Creed Sublime Vanille & Windsor : Royalty Need No Shout

Creed has been on a bit of a roll in the latter half of 2009. At the end of the summer they introduced Acqua Fiorentina and I agree with Marlen’s review of it (CREED: Acqua Fiorentina 2009). Acqua Fiorentina was a surprisingly unisex fragrance despite the pink color of the juice. To close the year the House of Creed has opened their first New York City boutique and coincidentally with that opening they have released two new fragrances, Sublime Vanille and Windsor.

For a House with as much credibility as Creed the past couple of years had seen a slow trickle of uninspired releases emanating from the Creed laboratories. Amalfi Flowers, Virgin Island Water, and Love in Black all seemed to have a depressing linearity and uneventful development.

The release of Acqua Fiorentina was the first shot that 2009 would be different and that fragrance hearkened back to what makes Creed a great house; the use of a completely unique note, the greengage plum, backed by a typical palette of notes for which the signature note would accentuate different nuances. This same blueprint is followed for Sublime Vanille. Windsor turns out to be one of the most unique Creed fragrances to be produced in a long time.

Creed Sublime Vanille

Sublime Vanille is the first release in a new line within Creed called Royal Exclusives. The Royal Exclusives have the very lofty goal of making “a statement to the aesthetic world about the legacy, quality and collectability of fragrance as art.” The bottle of Sublime Vanille certainly lives up to this goal as it is made of hand-blown Pochet glass with the Creed crest etched into it. As striking as the bottle looks it is the juice inside that is even more striking. Olivier and Erwin Creed were the co-developers of Sublime Vanille and right off the top Messrs.

Creed make an inspired choice to mix the two classic perfume sources of vanilla; the slightly floral vanilla orchid and the richer, sweeter aspect of bourbon vanilla. In many cases the choice of making no choice could go horribly awry as the competing aspects of vanilla could cause an unpleasant clash. In this case the exact opposite occurs as first the slightly green and floral vanilla orchid appears and instead of directly competing with that accord the bourbon vanilla instead creates a slightly sweeter foundation for the orchid and thus accentuates the floral aspect.

This use of vanilla-like accords continues as tonka joins in and this works to intensify the sweeter bourbon vanilla. If I told you a fragrance was vanilla orchid, bourbon vanilla, and tonka you’d probably be making an appointment at a dentist for fear of how sweet it would be.

Sublime Vanille has average longevity and below average sillage. I found Sublime Vanille to be very much a skin scent, which again is unusual for a vanilla-forward fragrance, as all too often they are very content to fill up a room with their presence. Sublime Vanille feels like a fragrance made especially for the wearer’s pleasure.

Sublime Vanille is the second winner for Creed in 2009 and if it wasn’t for the fragrance I’m going to review below it would be my favorite Creed since Himalaya.

Creed Windsor

As I said at the beginning I haven’t been excited about a Creed release in seven years. I received my sample of Windsor expecting to be disappointed, again. Au contraire, mon frère. According to the Creed press materials Windsor is the fragrance created in 1936 for King Edward VIII of England. The goal of the composition was to use ingredients grown in the British Empire as its inspiration. The other goal was to make a fragrance that lived up to the Duke of Windsor’s famous credo “Royalty need not shout.”

                                                                                     Windsor Castle © schools-wikipedia.org

Windsor admirably holds to that credo while holding a quietly powerful beauty throughout its development. The top starts with a visit to the very British liquor cabinet as coriander and juniper combine with Jamaican lime to create the perfect gin and tonic accord which we must be drinking in the Scottish Highlands as the scent of Highland pine blows in underneath to add a resinous note to the top.

This slightly boozy beginning cut by the pine note is gorgeous and it lingers for a long while on my skin before very gradually giving way to a stark rose that the press release says is reminiscent of the Nuits de Young variety of Duke of Windsor roses.

I’m not a botanist but what I can say is this rose is closer in style to the green rose note I associate with geranium while having more of the traditional rose structure.

Windsor has incredible longevity on me, much longer than many other fragrances from Creed.

It has modest sillage to go with the idea of not having to shout to be noticed. I think any man who wears Windsor will be noticed. While Windsor itself might be a subtle beauty of a masculine fragrance which revels in its quiet balance and power; it makes this perfumisto want to stand up and shout “Creed is Back!”

Author: Mark Behnke  (Somerville Metro Man)
Fragrantica Writer

Mark Behnke is based in Somerville, MA, a suburb of Boston, and is the writer for Fragrantica. By day, he works as a research chemist in a pharmaceutical company. By night, he has been a consistent poster on the forums at Basenotes.net under his nom de blog, Somerville Metro Man. You can also follow Mark on Twitter @SomMetroMan if you're curious to find out what he wears on a day-to-day basis.