Calypso by Robert Piguet (1959, riedited 2011)

Calypso. It 's the name of the beautiful nymph, daughter of God Atlas who, in the Odyssey,  loves Ulysses and keeps him on her island for seven years, until Zeus sends Hermes to convince her to allow Ulysses to leave the island for Ithaca.
A most appropriate name for a perfume I liked immediately; essentially it’s a chypre rendered in a more lively and bright way. Instead of bergamot (a classic chypre note ) here there’s mandarin; and oakmoss a quite nocturnal and turbulent note that now is hardly used, gives way to a much more soothing amber note.
All in all, the structure remains that of a chypre, and the formula is very close to the original of 1959. So in spite of many "modern chypres" having nothing to share with an original chypre, Calypso definitely belongs to this glorious family (for which I have a weakness).
I've worn Calypso several days and I detected at least two personalities: romantic/lively on one hand (mandarin, geranium), and feminine/sophisticated (Bulgarian and centifolia roses and orris) on the other. Basenotes of patchouli and leather are there just to make the composition more sound, but don’t actually add weight or thickness, as long as the scent remains bright, cheerful, optimistic, with a touch of understated elegance. Compared to other perfumes in the Robert Piguet line, reissued in recent years Calypso is somehow lighter, a feature that may be of interest to those who usually scary away from the Piguets’ intensity: here there’s no cruel beauty as in Fracas nor a dark and tormented soul as in Bandit, nor hypnotic sensuality as in Baghari. Calypso was born with a different mood and to understand this you better start from the name, i.e. that of a nymph. It’s obviously curious, lively, light, moody and sophisticated.
It must be.
Otherwise they wouldn’t have called it Calypso but Circe.

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