Five Strange and Totally Unique Fragrances



In theory, fragrances are like snowflakes. Outside of brands who are deliberately trying to copy and clone, no two scents are supposed to be alike, and each fragrance's specific formula is supposed to be a secret. Wink, wink. 

But in reality, lots of fragrances smell like other fragrances. Sometimes the likeness is nearly identical (see the similarities between CH Men Prive and La Nuit de l'Homme, or Bentley for Men Intense and Man in Black), sometimes it's more broad-brushed. How different, really, are any of the sporty aquatic scents? How many dozens of "woodsy orientals" feature the same basic base notes?

For the true lovers of novelty, then, here are five fragrances that stand completely alone, utterly unique and unlike anything else. In fact, they're so unique, they're actually a little strange. Fair warning, then: these fragrances are closer to the "Polarizing" end of the spectrum than they are to the "Mass Appeal" end. I don't wear most of these outside the house, and if I do, I apply very lightly.

Salvatore Ferragamo: Uomo (2016)


This is a bottle of liquid tiramisu. Yes, "tiramasu" is listed (at least by places such as Nordstrom) as one of the notes. No joke here, you can smell the sweet cream, the coffee, the powdery cocoa, it's all here. It's a delicious scent, and quite obviously belongs in the gourmand category. Just beware the potentially cloying nature of this one.

Lalique: Encre Noir (2006)



The name here translates in English as "black ink," and Lalique isn't fooling around with this. It's a big old swampy mess of vetiver, thick and dark, with a salty edge that brings it very close to smelling like actual ink. I can't stress how much I love this scent, because it's a brooding and mysterious bouquet that seems to reveal something new every time I use it. There's nothing like it.

Joop!: Joop! Homme (1989)


That screaming neon pink juice! You don't even have to smell it to know you're about to have a unique experience. Joop! is a laser-beam of vibrating sweetness. I could tell you that it's a combination of oranges and cinnamon, but that would be like saying the ocean is watery. This is oranges and cinnamon turned electric, slightly metallic, pulsating. Listen closely and you might even hear the sizzle and hum of the neon.

Gucci: Gucci Guilty Absolute (2017)


The designer says this is a leather fragrance, and I think that might be one of the most misleading things I've read this year. Guilty Absolute is dirty, dank, sour, sweaty, and delicious. The vetiver and patchouli smudge and blur the painting in wonderful ways. What does this really smell like? I sniffed at for hours and hours, intrigued and trying to place the scent memory, and it finally came to me: the perspiring auto mechanic who worked on my car a few days earlier, in his garage with that pungent aromatic combination of grease, oil, petrol, and other such car things. That's what this smells like. Fantastic!

Yves Saint Laurent: Kouoros (1981)


You had to know that an 80's powerhouse had to make this list at some point. There was just too much wild and unique stuff going on that decade. Kouros is a honey-drizzled pile of patchouli leaves that a cat has urinated on. Yes, this has civet in it, and yes, that's a "glandular secretion" from the testicular area of an African wild cat. For some reason, there's cinnamon and clove sprinkled on all of this, and somehow, all of this aromatic chaos is absolutely beautiful. There is nothing on earth that comes close to smelling like Kouros.

Ralph Lauren: Polo Red Extreme (2017)



Polo Red Extreme is the second and most recent flanker of Polo Red, coming just on the heels of Polo Red Intense. You may be tempted to ask, "is this really necessary, and did we really need yet another Polo Red sequel?"

And the answer is yes, we did, because Polo Red and Polo Red Intense are not very good fragrances, and Polo Red Extreme actually is.

It is a decadent scent with subtle projection and good staying power. The minimalist three-note recipe of "blood orange, addictive black coffee essence, and supercharged ebony wood" suggested by the designer does not begin to tell the whole story. 

There are hints of vanilla and dark chocolate in the base here, and those serve to color and shade the fruit aroma that isn't quite "blood orange," but it's close. It's a deep red fruit, certainly, but it might equally be something approaching raspberries, mashed, in a thick red syrup.

