Bandit Supreme Robert Piguet

I've been saying for a long time that Robert Piguet's Bandit is unlike anything else. Germaine Cellier "painted" the great leather chypre with sweeping, broad brushstrokes. Greenery, bitterness, a velvety southern night with its intoxicating floral scent, and then, all at once, tough black leather and an unfiltered cigarette.

No one had worked like this before or since, so when everyone who produced the raw materials and the Piguet perfumes themselves died or retired, the brand went into decline. In 1985, Alfin acquired it and completely destroyed what was left. The packaging from those years is pure mass-market, and the fragrances, if you can find them at auction, are dull or vulgar. They also don't keep well.

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

It was remade several times afterward, but I was already relying only on myself. I was lucky. I started looking for vintage perfumes before it was fashionable, so I have a good, accurate selection of Bandit in perfume, eau de toilette, and cologne. But for about seven years now, I haven't found it anywhere. The bottles have settled in private collections and are unlikely to surface again.

Meanwhile, the brand was constantly churning out new fragrances, and I tried them without much enthusiasm and somehow didn't even remember them. Until this spring, when I accidentally stumbled upon Bandit Supreme.

At first, I couldn't believe they'd finally managed to breathe life into this Golem. Bandit Supreme is still different from vintage, but it's intoxicating, it's heady, it damn well keeps you on edge and doesn't let go. Yes, the resemblance isn't 100%. Supreme is dustier, not black, but dark gray. It has brighter greens and doesn't have that red lipstick mark on a cigarette, but it's the best version of Bandit in the last 30 or even 40 years. I tried it in April and bought it as soon as I could. I'm loving it.

Bandit Suprême Robert Piguet,

Galbanum, neroli, orange blossom, jasmine, amber, patchouli, oakmoss, leather, musk.