Calls to mind old school classic men's fragrances like Antaeus, Givenchy Monsieur, and Kouros, but is different enough from those to have its own vibe going on. Strong patchouli and oakmoss with plenty of sandalwood. Leather and cardamom are easily detectable as well. It emanates of aniquation and nostalgia, transporting you to the era of, when people exclaim, "they don't make them like that anymore". Havana is one of the few beautifully done tobacco-based perfumes. It’s oriental and spicy due to the mandarin orange, cinnamon, and tobacco. The scent is as if you’ve just walked out of the smoke room after smoking a few cigars and drinking. If scents were musical notes, Aramis would have too many high notes and not enough low notes to balance it out. It has a bright in-the-air aura (aftershave?) even after the outrageously strong (and kinda nasty) atmospheric note goes away. Guerlain does a much better job evoking the sparkly opening. This is too harsh.

Havana is complex and tells an interesting story as it passes from sweet, citrusy top notes through spicier heart notes and dries down into the masculine, exotic blend of tobacco, patchouli, various woods, and tonka bean. Every step of the journey is worthwhile and evokes the spirit of old Havana - awaking in a classic hotel, breakfast and robust coffee on the balcony or in the courtyard, a stroll through the streets and along the waterfront, drinks later in an airy bar, and finally a wonderful cigar at sunset. Hemingway would be proud. I at first used simply the 24 hour anti-perspirant, which was just as beautiful and strong as everything else. Then, when that got reworked, I went on to the after-shave, and then to the cologne. It was only a shadow of itself, but still smelling great and still quite powerful. More than two sprays would be crazy. Lately I've moved on to the Concentrée version, which is hard to find, but a little closer to the original. It's a big, ballsy, elegant, luxurious, exclusive fragrance that reeks of rugged masculinity and individualism, excess, glamour and unashamed careerism, materialism, strength, power, dominance, and a carefree life of success and gives off a vibe of climbing the socio-economic ladder and making it big in life.

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I originally got a sample of this in a spirit of how-bad-can-it-really-be? and it scared me a bit but I wore it out as a dare to myself... and after not very long found that I quite liked it and then maybe even loved it. Imagine you have combined the cremated ashes of John Wayne, Charles Bronson and Steve McQueen. You toss a handful of ash into an axial fan and run in front of it, coating yourself in a macho crust. Next, you use Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone as billy clubs in a street brawl against Mike Tyson (you win). To cap off the night, you smoke 15 cigars, eat a dozen raw steaks, and somehow convince Lou Ferrigno to leave his wife for you. Guess what? After all of this, you are STILL a weakling compared to "Aramis"! so I'm going to put it simply, you can´t pull off Aramis, you are not ready, that´s it you are simply just not ready yet

As far as the scent goes, what I do get from Aramis is an image of an old fashioned gentleman's lounge with expensive Chinese or Persian carpets, wooden wall panels, massive book shelves of old expensive wood, paintings of kings, royalties, heads of governments and states, fragrant old leather couches that give off a strong and deep luxurious leather scent that fills the air with an intoxicating feeling of excess and hedonistic luxury, and an open fireplace with burnt firewood, and a large chest of drawers with expensive alcoholic beverages gracing the top of it. On 1st spray I got a sharp hit of lemon, a blast. Not unlike YSL pour homme, except unlike YSL PH it was: This fragrance stimulates the olfactory sense the way that msg stimulates the palate. Bear in mind that overconsumption may be headache inducing, so wrist sniff with caution (and for the sake of others, do not overspray). Well, everybody can say what they like and how it's not liked by woman and it smells like urine (really??) but I recently said, screw it, and began wearing it...it was part of my overall attitude of enjoying what i wanted to enjoy and not worry about what others thought (winters in Canada will do that to you) What have they done? Is lemon used as some sort of throw-in to make up for the banished oakmoss? Doesn't work; how could you expect it to? Is this like making a recipe "low fat" by replacing the fat with sugar/corn starch?