The coffee note is the red fruit's most obvious partner in this dance. It's not an especially authentic coffee aroma, but it definitely sits firmly in the dark/bitter category of smells, simultaneously muting and highlighting the sweet notes.

The final presentation is a dark and creamy, fruity and tart aroma that is very easy on the nose, and quite addictive to boot. 

7/10 stars.

5 Best Cold Weather Fragrances for Men



As I look out my window and see thick snow falling, putting a harsh end to what was a very nice mid-January thaw, I am reminded that I'm not quite out of winter weather yet. There are still a good many weeks of cold before the temperatures start to go up and the spring rains start to drizzle.

Which means there is still plenty of time to enjoy fragrances that are better suited to the cold, fragrances that are bit richer, darker, warmer, and more complementary when the sky is still quite gray, when sweaters and fuzzy blankets are still lying around.

Here are five of my favorite men's fragrances to wear during this stretch of January until about mid-March. They're great fragrances for winter weather, minus the ones I usually like to reserve for the Christmas season now already passed.

Theirry Mugler: Pure Havane (2011)


A thick and pungent aroma of sweet, dried fruits pervades this scent from the first spray until the final evaporation some 6-8 hours later. That sticky dark fruit aroma rests perfectly atop a warm vanilla, tobacco, and a drizzling of honey. Pure *heaven* is more like it.

Bvlgari: Man In Black (2014)


Vanilla liqueur poured over a premium piece of sweet leather, dusted with peppery spices and powdery benzoin, left to dry on a pallet of fragrant wood. The hint of something fruity gives it the illusion of a rum and coke cocktail.

Ralph Lauren: Polo Supreme Leather (2015)


The bottle promises leather, and it delivers leather. Not a dark and licorice-tinted leather, mind you, this is light leather with a thin veneer of sweet honey, surrounded by vanilla and sprinkled with nutmeg. Don't be afraid to overspray a bit. It's airy and delicious.

John Varvatos: Dark Rebel (2015)


A scent that is truly dark, a darkness so thick you can *smell* it. Rebel is the ash of a burned out pipe bowl, sitting a few feet away so that its bitterness does not offend or assault. It is dark leather, bitter, but offset with hints of whisky. Truly a captivating aroma, one that reflects the deeper dark of winter.

Calvin Klein: Dark Obsession (2013)


We are much milder and safer ground here, with Calvin Klein's offering of the familiar vanilla, sage, and vetiver base so common in CK's fragrances. Mild suede enriches this base, which supports the light and inviting aromas of green mandarin and guarana. Soft, creamy, and subtle.

Enjoy your winter collection while you still can!

Maurer & Wirtz: Tabac (1959)



The granddaddy of barbershop scents, Tabac by Maurer & Wirtz is just about as old school and vintage as you can get. Not only does this fragrance go back to the late 1950's, but the Maurer & Wirtz company also makes a companion luxury shaving soap and aftershave lotion that also carry the Tabac brand name.

The whole concept of a "luxury shave" seems to be slowly gathering steam and building a strong community of enthusiasts, and there is obviously a lot of crossover with the fragrance-loving crowd. If you enjoy using fragrances, you enjoy smelling good, and if you enjoy smelling good, then it might be fun to extend that opportunity all the way back to the beginning of your day: the morning shave.


The shaving soap, aftershave lotion, and fragrance (an eau de cologne, by the way, not the usual eau de toilette) all share the same core notes of strong lavender, earthy vetiver, rich sandalwood, and spicy pepper, with a smooth amber base. As you might expect, these notes are much more pronounced in the fragrance than in the soap or lotion, but even in the fragrance these notes are far from harsh or invasive.

The entire bouquet is a living Normal Rockwell painting of a man in a crisp white button-up shirt and tie, hair slicked back (using Brylcreem, no doubt), and a freshly shaven face with a mouth that holds a lit pipe. It is not a loud fragrance, but it also has a certain confident presence. It smells like clean face.

