Green Energy (Givenchy)

I first learned about this fragrance in 2008, the year I became interested in perfumes, and had wanted to buy a bottle ever since, but somehow never got around to it until now. It was discontinued even then, and eBay prices were exorbitant, but they’ve since come back down to a respectable twenty dollars an ounce or so. This must have been a duty-free, airports-only release, as most bottles are the smaller 50 ml size. I grabbed one, half-expecting it to be semi-spoiled and underwhelming, but it turned out to be brand new and unsprayed, with an unprimed atomizer. I totally lucked out. A perfectly fresh bottle of a 25-year-old unisex Givenchy that I never see in brick and mortar shops. 

Many reviewers describe the fragrance as a “disappointing” green, lacking in true green notes and leaning instead on fruity and floral hues. Green fragrances generally fall into two categories: bitter-vegetal or sweet-floral (sometimes fruity-floral), and the consensus here points to the latter. Indeed, Green Energy -- aka the portmanteau “Greenergy” -- opens like a synthetic spin on Green Irish Tweed, with a lush accord of basil, cardamom, mandarin orange, lavender, Iris pallida, violet leaf, spearmint, and dihydromyrcenol, accented by traces of natural galbanum for sweetness. It smells surprisingly crisp and rich for the style, and promises great things. Also, the smoothness of the blend is somewhat reminiscent of the also-discontinued and now impossible to find Xeryus (1986). At this stage of the fragrance, it is without argument utterly and entirely "green" in smell. 

Within three hours, most of these green notes have stepped back, bridged by an unusual French marigold accord -- uniquely resinous-green and bittersweet, with spicy and ambery nuances. This is where I find Green Energy most interesting. Alberto Morillas and Ilias Ermenidis built a fairly simple base of synthetic sandalwood, cardamom seed, and coriander, with faint traces of basil and vanilla for herbal sweetness. To my nose, the coriander dominates. It reminds me somewhat of Paul Smith, but the fragrance as a whole also recalls Pino Silvestre Green Generation Him, itself distantly related to GIT by way of a more herbal take on the lavender/orange blossom of Eternity for Men. For this type of green fragrance, the dihydromyrcenol, violet leaf, and iris accord is everywhere.

I get a full workday out of Green Energy, and its base of “cool” spices is simple yet distinctive enough to satisfy my yen for abstract greens. Paul Smith is simpler and more cardamom-forward, with more vegetal, grassy-green facets in the top and middle, while Bowling Green and the original Pino Silvestre aim for a more rustic herbal take. Green Energy, like many of these, is entirely unisex, though women tend to opt for even more overtly floral or fruity compositions instead, which is kind of a shame. I’m happy to nurse my 1.7 oz bottle while it lasts; the supply will likely dry up, and prices could again soar into the upper ozone, but I’ll probably reach for the other scents I’ve mentioned before the Givenchy when I want a true green-out.