Estēe Lauder Companies did some reorganizing, which sparked an internet rumor they were dropping Aramis* - a classic fragrance from my youth. Investigation revealed this to be untrue but it did cause me to buy some Aramis aftershave and deodorant. Aramis is rather strong so just a few dabs of aftershave suffice - no need for EdT. Aramis (and I) is older now, but Aramis is a classic - like a gullwing Mercedes. And I enjoy wearing it. As I was born in 1966… Aramis was already considered dated by the time I was an adult in the 1980s, and wearing contemporary fragrances (like Perry Ellis & Gucci Nobile). Aramis "classic" will forever remain at the top of my list of most admired male fragrances. Woods, spices and well-worn leather radiate masculinity and vibrate with a powerful, quivering shot of testosterone. It was much stronger then. The kind of thing where you walk into a club full of people and cigarette smoke, and everybody turns their head, knowing you're wearing Aramis. OK, I'm exaggerating a slight bit, but it was quite overpowering. And smelled better than now.

The grunting is coming from behind the bedroom door. Not grunts of pain, but deep, guttural grunts of testosterone-laced relief. You open the door to see Jean-Claude Van Damme and Sylvester Stallone getting down with their veiny, oily selves. Mike Tyson is chomping a cigar and telling dirty jokes. Dolph Lundgren is wearing a "Booyah!" leather t-shirt and holding two submachine guns. I think like most American guys, we've (many of us) grew up with some Aramis in the house, and probably wore it once in a while. It is a classic scent, and I've not really smelled anything that comes close or duplicates it. I agree with many that it is very masculine, very leathery and mossy, and distinctly American. It's managed to stay current for numbers of generations, and for some of us, it was our first 'adult' cologne. The opening is a pleasant masculine herbal medley that is somewhat soapy and reminiscent of Jaguar for Men (green), only much smoother and less screechy than the Jaguar. The basil and wormwood are the prominant notes. I don't get the stigma over this being a "man's man" scent or being only for the gentlemen. I've gotten the impression that Aramis is for no one else but the CONFIDENT man. I am a particularly young guy strutting around with long hair and gotten tons of compliments, not one of them saying i smell like an old man, but rather a warm, confident, joyous, careless, adventurous man. I'm not saying its like this for everyone but it seems to have worked great for me despite my appearance. The dry down becomes really flowery for me with the middle and top notes, i notice sage, myrrh and patchouli really well. The base is where its all at though, the leather, vetiver and amber absolutely pop for me and balance it all out.Better than safari to me, cuz safari somehow manages to be both outdated smelling but also modern annoying shower gel‘ish smelling while this here just smells just outdated. It’s the quintessential smell like your grandpa fragrance. Adventurer is especially for the dads who like to take their families out sailing every weekend. With notes like seaweed and driftwood, it gives a more sporty scent and delivers a salty ocean vibe.

That is so unfortunate but I hope they can find a way to fix this issue in their future batches. The current state of Aramis is pleasant just like before and you will get enjoyment from it for sure, you just need to spray more frequently and I suggest that you apply it on your clothes as the body heat will make it go base much sooner. As strong as the scent is, it is strangely comforting for me, that I just wear it at home lounging about. Honest question: WHY DOES IT SMELL LIKE EVERYTHING IN THIS GEM OF A POTION IS FIRMLY CENTERED AROUND RIPE ROSES? Why do I smell them from its jaw-dropping opening till the morning after? Am I the only one??The price it goes for is absolutely not justified and as far as i remember most aramis fragrances are just cheapies that went scarce ? 5/10 in 2023…maybe i would have given it a 7 or 8 if it was 2001… A trip to the past - Instant time capsule - Varied olfactory experience - Aldehyde bomb -It used to be the typical fragrance of almost every man in the world! Our favorites have to be Tuscany and New West for their lightness and greenness of fragrance, especially suitable for everyday wear.