Sartorial

The more I wear this the more I think this may be one of the best fragrances I’ve ever got my nose on. I have so many fragrances, but this one is really the perfect, very easy to wear “polished” scent. Smells like a dream. Perfect wedding fragrance.

I just recieved a new bottle as a gift. It is quite different from a decant from an older batch that I based my earlier review on. Side by side comparison makes it very obvious. The newer bottle has much less of a metalic/aldehydic/ozonic opening. It is sweeter and warmer. It is more linear. It's an 8/10 sadly. The decant from an older batch is much more metallic, more 3 dimensional. This is the 10/10. Would be interested to know if there has been a reformulation.

A masterpiece. I hope reformulations won’t affect its DNA, because I might have to buy another bottle.

Nice take on old man perfumery. This is as elegant a grandfather would smell like.

Beautiful sweet "lavender", manly, classic... Great perfume. I happen to have another lavender-based scent, Opus II by Amouage which is one of my favourites. Opus II seems to be almost only lavender and is much higher in these tones but stays unisex, Sartorial has something in it that makes it feel masculine, it is much more polite, refined, rounded. Lavender in Opus II seems to be like in turbo mode when compared with Sartorial. Whoever finds too little lavender in Sartorial or just wants more of it but doesn't mind the loss of leaning towards masculinity, the Opus II is a nice thing to try then. Sartorial seems better suited for office than Opus II.

It is important to state that Sartorial is not linear. It is complex and the opening is markedly different than the mid and base. Opening: The opening is brilliant in a literal sense (i.e. it is bright and sparkly). It is metalic and aldehydic, yet watery and crisp. I use these words to describe a brightness that is not sharp or abrasive. It immediately reminds me of the smell of a pair of suit pants that have had a sharp crease pressed into them by a very hot iron and the smell of the startch (Crisp Spray Starch in the blue can) evaporating off hot fabric. It is not at all powdery at any point. The dry down: The opening only lasts 30 minutes. It then transforms into warmer, cosy, refined and classy scent. Its base is honey, rounded with an amber accord and slight spice with hints of oakmoss and wood keeping it masculine. This is not animalic, but it is not at all feminine. It is not floral like Fougere Royal. It is not green/planty like Invasion Barabre. It is not vetiver heavy like Masculine Pluriel. It is not citrus forward like Eau Savauge. It is not an abrasive lavender bomb like Pour Un Homme de Caron. I dont detect ambroxan. Is it a fougere? Well if it is, its on the warmer end of the spectrum. It is mature without being 'old'. Is it like Brut? Brut is colder, less complex, linear and sharper. Sartorial is warmer and more complex. However they are communicating the similar idea of a polished *man*. Sartorial is 10/10.

I've been ignoring this for years , tried it 10 years ago or so , yeah barbershopy! Decided to give it a full wearing today. It opens super classic barbershopy vibe extremely masculine , after the honey accord kicks in it gets deeper and more complex This honey accord is not sticky sweet , it rather create a sweet Tobacco effect think Naxos/A*Men Pure Havane style. It also draw to memory Boss No.1 but not identical to it at all , let's say Sartorial provides prominently more fougre feel. I see why some think Sartorial is Masterpiece. For me I'll try it more , I feel it's better for cooler months not for summer for sure. Deep Mature Vintage Masculinity this my short impression of it. Cheers

AZZARO POUR HOMME, AZZARO POUR HOMME, AZZARO POUR HOMME, AZZARO POUR HOMME, AZZARO POUR HOMME

It is refined brut like fragrance in dry down and in opening it is also similar to azzaro pour home. It is more similar to brut of 80's era than current version of boots.

The best perfume for a true gentleman. I mean a real gentleman.

a very nice spicy honey fragrance. it's nothing special, but it smells really good. it's well crafted like most penhaligon's fragrances are

This has similarities to Bogart Pour Homme to me... Obviously higher quality and not as loud. Very nice either way.

Polished? Yes. Old school? It smells like a freshly ironed shirt. I might wear this for formal occasions. When it’s cold outside it smells like an expensive hotel lobby.

I used this perfume for 10 years. Simply perfect for an elegant businessman.

It smells like Charles Dickens!

@FragGuy your comment below is precisely what my experience has been. Batch 519211 for me. The box is flimsy cheap cardboard. The atomiser on my bottle was defective: attached wonky on the bottle and the atomiser itself was half recessed, so it wouldn't spray a full spray. This would cause liquid to drip around the neck of the bottle. Extremely poor quality from what is essentially a luxury brand. The fragrance is very weak too. About 2 hours later it is hardly detectable. I'm not sure if it's a bad batch or whether Pennhaligon's has watered down this masterpiece. I'm very disappointed. Contacted Customer Service and they are investigating the reason behind the atomiser issue. Not sure if I want a replacement or a refund.

Subtle class and elegance. Confidence with a warm embrace. Masterpiece fragrance. Smells beautiful on women as well.

this is pretty weird but not in a bad way, one of the most uniqe frag ive ever smelled.

This is such a great confidence boosting fragrance that gives off boss vibes. The combination of the lavender and green notes gives it that traditional fougere scent that eventually morphs into an addicting creamy texture. It's not a very long-lasting scent though so it'd be good to pack a bit of this stuff into a pocket atomizer to refresh throughout the day.

