I get the juniper berry, the pine, basil & artemisa, all of which make this very dark, green, and herbal. The other spices and notes are blended together beautifully. This is a very good fragrance and a grown-up classic for sure. There is very little out there today that smells like this.
I work in a Polo store and EVERY employee who works in the store, no matter the age or sex, from 16 to 60, hates this smell, and dreads when someone tries it on. And so do the customers who have to shop in the store after it’s sprayed. It smells like the leather jacket of ralph lauren t shirt a man who chain smokes cigars, rides his horse through the woods to his house where he cooks middle eastern cuisine over an open fire. And it lasts ALL DAY LONG. If it were toned down a little, and mixed with a little more of the floral, I’d probably really enjoy it.
An Intense flanker of this fragrance has been on sale for at least 2 weeks at this point and was announced more than a month ago, and it STILL does not have a page on Fragrantica. This is a massive fragrance release, but Fragrantica is too busy talking about the “fragrance brands” that are founded from hipsters’ garages in Seattle and Portland every week. A hall of fame fragrance for sure. My uncles signature for over 30 years.
It’s outdated in the sense that it smells like something that belongs to a specific era and that’s really not compatible with the contemporary taste. I can imagine men of my age and even younger wearing this really well back in the 80s, but not now. It’s a very interesting and unique classic scent that’s worth trying just for the sake of your fragrance culture. Growing up in a catholic country, when I was a kid, some groups would have religious figures going house to house for pray-overs. One I remember was of the Virgin Mary. They give out some green cotton doused with minty green oil, and this reminds me of that.
As it dries down you keep some of the “forest-y” smell from the pine, but the “green” smell dies down and evolves into tobacco notes. As a result I get a “grandpa’s humidor” vibe after the first couple hours. Like other reviewers said, it really smells like money, not the newer bills made of plastic (I’m Canadian, I don’t know how us bills are nowadays) but the old ralph lauren t shirt ones made of paper, like a big stack of it. It’s really powerful, I tested 4 different fragrances on different areas today and I can only smell Polo , I wish I didn’t bought the 240ml bottle, I’ll have enough for at least 3 lifetimes. I think if you are over 30 this is great, in my case it definitely gives me a good throwback in my childhood when I spray it.
Initially it’s a blast of pine, but that passes quickly, and then it’s straight up tobacco (to my nose, the wife says “pine”). I didn’t care for it at first, but with each successive wear, it’s wearing me down. I now find it intriguing and want to get to know it better.