Clive Christian — Town & Country
Essence
Town & Country (2023), composed by Vincent Ricord, is Clive Christian’s reimagining of a Crown Perfumery scent originally from 1925 and famously associated with Winston Churchill. It sits in the Crown Collection at 25% Parfum concentration.
Scent Profile
The opening is the most praised passage: a juicy, sugared-citrus burst (lemon, bergamot) with an almost “lemonade” or citric-cocktail quality, joined by herbaceous, slightly powdery-green clary sage and juniper. Reviewers consistently land on the same structure beneath: the BR540-style accord of hedione, oakmoss, ethyl maltol-adjacent sweetness, and ambroxan - but kept more aromatic and less gourmand-sweet than Baccarat by the clary sage, juniper, and a whisper of frankincense (some note a near-tobacco facet from the sage). The heart adds cardamom warmth, white tea, and creamy sandalwood; the drydown is a clean, salty-ambergris and sandalwood base with cashmere/cedar/patchouli facets. One detailed review describes a notably strong, non-cloying ambergris/ambroxan core that - unlike BR540 - doesn’t turn sickly when oversprayed or worn in heat. Linearity: moderately linear after the citrus burns off, settling into the sweet-aromatic-amber accord. Signature accord: sparkling citrus glazed over a clean ambergris-sandalwood amber.
Performance
Performance is a relative strong point and a point of dispute. The majority report excellent results: a “legitimate 12-hour fragrance” with potent sillage, “great longevity, overwhelming sillage, and decent projection,” with six or seven sprays sufficing all day; one reviewer found it still strong at the 12-hour mark. A vocal minority disagrees (“I just do not agree when people say the performance is amazing”), finding it quiets to a skin scent sooner than the stats suggest. Aggregate flags projection and longevity as above-average.
Wearing Context
Marketed unisex, but wearers read leans masculine (“an emblem of masculinity,” “best for a mature man,” “Old World, old money”). Highly versatile - relaxed or special occasion, day or evening, spring through fall. Social perception: classy, clean, expensive-smelling, “royal,” compliment-generating; it reads as a polished, mature gentleman’s signature with a modern-crowd-pleaser core (because it shares DNA with one of the most popular accords of the era). Several note it garners compliments “in a way few others” do.
Comparisons & DNA
The reference comparison, cited almost universally, is Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 - Town & Country is widely heard as a more masculine, more citrusy, more aromatic, better-performing (and to some, less complex/lower-quality) interpretation of that ambroxan-driven DNA. Reviewers split on closeness: some say “very similar. In the opening,” others “smells nothing like Baccarat. Adjacent comparisons: Parfums de Marly Greenley (drydown - several find a harsh/chemical overlap), Parfums de Marly Haltane (“a bit less sweet”), Initio Oud for Greatness / Side Effect (“a stronger Oud for Greatness”), Nishane Hacivat (citrus-aromatic), and the budget house-clone Lattafa Emeer (“extremely similar,” recommended as the value alternative). Clive’s own Lucius attempts the same DNA but sweeter/creamier, where Town & Country keeps it drier and more aromatic.
Reception
Reception is polarized squarely on value, not quality. Rates it well (wearers ~ across hundreds of votes; ~58% “love”), and admirers call it addictive, awe-inspiringly blended, top-3-collection material. Critics’ axes of polarization: (1) price - near-universal agreement that $490/€450/£400 for 50 ml is “horribly expensive,” especially as it “does not bring forward a new DNA”; (2) originality - “kind of mid and underwhelming if you own these fragrances already”; (3) a minority who get aggressive synthetic woods or a “bug spray”/“cleaning product” facet (“$500 bug spray. So synthetic I gagged.”) Blind-buy verdict: do not blind-buy at retail; sample first, and if you love the BR540-aromatic profile, hunt the discounters (reviewers report seeing it under $200) or try Lattafa Emeer as a low-cost gauge.
Versions & Reformulation
The current Town & Country (2023) is itself a reimagining/reformulation of the 1925 Crown Perfumery original; reviewers note the modern version is “vastly reformulated” and necessarily so, since materials like ambroxan didn’t exist in 1925. As a contemporary product it is a single composition with no known further reformulations since its 2023 launch. Note: some retailer listings expand the pyramid (bergamot, juniper, lemon top; frankincense, cardamom, white tea, sandalwood heart; ambergris, cashmere, cedarwood, patchouli base) versus the house’s pared-down “clary sage / grey amber / sandalwood” three-note presentation - marketing variance, not distinct versions.
Acquisition Notes
Crown Collection, 25% perfume concentration, 50 ml. Per Luxurious Magazine’s 2023 launch feature, “Clive Christian Town & Country 50ml has an RRP of £400 / $490 ($450 ex VAT USA) / €450. This is the central friction point: as one reviewer computed, $500 for 50 ml is “almost like a thousand dollars for 100 ml. It is, however, frequently discounted on the gray market - reviewers report acquiring 50 ml around $200 and seeing it “under $200” at discounters.
Notable Facts & Lore
- The marquee lore is the Winston Churchill association: the original Town & Country (1925) was “famously worn by Winston Churchill” and was, per the house, “a shining star of a new era of the Crown Perfumery Company.
- Clive Christian states it drew on the original’s signature herbaceous blend (clary sage, juniper) referenced in the old Crown formula books, layered with mossy-musky woods.
- Reviewers lean into the imagery - “easy to imagine the ebullient.
- Churchill in a fine three-piece Savile Row suit giving off clouds of this, cigars and Pol Roger champagne.
- The house lineage (Crown Perfumery, 1872, Queen Victoria’s crown emblem; Clive Christian OBE awarded 2012) is the prestige backdrop.