Tuesday 16 October 2012

Penhaligon's Juniper Sling

Wearing Juniper Sling today, I couldn't help think that while it smells nice-ish, it seems slightly derivative and reminds me of a number of other fragrances, all veering towards the masculine. 

The notes include cinnamon, orange brandy, angelica, juniper berry, cardamom, leather, black pepper, orris wood, brown sugar, black cherry, vetiver and ambrox. Anyone reading that list of notes would be forgiven thinking it is a fairly rich and complex fragrance. In reality, and I've worn it a number of times, I mostly get some gin/juniper note, a smidgeon of pepper, a bit of a zing/zest from the angelica and then it very quickly slips into a lightly spiced woody base, mostly from vetiver. Forget orange brandy, I can't smell cinnamon, I get perhaps a little cardamom, forget leather, cross out orris wood, no cherry, black or otherwise and brown sugar? Nope, I get more sugar from the Rolling Stones song of the same name.

Perhaps I'm coming across a bit snarky, and as I mentioned, Juniper Sling smells ok, but it doesn't add anything new or special to my perfume experience. There is something about the feel of Juniper Sling that reminds me of Creed's Aventus (not a dead ringer, but there is something about it, particularly in the dry down), another perfume I do not care for much.

The worst thing about Juniper Sling is its price. Penhaligon's sells it for £110, which to my mind, for a perfume that is neither very original nor long-lasting (it is a very subdued and short lived fragrance), is nothing short of daylight robbery. In the current market, £110 for niche is not that much I suppose, but I can still spend about £68 for most bottles of export Serge Lutens, far better value for money, in my opinion.

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