Question:
There is a difference between the two juices definitely even though they share the older bottle. To my nose, the darker juice has a little less citrus at the top, and spicier, heavier until the base. Lighter juice has more citrus at the top it seems and less heady into the mid notes. They converge though from late middle into the base. I may be influenced somewhat by the juice color and previous conversation to sense and percieve the two that way; hard to tell.
Thanks for helping me out on this one guys. Much Thanks.

Answer:
I have both and the older has none of the citrusy top-notes of the new one. The new one is loaded with citrus. The old one is more earthy, almost peanut-like. It's gonna dry down to the same vetiver note, by and by.
The old juice I have is in the old bottle. I don't think they put the new brew in old bottles.
But if you ask Guerlain, the formulation is the same as it's always been.

Answer:
The old juice has always been dark, the color of gold. The reformulation was done in 1999. The new juice was never put in the old bottle.


Answer:
after having used 2 bottles of the 2000' release, i recently bought testers of the old bottle (copyright 1996), the juice is gold-green-dark whereas the new one is green-herbal
but what about the smell it self ?
i was perplexed when i first sprayed the 1996' version: it was closer to the 2000' version than the before 1996' version i used (and maybe that my memory sublimated) or to be more exact it seems an intermediary of the two ...
could have been the reformulation made for the 1996' release with keeping the ancient color and in 2000' release only color and bottle changed ?

Answer:
Quote: Originally Posted by pluran The new juice was never put in the old bottle. This is an awfully definitive statement...primary source?

Two years ago we had this same discussion, and I then noted that there was virtually NO difference in the smell between my old, full-size vintage bottle and a "new", full-size bottle from 04/00 (April 2000). They were essentially identical in smell, despite subtle differences in coloration, and yet many other members were reporting significant differences in the scent.

Several months later, however, I received a fresh miniature in the newer bottle to keep at the office, and there was much more citrus in the topnotes, along with more tobacco through the mid- and basenotes; I believe this was the reformulated juice.

I find it hard to believe, with what I know of most companies' handling of new rollouts/updates, that none of the "old" juice found its way into the newer bottle style, or vice versa. I believe that there was bound to be some overlap, and that indeed there was.

Jeff

Answer:
Quote: Originally Posted by wicozani This is an awfully definitive statement...primary source? It is a bit definitive. I could have left more doubt. The primary sources were my eyes and nose after buying a new bottle as soon as it came out. The secondary source was the owner (one of thirteen masters in the US) of The Perfume House in Portland, OR. Other sources include Isabelle Rousseau and others at Guerlain, but that doesn't mean much.

Sort of difficult, but perhaps someone will get to the bottom of it. The best way might be to go to Guerlain in Paris, befriend an insider, and get the info. Seems like a lot of work though.

Answer:
I think the best way would be to depose the plant managers at Guerlain's production sites and take their word for which ingredients were deposited in which bottles or just trust our noses.
Either way you're going to have disbelievers. It's just human nature. If as Pluran suggests that a prominent American "nose" has weighed in well thats a third option.
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I've found that Guerlains Vetiver Frozen has a very nice Vetiver basenote which lingers longer than their plain Vetiver. It's a shame to hear that there is less vetiver affect in Vetiver "Extreme". Echoing Chandler Burr on a recent Paris house's womenss perfume release it was "cynical"