Guerlain Derby 2026 Review: History of a legendary vintage fragrance.

*****Originally published in 2013; fully updated in 2026 *****

Images posted for purely informative and historical purposes. All rights belong to their legitimate owners. Please note: Raiders of the Lost Scent is an independent editorial platform. We are not involved in the commercial trade of perfumes nor do we sell fragrances.

Guerlain Derby 1985: a legendary men's fragrance overshadowed by time.

According to renowned fragrance critic Luca Turin, Guerlain Derby ranks as “…one of the ten greatest men’s perfumes of all time. And the only Guerlain masterpiece to have gone unnoticed.” Such a bold assessment reflects both the fragrance’s extraordinary balance of power and finesse, and perhaps also its fate.

Yet, despite its superior quality, Guerlain Derby never gained the widespread acclaim it deserved. Many chalk this up to its "old-fashioned" vibe in an era dominated by lighter, fresher scents.

Launched in 1985, it appeared just as perfumery was beginning to shift in another direction, a development that also affected other Guerlain masterpieces such as Heritage and, above all, Coriolan, often regarded as Derby’s spiritual successor, with a rugged elegance of its own.

Searching for a vintage Guerlain Derby today? Its cult status among collectors has driven prices sky-high, especially for rare early editions.

CINESCENT by Gabriela Guidetti (September 2015)

Steve McQueen and Vétiver de Guerlain

CINESCENT by Gabriela Guidetti (September 2015)

A trip at the Perfume Chest.

Do you think perfumes stores are "shops where people sell perfumes"? You're right.
Do you think perfumes stores are shops where people sell perfumes  only? Well, this time you're wrong.

There are a few stores which are "Perfume Museums", too. 

Try to imagine it: when you enter in such a store, you enter in a Time Capsule: surrounded by perfumes from 30, 40, 50 years ago... 
A real (and pleasant) blast from the past.
Here, in the heart of Turin, in the northern Italy, not far from the French border, in the beautiful 19th-century "Galleria Umberto", there is a very unusual store: actually, it's a sort of  Historical Museum of Perfumery. Its name? "Elide's Perfumes".
Just enter at "Elide's", have a look around, and guess if you travelled back in time.
The owner, Mr. Gianni Bertetti, is not just the person serving the customer: he is a person who loves to chat, narrating stories and anecdotes about perfumes from the past.
And, above all, is an extraordinarily competent person, with decades of experience in the perfumes field.
(All photos in this article were shot at "Elide's Perfumes" in Turin, Italy)

LIDG & LIDGE: Year 2014 comparation Review.

Year 2014 was a turmoil for many perfumes. One of the most disputed was the higly appraised LIDGE by Guerlain, and its "brother" LIDG. Therefore, in this test we sampled different batches to verify if any reformulation(s) occurred.

CORIOLAN (Guerlain, 1998)

Top: Bergamot, lemon, neroli, clary sage,

Heart: Ginger, Juniper, nutmeg, ylang-ylang, 

Base: Patchouli, oakmoss, vetiver, benzoin,

Nose : Jean Paul Guerlain
year: 1998
Longevity high (7 hours)
Sillage: high
Rating: 10/10

An unique bottle, an extraordinary scent, a long and incredible drydown, an unusual history, a resounding commercial failure. "Coriolan", a masculine scent from Guerlain, launched in 1998, was all these things, and even more.

Guerlain LIDGE analysis (2005-2013)

Since there are so many rumors about possible discontinuation / reformulation / watering down, I got three different L'Instant De Guerlain Extreme pour Homme (LIDGE) bottles, from three different ages. The beginning (batch 5H01 = year 2005), the last one before "discontinuation" rumors came out (2T01 = year 2012) and the last on shelves (batch 3X01, late 2013): I made a blind test, confronting these three samples (see pictures).

Guerlain LIDGE: reformulated? A 5-samples blind test.

L' Instant De Guerlain Extreme pour Homme (i.e. LIDGE), is the "Eau de Parfum
 version" of L'Instant de Guerlain (LIDG), two men's fragrances contending the "Trophy of Rivalry" with "Dior Homme" highly-acclaimed twins. But let's face it, both Dior and Guerlain are excellent, and none is better than the other.
What we want to investigate about, however, is the (alleged) "LIDGE reformulation", which (allegedly) took place at an unspecified time, around 2011 or 2012. True or false ?

MITSOUKO year 2013: does the Empress strike back?

ABSTRACT
Mitsouko, the "Mysterious", the Empress of Perfumes.... it's one of the true "legendary" perfumes, produced by Guerlain since 1919.
Superb, immediately recognizable, Mitsouko was subject to many reformulations, including a particularly critical one that took place around 2007-8, which significantly changed the perfume.