Tabac is a snapshot in history, and I'm glad that it still exists to be enjoyed. Their products are incredibly affordable (I think I got a 50ml bottle of the eau de cologne for about $10), so there's really no reason not to have a bottle on hand.

9/10 stars.

Etro: Messe de Minuit (1994)



I'm not sure how they did it, but Etro's Messe de Minuit managed to perfectly capture the scent of incense wafting in the air of a cathedral after High Mass. But it's the details that are so amazing. This is not just another "that smells like church incense" scent.

Many fragrances use an "incense" note, but only so-called because it happens to smell both smoky and sweet at the same time. Real incense, the kind used in actual churches, is a bit more complex. I still remember serving as an altar boy and curiously examing the box of Will & Baumer's "Pontifical Incense" blend, with its multi-colored little granules all dusted over with a light, white powder.

Real incense smells wonderful even when it isn't burning, and it's this authentic smell that Messe de Minuit has recreated. To that scent, they also added the smell of wooden pews, concrete steps, old stone altars, and musty pages from decades old hymn books.

This fragrance isn't just incense. It's incense in full context, gorgeous and detailed, stunningly accurate.

10/10 stars.

John Varvatos: John Varvatos (2004)



The first of many men's fragrances to come from designer John Varvatos, the original John Varvatos does for me what I think a good fragrance should do: it creates a sense of mystery and wonder. The aroma is at once familiar at yet completely new, unique, difficult to place. If a fragrance can catch your attention and hold it like that, it is a fragrance worth having.

It's interesting to look back at what was going on in the world of men's fragrances in 2004 when John Varvatos hit the shelves. Just the year prior, Kenneth Cole became the first major designer to wade into the "black" market: he released a scent called Black, housed it in a black bottle, and made black suede the prominent note.

Armani took the hint in 2004 with their Black Code (later to be renamed simply Armani Code) release, and John Varvatos landed the same year with a similar black bottle, black leather vibe. By 2005 everyone was getting into the "black" game: Black XS (Paco Rabanne), Obsession Night (Calvin Klein), Polo Black (Ralph Lauren), Silver Black (Azzaro) -- even Stetson took a stab at the genre with their Stetson Black offering.

But John Varvatos unquestionably did it best. The fragrance announces its intentions without ambiguity from the first spray: this is a black leather scent, so here's a hefty dose of black leather accord.

The leather is rich and realistic, aided in its authenticity by a smooth and subtle layer of slightly sour oud (eaglewood), which is then balanced ever-so carefully with suggestions of sweet vanilla and balsam. Not too sweet, of course, because the goal is to present sensuous black leather, which is neither sweet nor sour, but somewhere between the two.

The real razzle-dazzle, however, comes from the notes of medjool date fruit, sticky and dark, pungent and dense. I don't know that I've ever smelled this note in a designer fragrance, either before or since, but it is the magic note that first stopped me dead in my tracks and made me pay attention. "What is that? What in the world?"

This was perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux's first creation for John Varvatos, and he has worked on at least a dozen John Varvatos scents since then, all of them carrying this signature of high quality and sparkling creativity. Unfortunately, another characteristic of the Varvatos juices is that they don't last long on the skin, so be ready to reapply this after four hours or so. With better performance, this would easily be a 10-star fragrance.

9/10 stars.

Thierry Mugler: A*Men Pure Malt (2009)



If you're Thierry Mugler and you're sitting on a recipe as luscious, rich, and beautiful as A*Men, you can play the flanker game all day long and just print money. The A*Men core DNA lends itself to many variations, and the "Pure X" line demonstrates that. This particular flanker, A*Men Pure Malt, is no exception.

The beating heart of A*Men is here, and its presence is strong. Right from the opening curtain, there is that signature blend of coffee, light cocoa, and yes, the darker-tinged essence of cotton candy. Other flankers in the Pure line take this nucleus and turn up the vanilla, or add more coffee, or inject an shot of dried fruits, but Pure Malt -- as the name might indicate -- wants to "honor the tradition of whiskies," according to the designer.

