My introduction to Hemingway came in 1964 at the age of five. No I wasn’t a budding genius reading novels before I entered first grade, it was much more mundane than that. We had sailed down to Key West from Miami. The adults were talking about boring things which allowed me to make the acquaintance of the local cat. I was playing with a string when I noticed the oddest thing; the cat’s paws had extra toes. When my father came to get me I mentioned this and he told me it was a Hemingway cat. Of course I didn’t know who Hemingway was, and wouldn’t for many years, but I thought the cats with the extra toes were cool. When I eventually began to read the works of Ernest Hemingway I realized he was a bit of an extra toed cat in the literary world. He was never part of the mainstream or adored by his contemporaries but you just couldn’t dismiss him or his works easily.

My most recent interaction with Hemingway comes courtesy of Gerald Ghislain and his newest release for Histoires de Parfums, 1899 Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway would blaze a path through almost all of the historical turning points of the first half of the Twentieth Century and for M. Ghislain to capture a life so fully lived, in a fragrance, was going to be a challenge. M. Ghislain wanted a fragrance which evoked the travels of Hemingway from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. That means 1899 evolves though an almost traditional Mediterranean mix down to a base of tropical warmth and humidity.  

Hemingway in Pamplona, Spain

1899 opens with a vibrant bergamot and woody juniper with just a pinch of pepper. The early moments are as bright as the summer sun. The pepper adds a bit of piquant discord as if adding a bit of wanderlust and the need to move along and so 1899 heads to a floral heart. Orange blossom and iris continue the themes from the top and they are extremely well-balanced against each other so that neither dominates and a lovely floral harmony is achieved. Like the top cinnamon is added in a very modest amount and it again signals the early moment of another developmental change. Vetiver is the beginning of the base notes; vanilla and amber join in fairly quickly and they give a much deeper feel than the earlier phases. Now we are in the tropics breathing in the vanilla orchids surrounded by native woods. The amber picks up some of the spiciness of the earlier notes but in the base it has settled in for the long haul.

1899 has average longevity and average sillage.

I think there will be some who will be wondering where the tobacco and booze are in a fragrance named after Ernest Hemingway. I admit when I was reading the press release that is what I expected to see in the notes. I think M. Ghislain made a much shrewder choice by going for the feel of two of the regions of the world where much of Hemingway’s life and prose played out. The Mediterranean and the Caribbean along with M.Ghislain’s evocation of them is probably more apt than taking the more obvious path. 1899 makes for an unusual homage to Hemingway but it makes for a beautiful story on my skin and who can ask for more from a fragrance named after Hemingway?

Disclosure: This review was based on a press sample provided by Histoires de Parfums.

Thanks to Histoires de Parfums we have a 5mL press sample of 1899 Ernest Hemingway to giveaway. This is a US only draw. To be eligible leave a comment naming your favorite Histoires de Parfums or your favorite Hemingway book. The draw ends August 21,2013.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor