My brothers and sisters, my fellow addicted Patch Heads, sit up and heed my words: Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier‘s Patchouli 1969 is a hidden gem. I loved it so much that I bought the full 4 oz bottle for myself just a few hours into my second testing of it. Fans of Guerlain’s LIDGE (L’Instant de Guerlain Eau Extreme) may want to pay attention, too.

Source: wallpaperswa.com

Patchouli 1969  is an eau de parfum that was released in 2019. Maître Parfumeur et Gantier (hereinafter “MPG”) describes it as a hippie patchouli and references the Woodstock concert of 1969.

Patchouli 1969 eau de parfum via Luckyscent.

Part of their description reads as follows:

True to the hippies’ favourite fragrance, the accord is built for and around the patchouli flower. From the head notes, the scent of patchouli mixed with cardamom makes for a fresh and bright start.

The elegant heart of the perfume blends this beautiful Indonesian flower with a floral bouquet of jasmine, rose and lotus flower. The base notes are Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier’s signature blend of sandalwood and musk, accompanied by rich vanilla.

The note list is: 

Head Notes: Cardamom, Patchouli, Petit grain bigarade

Heart Notes: Patchouli, Jasmine, Rose, Elemi

Base Notes: sandalwood, vanilla, musk 

I reviewed Patchouli 1969 on Twitter at the beginning of the year and at length. (I know some of you hate Twitter, but it is the easiest, least exhausting, and least pressure-filled way for me to write.) In the review, I explain how or why the fragrance made me think of Guerlain’s LIDGE (but not LIDG) in the first half and also how the fragrance changes over time. Spoiler: it’s in the smoky cardamom chai tea-like note that they both share, plus the citrusy start and the creamy sandalwood and vanilla.

Source: myfancypantry.com (Website link embedded within.)

You may want to click on the link and read the review first before you come back to read some of the updates I have regarding Patchouli 1969’s olfactory differences based on the amount of fragrance that you apply.

(Review THREAD) 1. Maître Parfumeur et Gantier's Patchouli 1969, a fragrance I bought for myself after a 2nd wearing & whose 1st half is virtuallly identical to Guerlain's cult hit, LIDGE.

Patchouli & LIDGE lovers will like this a lot, imo. #MPG #scent

1/? pic.twitter.com/vbyPIKl3hd

— Kafkaesque (@Kafkaesque_Blog) January 19, 2022

I have a few updates to the information provided there. First, I was an idiot. I should not have let a 75% discounted price dazzle my eyes and addle my brain so much that I trusted an unknown auction site called DMCC. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. The person I bought my bottle from provided a bogus USPS tracking link to an item bought (by someone else) 10 days previously and supposedly delivered the morning after my purchase, took off with my money, never responded to emails, and never responded to PayPal, either. Thankfully, PayPal refunded me but the point is, I do not technically have a bottle of Patchouli 1969 at this time of this post. I will remedy that soon.

Second, I loved Patchouli 1969 so much that I wrote to Franco Wright of Luckyscent and asked him if he would add it to their line. While I know Neiman Marcus sells it, Luckyscent ships worldwide and I wanted more of my fellow Patch Heads to have the opportunity to sample the fragrance. Franco received Patchouli 1969 last night and it’s up on their website.

Third, and critically, I learnt last night that Patchouli 1969 has a different balance of notes when you apply a lot. When I heard that Luckyscent now carried the fragrance, I stopped hoarding my 1.5 ml vial that I’d purchased from MPG back in December and I splashed Patchouli 1969 on wildly. I’d estimate that I splashed on roughly the equivalent of about 6 or 7 sprays between my two forearms, wrists, chest, and neck. Maybe more.

Photo: Oer-Wout Photography (Direct website link embedded within.)

With that quantity, Patchouli 1969 was a “hippie” patchouli right from the start and had only a weak resemblance to Guerlain’s LIDGE. The patchouli was pretty earthy and woody right from the start, the opening booziness dissipated with sad rapidity, the milky cardamom chai note was sapped and largely covered up by the patchouli’s grittier, earthy, woody aspects, and everything felt…well, pretty hard-core during the first 4 or 5 hours. While I still love it, I think it’s critical to emphasize that how much scent you apply will definitely impact the nature of the patchouli and its facets.

For what it’s worth, when I spoke to a Twitter perfumista friend back in January about the sample sets he’d ordered, he said he thought Patchouli 1969 was extremely similar to LIDGE as well. He may have used the word “dupe,” even. In other words, it’s not just me.

As I said, I like this other side of Patchouli 1969 as well. I don’t have something exactly like it in my large patchouli collection nor do I recall encountering something exactly like it. I’ve tried (and bought) a lot of resinous, ambered, somewhat sweetened patchoulis, several boozy patchoulis, and a few old-school Reminiscence-style patchs with the once standard triumvirate of patchouli, vetiver, and cedar. But Patchouli 1969, when applied in massive quantities, is significantly earthier and woodier than even the old-school style with their loads of accompanying woods and little amber counterbalance. Patchouli 1969 really does feel like something from the 1960s hippie era.

Source: zastavki.com

Source: Quora.com

The thing which bemuses me, however, is just how refined, mellow, cozy, approachable and, dare I say, cuddly Patchouli 1969 is when only a moderate amount (3-4 smears on one forearm) are applied. It’s like an entirely different fragrance! To be clear, even with the moderate amount, the second half of Patchouli 1969 turns more hardcore eventually but it’s still never so earthy as Patchouli 1969 was when I was splashing the juice on as though I were celebrating a major life event.

I don’t know if fewer or more people will like Patchouli 1969 if it’s less like LIDGE, close to LIDGE, and/or an earthy-woody sort of patchouli on their skin. I honestly can’t guess. For some people, a hippie patchouli evocative of the 1960s is not a bad thing, for others it definitely will be.

The only two things that I can tell you with certainty: First, quantity seems to make a big difference to the scent that you’ll experience; and second, unless you’re a die-hard patch head, you should sample Patchouli 1969 first. (Actually, even if you’re a die-hard patch head, you should still always sample and test everything first.) Luckyscent sells samples for $5. The full 4 oz/120 ml bottle is $195.

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier currently has Patchouli 1969 on sale for €165,00. I believe the regular price is €185 or something thereabouts. I don’t know what their shipping prices are within Europe but shipping to the US is roughly €25.

For more opinions on Patchouli 1969, you can turn to Fragrantica.