L.12.12 Blanc Eau de Toilette

Grapefruit and cardamom are the reason Lacoste L.12.12 Blanc Eau de Toilette has sold in the numbers it has, and the pairing is cleverer than it first appears.

Grapefruit on its own is a straightforward bitter citrus. Put cardamom next to it and something changes: the cardamom is cool, green and slightly camphorous, it adds a spiced lift without any heat, and it gives the opening a grown up quality that plain citrus never has. That first ten minutes is the part most people remember and the part that sells the bottle.

Tuberose and ylang ylang sit in the heart, which on paper looks like a mistake in a fragrance sold to men. In practice the dose is light and what they contribute is body, a soft creamy weight that stops the citrus from thinning out and disappearing. The base is the best engineered part. Vetiver is rooty, dry and slightly smoky, suede is soft, tanned and faintly powdery, and the two together give a finish that reads clean but not sterile. Six materials, and the whole thing is constructed to be inoffensive in the best sense of the word.

It was released in 2011. As a toilette it is light on oil, so apply it freely and expect four or five hours before it fades close to the skin. Heat is where it works best, which is why it is such a common summer purchase, and it reads masculine and young without being loud. For an office, a hot commute or a first date it is hard to go wrong with.

Lacoste is a French clothing business begun in 1933 by Rene Lacoste, a tennis champion, in partnership with the industrialist Andre Gillier, and it is known the world over for the polo shirt marked with a crocodile. Its first fragrance is dated by the company to 1968, and today L.12.12 Blanc sits alongside Noir, L'Homme and Booster.