 2020 release. As far as I'm aware, Penhaligon's haven't done flankers before (unless you count the EDP release of the EDT Endymion) which is perhaps further evidence of changing times for the company Even us oh-so-stoic Brits can't resist the exotic delights found here in Halfeti. Bold bergamot bustles leather and oud through the haze of the bazaar. The iconic fragrance - but not as one knows it.Halfeti Cedar is unconcerned with trying to keep up with the original, however! As the saffron fades, the rum note begins to combine with the cedar, dark fruits and immortelle (I won't even bother trying to work out what the 'mineral notes' are adding) and...holy hell. What we have here is that rarest of perfume scents, the Christmas pudding. If you love booze and dried fruits, this is a perfume you need to try, because it's really nailing the accord for me. It's the booziest darn thing I've smelt. And the great thing about the hair fragrance is that you get a little waft of it every time you move your hair, and the breeze blows on it, which just makes you feel very elegant and company-ready! Also, it contains super-fine Argan oil which is amazing for the condition of your hair. It’s a win-win!