Is it similar with pinaud clubman?

I like this better than Invasion Barbare, actually. Sartorial feels like you took Invasion Barbare as a whole and added some warm, dark honey and myrrh notes to it then gave the whole thing a very subtle metallic sheen. Invasion Barbare is an incredible scent and an amazing PURE barbershop fragrance, this is just more interesting if you're looking for something with more character to it. Lasts for a very decent amount of time on me with subtle but noticeable projection which is consistently how almost all Penhaligon's perform on my skin.

Batch 511611 - 26th April, 2025. Sprayed three sprays at 4:15 PM which smelt great. It is now 6:13 PM and... nothing. It was gone well by 6 PM and nobody else I live with can smell it anymore as well. I can't speak to the old batches since this is my very first bottle but the longevity of my bottle is GARBAGE. I also herd that Penhaligon's fragrances have great atomisers whereas the atomiser on this bottle is one of the worst atomisers that I have ever used. Very disappointing. Either what I have heard is completely wrong or Penhaligon's really cheapened the most recent new packaging bottles in every way possible. Cheap thin and flimsy basic style box, terrible atomiser, terrible longvity...

Serious barbershop, It’s something else I never smelled something like this, so classy and elegant, suit and tie is a must, I don't see it as casual scent.

As a huge Duchaufour fan I really wanted to love this. You cannot deny the creativity and vision behind this fragrance. Imagine walking into a 90’s barbershop in Birmingham City. You got all the expensive shaving creams and hair products on the shelves and only fine dressed gentlemen enter this place. It does truly smell like a well put together man that has excellent taste in almost everything in life. Quality of the ingredients are impeccable as usual with Penhaligon’s. However it’s not really for me because of the retro vibe I get and to me it smells too much of a bygone era. However you cannot deny the quality of this fragrance. Deserves it’s cult status in the game, without a doubt

Firstly, I'll admit upfront that I do like Penhaligons fragrance in general. I find them elegant and steeped in tradition. This being said, I find the brand a mixture of truly great fragrance but often underperforming across the board. This is pretty much my view of Sartorial in a nutshell but I'll provide a little more detail. It's right in there amongst the best scents of all in my book. It's modern and traditional, clean and impeccable with a captivating mixture of lavender, beeswax-honey and leather amongst many other beautiful notes, especially that steam note that Penhaligons seem to utilise better than any other brand. When I wear this fragrance I feel a shift in my physical and mental attributes. I suddenly feel alert, upright and ready to handle what's to come in the day ahead. It's transformative as a good fragrance should be perhaps! I feel as though I want to put on a fine pin stripe suit and a beautifully made pair of Oxfords, even if I'm just going out to the shops. 😆. Not always appropriate. Nether the less, it certainly makes me smarten my casual attire a little! What you get is a couple of good hours of performance with moderate projection and sillage. Unfortunately, the scent becomes a little more intimate after that time and the elegant, freshness mostly fades to an intimate level. Strangely, the skin stays beautifully scented for many hours if you are prepared to walk around with your face buried in your elbow crease. It's a fantastic scent profile that deserves a perfomance boost. Much like many products from the brand. Even so, the trade off for lowish long-term performance for such a great short term blast is quite possibly worth it. Just make sure you carry a little with you for a top-up every now and then.

Unfortunately my nose cannot process this fragrance in the right way, after the glorious opening where all notes are present and the whole scent profile is there for a couple of minutes I then only get the beeswax note, so basically after a few minutes I only smell the beeswax which is pretty sad as the scent is great and definitely signature worthy. I am wondering if everyone else gets this. Based on that alone I would suggest to try first before buying.

This is my favorite fragrance, period, and one which I find is criminally underrated. Rumors of discontinuation are greatly concerning to me- it's been hard to find for the last 6 months or so. The fragrance itself embodies the feeling of put-togetherness, cleanliness, and sophistication when putting on a freshly ironed dress shirt. It is mature, yet not "old" feeling- you don't necessarily have to be a professional or above a certain age threshold to wear this fragrance, but rather it requires a certain composure of the wearer. I wouldn't personally wear it with a hoodie. It shines in tailoring, but works just as well in a nice sweater, jeans, and a Barbour jacket. What is really special here is the pairing of steam and metallic notes, alongside beeswax, to achieve that photorealistic Saville Row feeling, with oakmoss cleaning it up further, and lavender contributing some heart and warmth. This is perhaps the most masterful fragrance composition of all time, in my opinion.

Elegant, old school scent. Exactly smells like its name. It felt like taking me back to the tailor shop at 20th century

I'm really not getting much past the metallic watery notes. There's some lavender and oakmoss in there, but you really need to look for them. It does give you that clean-cut, well dressed, suit and tie kind of vibe. I feel like Penhaligon's has other fragrances that does the same thing, and Sartorial doesn't really stand out imo.

For the 15 minutes this scent lingers around for… it’s great. Side notes: I wish I could have this scent, but pumped up by a large margin. This has very poor lasting power and projection. Reminds me of Christmas 2025.