Scent Castles (Perfume Review: Penhaligon Castile)

The House Of Penhaligon makes scents that I associate with royalty. I think it's because a lot of the bottles have a coat of arms design. My bottle of Castile has one, exactly like the picture on the right. (I have seen later versions of the bottle without it, though) I think the juice smells like royalty, too. I can imagine Prince Charles wearing it. It's an orange perfume - neroli and orange blossoms dominate the scent. And there's something very noble about it: the scent lingers on you, but it never overpowers. It never overwhelms the wearer. I find that true with a lot of Penhaligon fragrances: they are mostly well-behaved and dignified. You know it's there, and it smells expensive (the raw materials are all tops) and you feel like you should be wearing a suit when you wear them. I sniffed Tom Ford's Neroli Portofino recently and that seems to be the sluttier sister of this. Castile is the well-mannered uncle, a little staid perhaps, but evoking the same spirit. Castile, in the end, is soapy. There used to be a time when I would always go for "clean" scents, but now I tend to go the opposite way. Still, Castile is a joy to wear. It is effervescent, and "sunny" without giving too much glare. I can happily wear this during the hot summer months. Even though I love the bitterest orange blossoms, here it is its sweetness that takes center stage. Nothing wrong with that.