Saturday, January 17, 2009

Lacoste Eau de Sport Review : A Blast From the Past!



Lacoste Eau de Sport is a perfume created in 1968 by Jean Kerleo of the house of Patou under license to compliment the Lacoste line of sportswear. It is a long discontinued but supreme classic, a perfume which manages to tie the fleeting freshness of petitgrain, verbena, bergamot and lemony citrus to a spicy heart of laurel, pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, oldschool woods, slight powder and a touch of rockrose. The opening is reminscent of the natural citrus of Crown Imperiale or Annick Gourtals Eau d'Hadrien, and the heart is a masterpiece example of the classic gentleman's EDT genre. Contrary to its name "Eau de sport" it doesnt have the spirit of a typical citrus "water", instead it feels a bit viscous, but not oily - I would like to use the french word "seve" which means sap; this is a light sap/resin, the scent to me evokes the image of a fresh cut into an imaginary species of "Lacoste" tree. The development is pure Jean Kerleo: no note stands out as they are all perfectly blended into one unified scent. Due to this perfect balance the layers of evaporation are extremely sublte which could almost fool you into thinking that it is more linear than it really is! Most notably, even the perception of citrus is very long lasting in this high quality blend. I have only this carded sample (in photo) which has managed to remain fresh for over 40 years! This is very astonishing for a citrus cologne but the few people with which I have had contact that also own this cologne say the same thing: it appears to be perfectly preserved. My late 60's Eau Sauvage on the other hand smells foul! This is long discontinued and impossible to track down, but I would someday like to own a full bottle of it and wouldn't mind paying even astronomical prices for this forgotten gem. Alas, right now that would be difficult on a student's budget!

My Question to anyone knowledgeable on this subject is what is the difference between the version with the small black cap and clear bottle vs. the frosted glass bottle w/ the taller gold top? Is it just a design change over the years? Ligne Sport Lacoste

9 comments:

klavaza said...

I think there is not a noticeable difference between the two versions of Eau de Sport. If you search in Amazon.com you will find a seller offering one 3.x Oz. blottle of Eau de Sport for US $126.00. I cannot buy it, since I live outside the US and they do not ship it by air. In eBay I found a miniature sometime ago for US $39.00. It seems that in 1994 this supreme classic, you are right, was relaunched in a different bottle. A friend of mine, who looks for old or discontinued fragances is looking for one, I hope he will be lucky and I will be happy to have it. I only own an almost empty bottle from the 70s. Sometimes I open it just to remember... Congrats for this blog and for your excellent description of Eau de Sport (Is Kerleo alive? Perhaps he could recreate it just for a very selected customers?).

klavaza said...

Just another thing: Eau de Sport comes from an era when Jean Patou reigned supreme amongst the finest perfumers of the world. Oh, those times!

Parfum said...

Leon, thanks so much for the response and praise, yes Jean Kerleo is still living, he is the director of the Osmotheque in Paris (perfume museum) - it is my hope to meet him very soon if I can!

Even though I was not alive at the time I wish the house of Patou could come back to its former glory :D

Eric said...

Hello All
Ah, the wonders of google. I was just sampling it, and thought I'd google it see if it had become available again.

I'm a parfum "amateur", but I do know what I like, and this is my favourite of all time. I have a nearly full 120ml bottle of Eau de Sport (black top) which I bought as a student in the late 70s/early 80s, and has remained in my various fridges since, being used only on rare occasions, but more frequently opened like Leon to "remember".

Congratulations on an excellent Blog, which I shall now follow

Parfum said...

Hi Eric,

thanks for the kind words :)

Yes, this fragrance is a classic to be treasured! I must get a larger format for my reference collection. It does come up from time to time on ebay

ambrose said...

The Lacoste with clear bottle & golden cap is original Lacoste by Patou, released in 1967 and the one with frosted bottle is actual Lacoste Eau De Sport by Patou. The difference between two of these is quite remarkable. Original Lacoste edt is powdered fougere when eau de sport is animalic herbal citrus. I'm actually wearing both of them side by side as I'm writing this. Indeed marvelous creations. If you manage to meet up with Jean Kerleo, I'd suggest you to ask a few relevant question regarding his biggest masterpieces, Patou PH & PH Privé.

Parfum said...

Ambrose,

Good to hear that there is a difference! clears up some questions - I am still hoping to add both of these to my reference collection

As far as Mr. Kerleo - I will be seeing him soon. I will likely start a thread asking readers to suggest some questions they would like answered by Mr Kerleo about a week or so before I leave :)

Trish Stratus said...

Very informative article. Just what I have been looking for.

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Lacoste Eau de Sport Review : A Blast From the Past!

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