SOTD: Robert Piguet Cravache, and an orange roundup

I've been on a quest for the right orange perfume. And I'll eliminate any suspense - Cravache is not it, but I do like it for what it is.

But to discuss the other "not it" oranges - Bois de Copaiba was too challenging for me.  Fendi Theorema was a very nice gingery-spices perfume, but didn't smell of orange (to me), plus it's discontinued.  Hermes Eau d'Orange Verte is too cologne-like - I'm looking for more richness.

Pacifica's Tuscan Blood Orange, which I must review someday, is a lovely orange with some richness and enough but not too much sugar. The solid version is close to my ideal, but the spray version is too light and sprightly. I want to be able to spray my orange perfume, marinate myself in it on a miserable cold winter day.

Caron Alpona is discontinued - though now that I remember it, I'm sending off for a decant, just to give me another perfume to grieve. Dawn Spencer Hurwitz's The Color Orange may be The One, but it didn't announce itself as such at first sniff. I want to own some, but I think that again it's a little too fresh and cheerful.

And all of the orange blossoms are out - I'm looking for the fruit.

So. Cravache. Cravache is another reformulated Robert Piguet classic. It was originally introduced in 1963, and reformulated (by Aurelian Guichard) and re-introduced in 2007. I understood that the original had a base of leather and other rich, un-sparkly things, so I was excited. Sadly, the remake seems to have lost that richness.

Given that the other Piguet perfumes were so different when dabbed versus sprayed, I tried Cravache dabbed for an hour or two. It smelled very much like Eau d'Orange Verte - disappointing, but no great surprise, given that they're both orange men's colognes. Light, refreshing, pleasant, fresh-orangey, and not what I'm after.

So I sprayed. It started out like the dabbed version, but within minutes it was light, refreshing, pleasant, and lavender. Eh? Where'd the orange go?

Okay, yes, this one isn't named after an orange, so no promises were made. From the reviews, I read that it was named after a riding crop, but with the leather removed, the name no longer fits. So the hope of a rich orange was entirely my expectation, imposed on an innocent cologne.

So it's not going to be my orange. Let's move on. It is a nice, light, dry lavender scent, with enough traces of orange to blunt the bitterness of the lavender and keep it from being Old Lady's Sachet, but not enough to make it sweet. If I ever go on a lavender quest, it will be on the top of the list.

Review Roundup: Perfume-Smellin' Things and Basenotes and 1000 Fragrances.

Orange Roundup Review Roundup: Outside reviews or mentions of Theorema and Tuscan Blood Orange and Alpona and The Color Orange.