How to do that? Take it in a slightly boozier direction, I suppose, although there isn't any official liquor note listed in the mix -- no rum, no whisky, no essence of bourbon. Instead, perfumer Jacques Huclier seems to have simulated the malt whisky effect by adding in some sharp citrus blended with cinnamon. It's subtle, for sure, but it adds the proper nose-tingling effect in the opening notes that make you say, "Ah, ok, whisky." Add in a dried fruit accord and you have a reasonable enough simulation.

However, when all of the excitement dies down after the first 15-20 minutes, we are left -- sadly -- with a bouquet that is 98% identical to the original A*Men, with perhaps just a touch of extra caramel. In a blind sniff test after the dry-down, I'd bet on most people not being able to distinguish Pure Malt from the regular A*Men.

A lovely scent, and a fascinating novelty for the whisky special effects in the beginning, but ultimately it's hard to justify the extra expense for something that is, for all intents and purposes, a back-up bottle of the original.

6/10 stars.

Azzaro: Azzaro pour Homme (1978)



I first obtained Azzaro's Azzaro pour Homme in 1994 as part of a set of miniatures, and it instantly became a favorite of mine. It's funny now to look back and realize that I was wearing this very "distinguished gentleman" scent as a teenager, but I didn't know the rules, and I wasn't aware that I was supposed to be wearing Young Guy sporty scents.

Azzaro pour Homme is gorgeous, and just as wearable today as it was during its heyday in the 1980's -- in fact, Luca Turin gave this fragrance five stars in his 2008 compendium, Perfumes: The Guide, and called it "the finest aromatic [fougere] ever."

It is a barbershop fragrance (created with the help of Richard Wirtz, of Maurer & Wirtz, which also gave us the beautiful Tabac), with plenty of sharp edges provided by cedar, sage, juniper, patchouli, and basil, but softened by gentle lavender, creamy amber, and sweet tonka bean. There may be a hint of bergamot, but only in the distance, helping to brighten the overall bouquet.

The star of the show however (pun intended), is the star anise that gives Azzaro pour Homme its signature spicy scent. The final, fully bloomed aroma is warm, well-lathered, fresh, and comforting.

Despite the fact that I wore it in my teens, it is probably best reserved for men who are past their "clubbing" phase and are ready to enjoy the pleasures of the good life. It may be suitable for officewear, but go light on the pump. Azzaro pour Homme projects a good distance, and provides solid longevity in the 7-8 hour range.

9/10 stars.

Calvin Klein: Encounter (2012)



Encounter, a 2012 release by Calvin Klein, seems like it flew under the radar a bit, and perhaps it did get somewhat lost amidst the seven other fragrances Calvin Klein released that year. But it was arguably the best of the bunch.

Honorine Blanc and Pierre Negrin, with a total of eight other male fragrances between them prior to creating Encounter (Negrin had formerly worked on Ralph Lauren's Polo Black and Sean John's Unforgivable), worked together to compose something that would embody the idea of "a contrast of freshness and warmth."

What makes Encounter so impressive, however, is that there are no contrasts, only complements. The first thing I noticed was the almost total absence of a top note (or notes) in the opening. Most scents come out of the corner swinging away: Lemon! Bergamot! Patchouli! Pepper!

But it's not just the top notes that are apparently missing here in Encounter -- everything is missing. Let me state that another way.

Encounter is like a medium size choir, perfectly balanced so that no single voice shouts above the rest, and yet each individual voice can be heard clearly as part of the whole.

Encounter is understated, but deep. It is quiet, but polyphonic.

There are notes of sweet liqueur (cognac, mandarin-flavored rum) to be savored along with peppery jasmine and spicy patchouli, while the low voices bring the depth of oud, cedar, and musk to the ensemble. The mind and the nose flit back and forth: Is this woodsy? Is this spicy? Is this darkly sweet?

Yes, it is. All of those thing, all at once, interwoven.

It doesn't project far. It doesn't need to, that's not the kind of fragrance this is. Instead, it remains subtle, but it lasts for many hours. It's almost impossible to believe that the same designer also launched cK one Summer 2012 and Eternity Summer for Men 2012 in the same year.

