Pierre Guillaume Mojito Chypre

Cocktail fragrances are usually a marketing exercise. This one has a mossy chypre hiding underneath it. Pierre Guillaume released Mojito Chypre in 2015 as the fifth entry in the Croisiere collection, an eau de parfum that sets lime, mint and strawberry against patchouli, vetiver, labdanum and oak moss. The brief was a beach party from Ibiza to Miami, and the structure underneath is older and more serious than that suggests. Aromatica carries the Mojito Chypre decant in Bangladesh for anyone curious about that contradiction.

Fragrance Notes

Top: Strawberry, Mint, Lime, Aldehydes

Heart: Mojito Accord, Rum

Base: Moss, Patchouli, Vetiver, Vanilla, Labdanum

Full note breakdown on Fragrantica.

The Scent

The opening is loud and unashamedly artificial in the best sense. Lime and mint arrive together as a recognisable mojito, and the strawberry sitting on top of them is the synthetic strawberry of sweets and yoghurt rather than anything picked from a plant. Reviewers name that specifically, and it is deliberate, since the material is strawberry aldehyde. The aldehydes give the whole opening a fizzing quality that mimics carbonation. Rum absolute follows and adds a boozy sweetness that makes the cocktail reading unmistakable for the first half hour. Then the fragrance does something most fruity summer scents never attempt. The mojito accord evaporates and a chypre structure comes up underneath it, oak moss and patchouli with vetiver running through, dry and earthy where the opening was juicy. Labdanum and a little vanilla soften that base so it never turns austere. Reviewers describe the effect as grown up, and the common observation is that the fragrance is simple in construction, essentially three accords, while being far more interesting than its brief implies. It is not a traditional chypre, and people expecting Chanel Pour Monsieur or a classic mossy structure will find the label misleading. What it does deliver is a fruity opening with real bones under it, which is rarer than it should be. In heat the mint reads cooler and the moss takes over sooner, which suits it. Strawberry aldehyde has a long history in perfumery as a food flavouring material, which is why the note reads as familiar and slightly nostalgic rather than as fruit.

The oak moss here is used with a light hand, closer to a suggestion of the classic structure than a full reconstruction of it, and purists tend to notice that. What you are buying is the contrast between the two halves rather than either half on its own.

When to Wear

Spring and summer, in casual and outdoor settings where the volume is welcome. Beach days, weekend afternoons, parties, holidays. Aromatica's summer collection gathers the rest of this mood.

Who Is It For

Someone who wants a fun summer fragrance but gets bored by fruity florals with nothing underneath the fruit. It suits people who like mossy bases and will sit through a playful opening to get to one.

If the bright fruit end is what appeals, Erba Pura covers similar territory with more sweetness and no moss. You can also browse Aromatica's citrus fragrances for the sharper options.

Available as an authentic decant in Bangladesh at Aromatica in 3ml, 5ml, 9ml, and 15ml.