Royal Scottish Lavender (1856)
by Creed

By far the highest quality lavender I've ever tried. It is firm and sharp - the sharpness probably from the clove/spice notes that give this lavender and bite and an edge. It actually bites the nose a bit, especially on application. There is no alcohol or booziness at all, and the typical Creed dry down to amber is warm and a nice finish. I'm not sure any lavender fragrance is worth $150+, but when I run out of my decant I will seriously think about it.

Over the top, heady lavender and reeks like brandy i.e. very alcoholic. Clove and lavender ends up smelling like potpourri here. A touch of Jicky comes in near the end. Confusing scent and stodgy.

A far better blend of vanilla and lavender than Caron pour un Homme, IMHO. Where Caron's rendition can easily become cloying, RSL remains beautiful and complex throughout its dry-down.

The clove adds just the right amount of spice to balance things out, and the amber and sandalwood in the base notes ensure a warm finish.

Damn near perfect.

Creed’s Royal Scottish Lavender is a nice composition. Subtle citrus smoothens the opening, as does vanilla the base. The lavender is pronounced, but not sharp or overbearing. I find lavender to have calming effect and RSL is no exception here. A scent I wear not to project, but to focus the mind and look within.

I would imagine that this particular lavender reacts in very different ways depending on the skin type. With my dry skin, it performs beautifully. Lavender can be brutal: Caron’s Pour Un Homme, for instance, has embarrassed me too many times by, without warning, becoming a sillage monster — I no longer wear it. There have been several times when I pushed Royal Scottish Lavender to its limits of application, heat, and humidity, and yet it has never “bloomed,” it has remained beautifully controlled, giving off a rich and natural and even fresh lavender note. The clove doesn’t misbehave at all and this scent has never gone medicinal or aromatic on me. Its drydown is quite quiet and dignified. If I were to name some complaints they would be that it gets a bit too powdery and that it doesn’t last long enough, but as far as its lasting power, it is a Creed so there’s no surprise. I think that naed_nitram is right, though, that Royal Scottish Lavender is quite stuffy — that’s probably why I like it so much.

Notes:
Bergamot, Neroli
Lavender, Clove
Sandalwood, Amber, Vanilla
Reformulated in 1975

A splendid lavender it is. All that easy to wear it is not. If I may quote the venerable de Charlus:"Poetic, quaint, fresh, prim, confectional, medicinal, old fashioned, somewhat delightful if somewhat staid."
If you want a fresh, spring-time, 'joie de Provence' lavender, de Nicolai's Haute Provence (nomen est omen) will be a good choice. If you want straightforward natural lavender, why not try the pristine lavender water from the good monks on Caldey Island, whose prices, I may add, are also more in the Christian spirit of sharing than Creed’s Royal Bill? RSL, despite its reformulation, does have a distinctly Victorian air about it, which is owed to the noticeable clove. It adds warmth and spiciness, but also makes for that certain stuffy-medicinal feel (not anywhere near the degree of Crown’s Park Royal, mind you). This, however, passes after a half an hour or so, as the clove recedes and the classical base note triad comes forth. The amber is first and adds a slightly animal/BO note, finally a very gentlemanly sandalwood-vanilla combination, interacting quite beautifully with the lavender, smoothens out matters significantly. The fresh opening and the classy drydown are the best parts of this fragrance, while the middle, which I would speculate was somewhat clipped in the reformulation, recalls memories, fond or possibly less so, of days long long past.