I'm taking away a few points for that user-unfriendly bottle.

8/10 stars.

Paco Rabanne: 1 Million (2008)



To really appreciate a fragrance, you have to appreciate the story or the message that the fragrance is trying to convey. In the case of Paco Rabanne's 1 Million, that message seems to be "please buy this fragrance."

For starters, did you realize that Paco Rabanne had an over-arching "Million" fragrance, and "1 Million" is actually a character who plays opposite "Lady Million" as part of a couple?





Oh, it gets worse. According to the ad copy, his other name is "Jordan Barrett" (I already want to punch him), and he is "the ultimate bad boy with an innocent gaze" (now I want to never stop punching him). We are further informed that he is "an ultra-connected icon with hundreds of thousands of followers," and that "amongst his tattoos, one on his left arm states 'only the good'."

After I'm done vomiting with the force of eight tsunamis, I'll tell you what I think of the fragrance.

I included all of that backstory because once you've read that, you have to know what you're getting into with the scent that follows. This 1 Million juice is 1000000% being marketed to young guys who text "sup?" as their opening line to new Tinder matches, who think #YOLO is a profound life philosophy, and whose only concern when it comes to colognes is "bruh, is this one a panty-dropper?"

If you're expecting something sophisticated and complex from this juice, you're not paying attention.

Now let's set all of that aside and evaluate the scent. Actually ... it's not bad. It's very, very sweet, leading with blood mandarin, sugar-topped grapefruit, and mint. It's a cold scent with a sugar-pop aura that suggests the smell of freshly-chewed fruit gum.

Supposedly there are interesting things mixed further down, things like musk, amber, leather, and tonka bean, but the sugary fruit opening never seems to relax its death grip long enough to let those warmer notes breathe and influence the space. Ok, maybe a little of the amber/tonka duet comes through after a couple of hours.

I know what this scent is. I know it's supposed to be mostly one-dimensional and boring. I know it's meant to be a clubbing scent for young guys, and that's why it projects hard and stays loud for quite a while.

But I still kinda like it. The blood mandarin is nice, a little bit addictive.

Ugh, but that marketing campaign ... someone is going to hell for that.

6/10 stars.

Valentino: Uomo (2014)



The artist behind Valentino's Uomo is Olivier Polge, whose creations in men's fragrances also include The One for Men (Dolce & Gabbana), Invictus (Paco Rabanne), Midnight in Paris (Van Cleef & Arpels), and Spicebomb (Viktor & Rolf). Polge seems to know his way around the sweet-plus-rich-plus-spice structures, so Uomo was a curiosity purchase for me.

(Small bottle, of course, you never can tell.)

I'll spare you the details if you'd like to bail out of this review early: I don't like this juice, and that upsets me, because a lot of people whose opinions I respect say that this fragrance is a gourmand dream.

My nose disagrees.

I have no idea what's going on in this recipe (and I don't think the designer does either, judging by their own write-up), but the opening was tart and sour, then folded into something green, plant-like, and medicinal, and then blended into something that was trying to approximate the idea of "sweet." The end result: a jumbled, confused, olfactory cacophony.

If there is any kind of "chocolate" note (the designer only admits to vague "smoky and woody accords"), it is light and powdery and not very chocolate-like at all.

The designer ad copy says that the fragrance features "accords that change on the person over time," and contains "a touch of vagueness that upsets the balance." Well, at least that's honest -- it's very vague and upsetting indeed.

Nordstrom identifies the heart note as "crema di gianduia," which is an Italian version of Nutella. I suppose that's where some people are picking up a hazelnut/chocolate note, but again, to my nose it smells weak, light, sterile, and overpowered by the tart/camphoraceous marriage of the bergamot and myrtle.

The good news (or bad, depending on whether you like this scent): the longevity is strong, 8-10 hours.

Maybe my opinion will change over the years, but for now, I think I'll pass.

3/10 stars.

