Bandit Supreme Robert Piguet

I have been saying for a long time that Bandit Robert Piguet is not like itself. Germaine Cellier "wrote" the great leather chypre with sweeping, large strokes. Greenery, bitterness, a velvety southern night with its intoxicating aroma of flowers, and then hard black leather and a cigarette without a filter.

No one had worked like that before or after Cellier, so when everyone who produced the raw materials and the Piguet perfumes themselves died or retired, the brand went into decline. In 1985, it was acquired by Alfin, which finally finished off what was left. The packaging from those years is pure mass market, the fragrances, if you catch them at auctions, are pale or vulgar. In addition, they do not store well.

In 1995, the new owner of Fashion Fragrances and Cosmetics, Ltd. decided to dig up the stewardess (c) and sort out more or less close to the original Bandit and Fracas. The 1999 reformulation was done by Delphine Lebeau from Givaudan. It turned out to be less rather than more, but even this dusty and sweaty Bandit made you tremble.

Then it was sorted out several times, but I was already relying only on myself. I was lucky. I started looking for vintage perfumes when it was not yet fashionable, so I have a good and correct edition of Bandit in perfume, eau de toilette and in a colon. But for about seven years now it has not been found anywhere. The bottles have settled in private collections and are unlikely to surface.

Meanwhile, the brand was producing more and more new fragrances, I tried them without much enthusiasm and somehow did not even remember them. Until this spring, I accidentally came across Bandit Supreme.

At first, I did not believe that they finally managed to breathe life into this Golem. Bandit Supreme is still different from vintage, but it is intoxicating, it makes your head spin, damn it, it keeps you in suspense and does not let go. Yes, the similarity is not 100%. Supreme is dustier, not black, but dark gray. It has brighter green and does not have a scarlet trace of lipstick on a cigarette, but this is the best version of Bandit in the last 30 or even 40 years. Tried it in April, bought it at the first opportunity. Enjoying it.

Bandit Suprême Robert Piguet, 2020

Galbanum, neroli, orange blossom, jasmine, amber, patchouli, oak moss, leather, musk.

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