A Matter of Tastes.
I once owned a 100ml bottle of the post-‘89 version of Rochas Femme - available here for sampling - which I lugged around in a large and heavy, black backpack while Greek island hopping, in a Summer nearly two decades ago. In my opinion, there’s just no replacing the formula stabilizing animalic notes in the base with an unstable cumin spice. One could see how the stewed peachy, plummy notes would dissipate in the intense heat, and the cumin amplified to maxed out levels. The vintage version is obviously the superior version of the two. Simply as a matter of taste, I wholeheartedly prefer the fruity-mossy monsters of yore, what I like to call Picnic Basket Chypres, such as Guerlain Parure, the fruity-flowery Guerlain Chant D’Aromes, the light-hearted Quadrille Balenciaga, and ESPECIALLY Nina Ricci Fille d’Eve, though I must insist that nothing will ever beat that old Queen, Guerlain Mitsouko. (As a side note, I’d love to try Molyneux Fete!) For a VERY similar acting drydown, but with a different note profile, I’m far more into Mandy Aftel’s Secret Garden (Aftelier has become my obsession!), with its vintage castoreum - as I was told- and flowers, reminding me of an old fave, Patricia dI Nicolai Sacrebleu edp, and combining vintage Rochas Femme together in one drop dead gorgeous, vintage-smelling modern fragrance. A matter of fruits verses flowers. It all comes down to a matter of taste.