Do you read Basenotes, the online resource for perfume and fragrance? I am a faithful reader of the blogs and a subscriber to their newsletter. What I like most about Basenotes are the fragrance forums and user reviews. You can start a thread on what the best frag is for the office is and get a whole bunch of input from people like you. I like that sense of community and that fact that it is devoted to perfume – not perfume AND make-up, jewelry and/or candles.
So, last week when I saw their newsletter announcing the Basenotes Reader Awards 2015, drop into my Inbox, I was eager to click through and see the winners. I wanted to see if I agreed with the winning frags in each category - a variation of the game we play on Oscar night. As I scrolled down the list, I had a few ‘What-were-they-smoking’ moments that made me wonder about the criteria for some of the categories, but I broke into a smile when I saw that Green Irish Tweed, by CREED, was voted in to the Men’s Hall of Fame. Finally, some recognition for one of the great men’s fragrances there is – IMHO.
Green Irish Tweed is the only fragrance by CREED that I own. Now, that could change in the time it takes to process a credit card, but what got Green Irish Tweed into my Hall of Fame was its timeless beauty and the way it wears on my skin.
The House of CREED was born in London (the house was founded there in 1760 by James Henry Creed) and raised in Paris (CREED relocated there in 1854). Over the years, it gained a reputation for creating perfumes for royalty (King George III of England, Empress Eugenie of France, Napoleon III and Czar Nicolas II of Russia) and politicians (Sir Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy) but when Prince Rainier of Monaco commissioned CREED to make a fragrance for actress Grace Kelly for their wedding day, CREED perfumes achieved cult status with the Hollywood set.
Launched in 1985, Green Irish Tweed was rumoured to have been created for actor Cary Grant by Pierre Bourdon. Sadly, Grant died in 1986, and a couple of years later Bourdon reworked Green Irish Tweed and created Cool Water for Davidoff in 1988. Nowadays, Oliver Creed is the nose of record for this fragrance.
Blogs are full of comparisons between Green Irish Tweed and Cool Water, comparisons which to my mind, diminish both fragrances. Both are outstanding frags, for sure, but for me, it’s Green Irish Tweed any day because at the end of the day it smells of quality.
It opens with fresh, vibrant verbena, clean and lemony, its floral nuances heightened by a note of powdery, slightly sweet iris. It smells green and deliciously refreshing. As it blooms, violet leaf deepens and strengthens the greenness, making it lush and grassy while a gentle earthiness from the iris is carried over from the top notes, so that the heart is beautifully aromatic and subtly sexy. But for me, Green Irish Tweed is all about the base of Mysore sandalwood enhanced with sweet, animalic ambergris. The sandalwood is green at the start then grows rich, woody and just a little dry. This is the real deal and there is enough of it in here so you really get the full experience of it.
The dydown is rich, sophisticated and distinctive. Green Irish Tweed is a one-of-a-kind frag that would suit a man at any age or stage of his life, yet it’s so beautifully finessed that it makes a perfect summer frag for a woman.
Especially, this one! Besides, it’s a Basenotes Hall of Fame frag and all the people who voted to put it there can’t be wrong.
Green Irish Tweed Millésime is listed in our Decant Store. Decants are $8.00 for 1 ml.
NOTE: The “Millésime” designation means that the best crops from a particular year’s harvest were used in the creation of that particular bottle of CREED fragrance.