To say I want this perfume more for the bottle than the fragrance itself, might make me appear fickle and diminish the status of what is a very lovely smelling thing. However, we must face facts...the stopper on this bottle is awesome and seeing the bottle in real life is no disappointment, it really is that cool. The fragrance itself displays the typical restraint you get in most Penhaligon's, trading off truly deep opulence with genuinely wearable appeal. They might not always (in fact rarely) reach dizzying heights but they consistently release fragrances I believe to have been steadily crafted and considered, Lord George is no different. It opens with a boozy amber, instantly warm and likable which settles to a exotic wood/vanilla vibe. It's undeniably sweet but offset by it's grown up booziness and some of that bitter, coffee type element from tonka bean. Lord George isn't a full on gourmand such as other recent Tonka releases like Feve delicieuse. Instead it's focused on the woods and amber to give it that more male emphasis. I enjoyed it tremendously, opens great and just gets better in the drydown due to some great notes which complement each other well. Lord George is the definition of more than the sum of it's parts and like the other one's in this range, has some notes or qualities that are hard to place. It is quite long lasting, especially on clothes but nothing monumental and showing the usual lack luster performance of the brand. (although I found it completely acceptable) This is where most people take issue with the brand and if you're forking out this much then you are entitled to moan. However, If you do decide to buy you will be treated to a nice smelling winter fragrance and a wonderful bottle to adorn your perfume shelf. I will probably get this one at some point.

Quick review update here, while backtracking slightly on my initial appraisal, I will both agree and take issue with some of the things said by Nick Zee. I don't know if it's just the fact that I actually like ambroxan but I kinda expect modern compositions to contain it and this didn't immediately scream it to me. However upon wearing it on Christmas day I will concede that the shaving cream element is that soapy, clean, ambery, musk that some people might consider cheap or doesn't belong in a high end fragrance like this one... I don't agree but I notice it more now I've had a few proper wears I think it's unfair to slate the perfumer for this as I still think it's a very interesting composition and worthy of the Penhaligon's name. I also agree that this stuff is overpriced and the performance is a bit lacking. It's strange because I did sample it extensively before I got the full bottle, maybe this one is a little style over substance but I made it clear I was getting it for the bottle mainly, something I never do but this one was too good to miss.