L'Instant de Guerlain pour Homme
Guerlain (2004)

There's so much going on here it's like one of those Kitchen Sink florals from the eighties, except it's a Woody Gourmand, and it's masculine.
I won't bore you with a list of the notes that can be spotted in LIDG, let's just say it's a long one...
In fact it's so crammed full of stuff only an overdose of cocoa and rosewood keep it on track, without them it would be just a directionless mess.

And, as well as the old fashioned style of composition, I can pick out no less than four perfumes that seem to be referenced here: A*Men with its gourmand patchouli dark woods (1996) and also three oldies: Azzaro pour Homme for the aromatic aniseed (1978); to some extent l'Heure Bleue (1912) for its light-dark structure which is echoed in the green citrus and patchouli of LIDG; the aldehydes of Blue Grass (1934).
So LIDG was already an Old perfume when it saw the light of day in 2005.

But, to give it it's due, LIDG wasn't a blind alley, Dior took on the idea and came up with their own cocoa-iris combo, Dior Homme (2011) - which was an all-round better, more focused and coherent work that hit the mid point between clean-casual and formal with greater precision that LIDG did; which - like Thin Lizzy sang - gets chocolate stains on its pants --- and vanilla, and fruit, and aniseed, and bubblegum...

So really, unless your a big gourmand fan, there's nothing to stop you getting one of the Dior Homme's instead of this, or even it's younger brother LIDGE, if you really have to...

A very pleasant citrus spice combination that is smooth and very easy for me to like. There seems to be an extraordinary scent of both vanilla and cacao combined but maybe that is the lesser known elemi coming into play. Its's hard to say. The dry down is masculine and pleasant and never becomes 'musky'. Another unique and high quality men's fragrance from Guerlain. Suitable for cool spring or fall days IMO. Just delightful...

Very pleasant cheap freshie but lacks interest and depth for me. Minty lemon pepper patchouli.
Lacking.

One of my favourites, it's a light, modern patchouli that is versatile and has a decent development. Lasts long enough too.

Lovely scent. Don't know if it's the elemi but it also feels boozy to me somewhere deep down. Like some sort of new, white rum infused with:
- oolong tea
- anise
- citron
- hibiscus

That's in the open and initial drydown.

A nice sandalwood-patchouli-elemi-pepper combo becoming dominant thereafter.

This is gorgeous stuff. Like Guerlain's legendary "Guerlinade" base, it's hard to describe and not fully agreed upon, but it smells amazing and complex and unique, but still crowd-pleasing.

I definitely smell vanilla and dry tobacco, together with Guerlain's signature green sweet pea note and topped with citrus. But the notes kind of don't matter because everything melts together into a fabulous smell that's just "Guerlain."

I miss the great Guerlains, and all the discussion about which one had the best Guerlinade instead of discussions about how they all suck now. This and LIDGE were probably the last great mass-market scents they put out, before the great marshmallow-fication of the house ruined everything. Thumbs way up.