Reviewing Atkinsons 24 Old Bond Street cologne

Reviewing Atkinsons 24 Old Bond Street cologne

By Deborah Fulsang

FIRST SNIFF: This scent brightens the air around you when you apply it. It’s fresh but not too crisp, warm and spicy too, and it comes across as a cologne but one that’s not too overtly masculine. And that seems to be the point as 24 Bond is not meant to be pigeon-holed into any strict gender-defined perfume box.

I’ve been spraying the fragrance the past couple of weeks and so offered up my neck also for evaluation to my hubby who responded with an enthusiastic “I like that.” And then a few moments later, “I really like that. Is it for men?”

I love that he wasn’t sure; just that it smelled very very good. 

REMINDS ME OF: Travelling and shopping in elegant European stores that smell like expensive clothes, pristine marble floors and gorgeously worn-in leather furniture.

And really, it’s ideal for the moment. After all, on a steamy summer’s day, there’s nothing like a stellar cologne to freshen you up, whether you’re heading to the office or an evening cinq-à-sept on a balmy, breezy patio.

Come to think of it, there’s nothing like a stellar cologne to freshen up your mindset, any time of year. And this from a lover of Orientals, chypres and many heady floral toilettes. It’s cologne’s signature citrus essence, of course, that is at least partly responsible for the mood boost.

THE FACTS: This scent melds together crisp bright notes with warm cardamom and Turkish Rose, and delicious wafts of woody amber, musk and a killer smoky accord of oak-casked whisky that’s been created from Cade oil extracted from juniper and then mixed with black tea and cedar. Given the cologne’s freshness, its warm chypre drydown and that whisky essence thrown into the olfactory mix, no wonder it won me over.

In fact, Atkinsons 24 Old Bond Street is inspired by the company’s debut cologne of 1800 – English Eau de Cologne – which the brand describes as a “powerfully assertive and peculiarly wonderful English scent.”

Which got us wondering about English cologne versus the iconic Italian varieties. What is the difference anyway?

According to Atkinsons, this turn-of-the-century spritz was “totally different from the Italianate colognes then in vogue. Curiously fresh yet warm and spicy, the new Eau de Cologne was stronger and more prepossessing than its continental cousins, with a lingering trail that conjured forth the confident attributes of the British Empire. It and all things Atkinsons became such a sensation with the royal ranks that when King George IV caught a whiff of it at Buckingham in 1826, he proclaimed Atkinsons the Official Perfumer to the royal Court of England on the spot.”

Well then. How fun. And eccentric. Take a read on the site for further entertainment. And then head over to Holt Renfrew (if you’re in Canada) and start spritzing. There’s many other Atkinsons scents beyond 24 Old Bond Street worth checking out.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Atkinsons 24 Old Bond Street Eau de Toilette, $205 (100 ml), www.atkinsons1799.com, at Holt Renfrew, www.holtrenfrew.com

OUR RATING★★★★/★★★★★  

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Deborah Fulsang has spent the last two decades as a journalist covering news and trends in the worlds of style—in fashion and beauty, design and décor, food and entertaining. Her long-held love of fragrance led her to launch The Whale & The Rose, a destination for all things perfume-related. Now, when she indulges in a crazy-expensive bottle of fragrance, she can do so guilt-free. Well almost. It’s all in the name of research after all.