For me, the deal breaker is the strong element of pine. The pine-green color of the bottle is telling. Coudn’t do it as a kid smelling this and can’t do it now. The opening is very, very strong and a little offensive, but it does dry down into something decent. Now, I’m willing to endure a bit, just a bit, of a stinky opening for a good middle and closing act.
There is no more iconic bottle in all of perfumery. Very similar to Paco Rabanne pour homme but it lasts much longer and doesn’t have that gross soapy opening pour homme does. I wear this a few times a month but with the current formulation I can get 12 hours out of this. This is a scent I’ve been wearing since the early 90s. The original powerhouse formulation would fill the whole room.
The dry-down maintains the green, woody vibe, and the patchouli, oakmoss, vetiver, leather and tobacco keep it dark and mature. I do also get the geranium, jasmine and chamomile. In fact, everything is well balanced and well blended.
Now and long after he passes away I will keep a bottle to remind me of him. That said, I’m in my 30’s and I don’t mind wearing this selectively around the holiday season. It will never be a daily go-to or even one that gets more than 2 or 3 wearings in a year for me, but it has it’s place in my collection. The 2019 bottle I tried yesterday seems to have sorted that out. It was much more of a fresh-pencil-shavings cedar/pine opening and quite pleasant the whole way through. All the nastiness was gone and replaced with a smooth, creamy, earthiness that progressed logically into the drydown that we all know and love.
This is the kind of fragrance that they don’t make now (unless it’s niche). I own two formulas – a bottle from 1997 and a bottle from 2014. The so called “vintage” is heavier on leather and has much darker pine note. The newer one is focused on the cigarette “ash” and has a lighter green pine note . It opens up green but definitely it’s dark green and ashy.
Could you really swing a battle axe with one hand? Could you really defend your family from onslaught after endless onslaught of pending chaos and death? Not if you can’t pull off wearing this masculine beast of a fragrance. Macho scent but also classy, in the same category as Aramis in that sense.
For me, it’s difficult to separate the emotional connection and memories associated with this scent from the actual fragrance. Polo is a deep, heavy scent; it’s a well-balanced ralph lauren t shirt blend of greens, herbs, spice, and leather. It can be overpowering if applied to heavily, but used in moderation it’s simply a great all-purpose fragrance.
I really love this fragrance but performance for me is disappointing, I currently have 2018 batch . First thing that hit me was a blast of tobacco; not the fresh kind, but resinous, dried tobacco. Took me right back to my grandmother’s house, sitting next to her while she smoked. (Though Polo itself is not smoky.) Amazing what scents can do to your memories. Once it dried down, it turned into a mix of black pepper and a freshly mowed lawn.
Pine, wood, musk, tobacco, leather, but almost immediately settles into a “dirty talc and spice” feel. It is green with the smell of fallen leaves in Jungle. Current formulation is absolutely wonderful. Pine & oakmoss wrapped in ambery-balsamic green leather.