Kouros (1981)

        

Kouros is not for the faint of heart. If you only wear soft, quiet fragrances, you should run away from this beast. Seriously, start running now because the sillage of King Kouros spreads like The Fog.

 

Kouros just might be the most extreme and polarizing designer scent ever released. To some it is the divine nectar of the gods; to others think it smells like a goat peed on the carpet and you tried to cover up the stank with air freshener.

I can see why it's detractors hate it, the mashup of clean and dirty notes can come off as way too funky and foul, especially when worn in the wrong setting. Kouros is such an unusual scent that is like nothing else that's ever graced the market; a mix of honey, floral musks and aldehydes blended in with a big ole blast of civet, leather and oakmoss. I've heard that honey can come off animalic when used in excess and I suspect that is the case in Kouros as this is a highly musky and animalic fragrance.

Kouros macho to its core; it is one of the most decidedly masculine scents I've smelled. I can't imagine a lady ever pulling this off, but kudos to the lady who would wear this mythical beast, she has got my respect. I picture Tony Montana in Scarface smelling of 6-8 sprays of Kouros. That's the kind of scent Kouros is; it's for a loud, boisterious, type A masculine man who oozes confidence and a certain animalistic ferocity. Because of this, Kouros is a hard scent to pull off, you really have to own it and own the room. If I'm honest it's one that I struggle to wear proudly in public at times.

I own a late 90s bottle and a 2017 bottle and normally I don't go in for comparing vintage and current formulations but because Kouros' reformulation is so heavily torched online, I decided I was going to compare and contrast the two of them.

Right out of the gate I will say that the current formula is significantly muted; 7-10 hours of longevity versus 12-16 and the scent is noticeable within a 10 foot radius versus the vintage formulation which filled the entire room. The current formula is mainly softer because the civet note is turned way down. In the vintage bottle, the civet note smells quite natural and hits like a swift punch in the face, whereas the current formulation still has a civet-like smell, but it is dialed back significantly and smells more synthetic (probably in large part due to IFRA regulation changes).

That said, the reduction in power is not necessarily an awful thing. Because the civet note is turned down and more muted, modern Kouros is much more wearable and . It doesn't scream nearly as loudly and those who don't appreciate the smell won't be overcome by it.

As far as scent differences, I'll break it down into the opening, mid and base and which I prefer:

Opening: The vintage is much more natural smelling and packs a punch right out of the gate. The current formula smells a little too synthetic on first spray and is missing Kouros' noteworthy power. It's still in the same ballpark as the vintage, but smells a bit cheap in the first few minutes.

10/10 vintage, 8.5/10 current

Mid: The vintage gets far too "pissy" for me in the mid as the civet really shines and overpowers everything else in the mid. I find the 15 minute to 1 hour mark of the vintage to be the least appealing and the least wearable. As such I only put on vintage Kouros if I'm not planning to leave the house for at least an hour. In the current formulation, the mid has less civet; its still there and its beginning to shape the drydown, but the civet doesn't stand out like a sore thumb and make it smell like you might've pissed yourself.

8/10 vintage, 9.5/10 current

Base: The base of the current formulation smells very close to the vintage to my nose. The only reason it gets knocked back a bit is it doesn't have the staying power of the vintage nor the overwhelming sillage. The current formulation is still powerful, especially compared to modern fragrance releases, but it just lacks in the performance department compared to how it used to be. Smell wise, however, it is very much on point.

10/10 vintage, 9.5/10 current

As far as I'm concerned, Kouros, both in its current formulation and vintage, is a fucking masterpiece like no other. Clean barbershop-style notes blended with a wallop of animalic funk create an experience unlike anything else I've come across. If you are a hardcore fanboy of vintage Kouros, you'll probably want to stay away from the current formulation; it just doesn't quite get you there and you die-hards will be disappointed. If, however, you've never smelt the vintage, or at least haven't in some time, pick up a bottle of the current formulation; it's still a great fragrance and is comparable to nothing else being sold on the market today. The current formulation being a little softer and less animalic makes it is significantly easier to pull off today than the vintage. Give the new stuff at least 10 wearings and you are in love, then grab yourself a bottle of the juice that still has silver shoulders and head down the rabbit hole.

Long Live The King!

10/10

Leave a Comment Aromatic Fougere, Fougere, Powerhouse, Reformulations, Yves Saint Laurent

Tuscany Per Uomo (1984)

Aramis knocked it out of the park when they decided to name this fragrance Tuscany per Uomo. When I smell Tuscany per Uomo, my mind immediately goes to summer in northern Italy: a younger Italian gentleman walking through a piazza in Florence, wearing Persol sunglasses, a button down shirt and a pair of well fitted slacks. Although Tuscany per Uomo is now a 35 year old fragrance, I still picture a young man wearing it as it does not smell nearly as old fashioned as the majority of it's contemporaries. The lavender/anise combo has aged quite well as Tuscany and it's cousin Azzaro pour homme don't smell nearly as retro as quintessential 80s fragrances like Kouros, Oscar de la Renta Pour Lui or Drakkar Noir.

