English sporty chic – Penhaligon’s ‘Racquets’ fragrance

Dear readers, Wimbledon is just around the corner! I am truly thrilled that this classic English tournament finally comes back this year as it has been suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic! One of my favorite ‘ritual’ for Wimbledon, is to put on my beloved dapper outfit designed by Ralph Lauren, getting the champagne and strawberries with whipped cream ready, to welcome this tournament of the year! Hey, seems like that one thing is missing! Yes, the right scent! How can one attends the tournament under such a beautiful summer weather without a sophisticated fragrance to match with? Thankfully, I do have something to recommend if one would like to smell sophisticated, energetic with a flair of classic English sporty chic, and that is, the latest fragrance called ‘Racquets’, by the esteemed English perfume house - Penhaligon’s.

I first noticed this new fragrance when I passed by their boutique about weeks ago, and the thing that caught my eyes, was the red-and-white color ribbon placed at the neck of the fragrance’s bottle, which made me think of the inspiration was come from Austria (or Viennese) at the first place but it wasn’t; the opening of this fragrance is zesty fresh and energetic, apparently it derives from Lemon, which typically used in most of the sport’s fragrance for men (sometimes for women as well), while Lemon could be a very tricky scent as it could make someone smells like a cleaning detergent if either the perfumer (and the user) uses it wrongly, in this new fragrance ‘Racquets’, it smells pretty pleasant and classy to me (frankly I am not a big fan of Lemon nor Pineapple in terms of fragrance), and I started to realize the magic of the olfactory combination, was played by the other woody accords – Gaiac wood, which gave the masculine flair yet a very gentle, polished feel with a bright citrus fruitness that makes this fragrance pretty ideal for summer time, even off the Wimbledon game or tennis court. The base note surprised me as the scent was derived from the Wood-leather, but to me that’s not that leathery at all as the dry-down smells rather clean! It’s more like Amber and Oakmoss for some reason, a bit of woody-chypre kind of notes, but overall, the impression to me is very polished, energetic and classic.

While I am not a big fan of sports fragrance of any kind, this new ‘Racquets’ by Penhaligon’s is an exceptional kind of ‘sport fragrance’ in our contemporary world (if one needs to classify this into the ‘sports’ category), with a very classic and traditional English appeal of the past, yet, the olfactory interpretation is modern, it’s fresh, crispy and elegant which doesn’t feel like a typical sports fragrance at all, maybe that’s why I am fond this fragrance. At the same time, it also creates an image in my head of a very dapper and well-groomed handsome young English gentlemen, wearing his tailored and smart Wimbledon uniform – the navy rowing blazer with a pair of crispy cream light wool trousers, with his pair of shiny white tennis trainer, giving his sunshine and welcoming smile under the bright sun in the tennis court, exuding his undeniable charm, classic sport’s spirit and elegance.

Do share with me which fragrance will you wear to welcome this year’s Wimbledon tournament!

Image courtesy of Penhaligon’s Hong Kong.

https://www.penhaligons.com/uk/en