Hugo Boss: Boss Bottled Oud (2015)



The original Boss Bottled release (1998) was -- and still is -- a beautiful, crisp blend of cool green apple, citrus, cinnamon, and sandalwood. It was -- and still is -- a delightfully fresh scent to brighten up the world on a warm summer day.

And now we have a variation on the theme: Boss Bottled Oud. 

Right away, it's obvious: the flanker has left that apple core completely intact. It's rather startling, in fact. Many flankers retain a few strands of the original's DNA, and you can pick them out if you squint, but in Boss Bottled Oud, you are clearly seeing the face of Boss Bottled, now slightly aged and perhaps with some well-groomed facial hair.

To the core pillar of apples, citrus and cinnamon, Boss Bottled Oud adds some sour saffron and spicy/wood notes of cypriol. I'm not sure that there's actual oud here (strangely, the designer's promotional copy does not list oud among the notes), so much as there is the "spirit" of oud as outlined by the fusion of saffron and cypriol.

It's a very good scent. Wrapping the apple-lemon-cinnamon heart in a shell of slightly sour, rich wood gives the overall effect of presenting an aromatic rendering of apple pie. Boss Bottled gave us the sweet filling, Boss Bottled Oud simply added the flaky crust.

As tasty a treat as this is, however, I don't imagine true seekers of oud scents will be terribly impressed. Still, where else are you going to find sweet apples and sour wood in the same juice? It's a novelty, and if you like the oud genre, you should own this even while knowing it's not really a true oud scent.

7.5/10 stars.

Paco Rabanne: 1 Million Prive (2016)



This cold weather companion to the original 1 Million, Prive is darker, richer, and more subtle than its sibling. If 1 Million is a twenty-something headed out for a night at the club, then 1 Million Prive is the thirty-something who is settling down into a stable ritual, but has not forgotten how to enjoy the luxuries of life.

Prive presents itself at the first curtain rise with the muted (but still pungent) smell of sweet, dried fruit, perhaps a bowl of figs, dark cherries, and plums. (Some note pyramids contain a vague reference to "tobacco" -- I suppose that will suffice to obscure the details.)

There is a also a brief, initial whisper of orange, but only a whisper, just enough to link this flanker to its original. In the original, of course, the orange note is loud, brash, and beautiful. Here, it serves to add a bright note that hopes to lighten an otherwise murkier, stickier juice.

Later, as the dried fruit bouquet steps back just a bit, there is the smell of vanilla-sweetened spice, delicious and hypnotic, something that almost makes the nose tingle -- probably the "cinnamon" in the note pyramid, which is really more of the idea of cinnamon, or the weight of cinnamon, than it is the actual smell of cinnamon.

It will project moderately in the first hour after application, but the longevity is short, perhaps in the 3-4 hour range. Be prepared to reapply at least once during the day.

7/10 stars.

Guy Laroche: Drakkar Noir (1982)



The lovely Drakkar Noir was a regular part of my fragrance wardrobe in the late 1980's and early 1990's. As a teenager just beginning to collect fragrances, I knew early on that this scent was something "other," something mature and serious.

I just recently pulled a bottle from my collection and sprayed it on for the first time in years, and I was instantly lost in the memory. This juice hasn't lost a step, nearly 40 years after its release.

The first part of this aromatic journey is accompanied by a wonderful, tangy lavender. It is an altar of glowing citrus (lemon and bergamot), partially obscured by a cloudy mist of spices and relaxing florals.

There are fresh greens here, spicy greens, even "tingling" greens -- fusions of pine, rosemary, basil, juniper, fir -- that supply this "spice" accord which so beautifully gives the citruses a context in which to shine.

This three-way combination of tingling greens, tart citruses, and soft lavender, forms a very clear impression of foamy, rich shaving soap, brushed gently with hints of sandalwood and amber. This is a true barbershop fragrance, expertly constructed, and ridiculously cheap -- you can buy a 200ml bottle for under $50 at discount sites, an incredible value.

Drakkar Noir belongs in any serious fragrance collection, not as a museum piece or a relic, but as a living part of fragrance history that should still be smelled today.

8/10 stars.
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