Aramis: My Grandpa’s Fragrance

My maternal grandfather John died over 20 years ago, and I will never forget the way he smelled.  He is the only person I’ve ever thought smell good, and who also smoked cigarettes.  I loathe the smell of cigarettes; they give me a headache and their acrid scent is always unwelcome when I am trying to get some fresh air outside.  My Grandpa John, however, smoked constantly and I was never bothered by the way he smelled.  I loved hugging my grandpa, the mixture of his warm skin, smoke, Aramis cologne is a scent I found a lot of comfort in when I was a kid.   

I hadn’t realized I remembered so vividly the way my grandpa smelled until I smelled Rogue Perfumery’s Chypre Siam.  A lovely friend I have in England sent me a decant and I was nearly brought to tears with the first sniff.  It smells very close to how my Grandpa smelled.  After smelling Chypre Siam, I realized my Grandpa had worn a fragrance, and so I set out to figure out what it was. I enlisted help from my mom and her two sisters, and it was her oldest sister that remembered what his fragrance was: Aramis! After I purchased a bottle, I had my mom smell it too. She said it reminded her of their bathroom growing up, and how it smelled after he got ready for work.

I didn’t know my Grandpa for very long; he passed away when I was fairly young.  He came to our house for Thanksgiving and that was the last time I saw him.  It’s strange to see someone and then just as quickly never see them again. Suddenly, the only thing I had left of him was my scent memory. When I look at the notes of Aramis, and wear it myself, it makes me feel closer to my grandpa.  There are a few notes in here that are some of my favorites, gardenia, patchouli and vetiver.  Without ever having smelled Aramis until this last year, I have loved and been drawn to these notes in fragrances.  I’d like to think in some sort of subconscious way, I knew my grandpa smelled like these and that I liked them for that reason. 

I like to think of him wearing Aramis while out on the golf course (golf was his very favorite) or doing the crossword puzzle with his special gold pen. I have these bits and pieces of him that I remember, or have asked my mom about, and often think of how unfair it is that I knew him for such a short time. My ability to remember the exact way he smelled is a testament to the power of scent, and how it connects us to other humans. Some may scoff and say that fragrance is frivolous, not a serious pursuit. But, without fragrance, I would have very few precious memories of my Grandpa John. What a joy to be able to still smell him and remember hugging him as a child.