For those familiar with Azzaro pour homme but not with Tuscany per Uomo, the two scents are quite similar. The major difference to me is that Tuscany is a citrus forward scent. Azzaro's blend focuses heavily on lavender and anise with oakmoss and leather backing it up to provide some power; Tuscany on the other hand is a more muted scent, all of the main players from Azzaro are there, but they are toned down and brightened by a dominant lemon note. The closer you get to the drydown, the more similar the two scents become, but Tuscany still has an ever-present lemon that fades, but never fully disappears. It's Tuscany's lightness that makes it really come alive in the warmer months.

Tuscany has become my go to summer choice when I want to smell like Azzaro pour homme. Azzaro can be worn in any weather, but Tuscany is by far the better choice during the high heat. The lemon note really takes off the warmer you become; I sat on a beach in 30°+ heat and the warmer my skin got the more Tuscany came alive. The lavender and anise are soft enough that they never become too cloying or out of place during the high heat. It's got some staying power too; Tuscany never projects as loudly as Azzaro but it stuck around quite admirably even after I went for a dip in the water.

What stops Tuscany from being a 10/10 fragrance is the opening. I find the first 5 minutes or so to be pretty rough. At the initial spray, Tuscany is too pungent; the opening is a blast of lemon, caraway and anise and the way they combine comes off smelling almost like bad body odour. If the rest of the fragrance smelled as pungent as the first 5 minutes, this would have headed to the trash bin. Thankfully, once you give Tuscany a few minutes to settle down it turns in to a masterpiece.

If you pick up a bottle of Tuscany, be prepared to be in for a rough first few minutes, but if you have the patience, let it dry down and bask in its summery, barbershop glory.

8.5/10

Leave a Comment Aramis, Aromatic Fougere, Barbershop, Fougere

Brut (1964)

                        

As the inaugural review for this blog, I figured there's no better fragrance to review than the one that started it all for me, Brut.

As a child, I spent lots of weekends and summer holidays with my grandparents, Oma and Opa. The youngest of 3 grandchildren, I always had a special bond with my Oma and Opa. I loved spending time with them, learning from their wisdom and hearing all of their stories. Opa and I used to stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning, we'd watch nature shows and he'd tell me all about his life growing up as a child and teenage during WWII and about his struggles as an immigrant to Canada in the early 1950s, a country where he couldn't speak the language. 

I looked up to my Oma and Opa, they were the kind of people I wanted to become when I was their age. Opa was a well put together older man; a man who dressed sharp, was always well groomed and smelled immaculate. Opa's two favourite fragrances were Brut and Old Spice. Whenever I was over, I would always sneak a few splashes so that I could smell amazing and gentlemanly just like him. To a young and impressionable me, Opa was the pinnacle of masculinity and smelled exactly how a refined, mature man should smell.

My Opa passed away recently and whenever I smell Brut (or Old Spice), I immediately think about him, it feels like I have a part of him still here with me. A few sprays of Brut and I'm transported back to my childhood and all of the wonderful memories that he and I shared together come flooding back. On days when I really miss him, I grab my bottle of Brut and put on a couple of sprays so it feels like he's right there with me.

As for the scent itself, chances are you know the smell of it even if you've never had a bottle. Brut is a classic barbershop, aftershave-style, aromatic fougere. Lavender is the driving force of the scent backed up by a dose of powder, tonka, anise and a touch of citruses (only in the opening). If you've never worn Brut but have had Clubman Pinaud, you have a pretty good idea of what Brut smells like, although, in my opinion Clubman smells cheaper and brasher. Brut does smell inexpensive; and maybe that's 

I keep a full beard and rarely shave any part of my cheeks or neck, but when I do I toss on some Brut aftershave and spray on Brut Special Reserve and bask in its sweet, powdery, barbershop goodness.

One thing I'd like to note is that if you plan to buy a bottle of it today, I highly recommend you skip the bottle of aftershave or EDC available in a plastic bottle at your local drugstore and instead order a bottle of the "Special Reserve". It's about the same cost from discounters and smells far better. The plastic EDC bottle in particular smells awful, a chemical and synthetic mess that barely manages to capture any of the true spirit of Brut. I picked up a bottle of it last year to give to Opa but it was so bad I hucked it in the trash and ordered him a bottle of Special Reserve instead. If you've tried Old Spice since it went into the plastic bottle it's the exact same kind of mess as that. The Special Reserve may not smell as incredible as the vintage stuff from the 60s, but it does a really good job of capturing the feel of classic Brut and is an absolute bargain at its price.

They better keep making this stuff because I don't want to go through this world without a bottle of Brut at my side.

10/10

Leave a Comment Aftershave, Aromatic Fougere, Barbershop, Faberge, Fougere