Oldest fragrance still in production?

[Christoph]

Here's a question that has probably been asked here before: what are the oldest fragrances that are still in productions as men's cologne or aftershave?

I would imagine Penhaligon's is pretty old. I recall an article in Vanity Fair a while back that talked about one of the oldest (if not THE oldest) fragrance maker in Europe, but I don't recall the name.

[Austin]

Santa Maria Novella is probably one of the oldest perfumers. It is run by monks in Italy. They have been around since the 12th century and have been making scents since the 16th or 17th century.

[TromboneGuy]

Basenotes.com lists Fiori de Capri by Carthusia as premiering in 1390, and it's still in production.

EDIT: the next-oldest that they list as in production is Kolnisch Wasser by Farina Gegenuber from 1714.

[Englandmj7]

Creed was founded in 1760. Not the oldest, but pretty old nonetheless.

[Doc4]

And T&H put out Freshman in 1815. It's practically a baby by comparison!

You can still (according to Wikipedia when I looked a while ago & am too lazy to chack again) get the 'original cologne' which is actually an EdT produced in Cologne since the 18th century or earlier.

[tim8557]

Flatulence ?

[Doc4]

Basenotes.com lists Fiori de Capri by Carthusia as premiering in 1390, and it's still in production.

EDIT: the next-oldest that they list as in production is Kolnisch Wasser by Farina Gegenuber from 1714.

And T&H put out Freshman in 1815. It's practically a baby by comparison!

You can still (according to Wikipedia when I looked a while ago & am too lazy to chack again) get the 'original cologne' which is actually an EdT produced in Cologne since the 18th century or earlier.

That's the one I was thinking of ... guess I should read the posts more carefully

[the_good_life]

Inas much as age confers marketable prestige, many companies try to link to some ancient tradition, which is often impossible to verify historically. Carthusia claim that old recipes were rediscovered in 1948 and recreated by a pharmacist by papal permission. Fiori di Capri is certianly no medieval fragrance. It contains Ylang Ylang and Sandalwood, among other things.

Santa Maria Novella probably has a better claim to a genuine tradition, though I notice that the oldest dated fragrance stems from 1828.

From what I know, Royal English Leather was last reformulated in 1806.

Crown Maréchale is based upon a 17th century formula. It is avery nice rose scent, but not authentically old.

The closest you can come, I believe, is indeed Farina Gegenüber dem Jülichsplatz. It's a cologne the history of which is painstakingly documented and the production of which is still in the hands of the founding family, who guarantee use of the original formula. This house was founded in 1709.
http://www.farina1709.com/

There's a rather detailed account under the eau de cologne link on that page, but it is in German.
There's a brief narrative here in English:
http://snipurl.com/1eu0s