I don’t know of any fragrance that actually smell close to it though. Nothing to add but this is the epitome of masculine men’s fragrance. I never wore this on a regular basis in the past but I believe the recently purchased bottle I have, though true to what I remember, has the overall heft and base notes dialed back.
When I opened the box the smell was resonating from the package, I was very pleased. I sprayed it on lightly and it was close to what I recalled. You can sense this old masterpiece influenced many scents by Amouage, nasomatto and others. Today it is tough to find a fragrance today that will actually last the whole day. There’s nothing that compares to this 80s powerhouse.
I was fooled by the smell of Polo Blue, but the bottle clearly said it was a fake product. Only buy Polo from reputable sellers with free return policy. Polo is a masterpiece that has survived the years.
It is definitely a green leather chypre devoid of the awkward “celery note” of Yatagan and with a bit cleaner, more defined and spicier drydown than Aramis . I get mainly artemisia and pine, oakmoss and vetiver, tobacco, rugged old school leather accord , just the right amount of sweetness in the background. Of course, it still has that boozy classic men’s cologne smell that is far from clean by modern standards. At the same time, it has more depth than I would have imagined.
Of course I loved this back when I was in college. And now I had my hubby try it and it was glorious, still. All those green notes, tobacco , spices to add complexity. Nothing skanky, just very appealing to me. Great longevity and sillage in the old version. I will being exploring the new version to see how it compares and if it holds up well in reformulation, it will be my next FB.
The dry down, to me, smells like pine and freshly ground pepper, strong, masculine, professional. I just bought a bottle a week ago and ralph lauren t shirt it’s now my go-to fragrance every morning. I’ve received so many compliments, I think this would be an office or school safe fragrance.
When it dries down I detect notes of ashy-smoke and leather, with the pine needles becoming part of the background. The top and middle have a somewhat polo dress shirts dry chypre vibe. It’s a bit dirty at this point but that’s part of its appeal and what gives it character. It’s simultaneously rugged and classy.