Hoyt's Cologne

I don't know how I missed out on these reviews earlier, as Hoyt's was one of my favorite scents growing up. It used to be easily available, too- you could find it on the shelf of most department stores and pharmacies.

It's like a grown up version of 4711. Almost like a bastard love child of English Leather and 4711- top notes are citrus and an almost leathery, masculine basenote. Not much staying power, but enough to get you through the morning.

I really enjoy Hoyt's, and am going to get another bottle of it soon. It's been years since I've used it, but it sure brings back some memories.

I was pleasantly surprised by this. I have been looking for inexpensive EDT's that smell good for the price, and there aren't too many that fit the bill for my nose (and wallet). After many disappointments in this search, this was a great find.

Price/ Quality- I like the scent, and it's $10. No complaints. Quality? I'm not sure of the quality of the ingredients (alcohol, yellow dye, and 'fragrance'), but it smells quite natural to me- no synthetic scents I can detect. Then again, my nose is fairly unsophisticated. I'll just say it smells way more natural than the bulk of department store samples I have tried.

Packaging- Simple plastic bottle, fine by me. I was expecting a bottle neck reducer so I could at least splash it on without drowning, but no dice. I guess when you need a bottle o' luck, you want it all RIGHT NOW! I dinged it a little here- I decanted into an atomizer for application.

Scent- I like this one very much and it seems to work well on my skin. I agree with another reviewer, scent in the bottle does not do it justice. Very similar citrus tops and floral middles as 4711 to me, but there is a slightly darker/ muskier quality to the middles that to my nose places this squarely in the 'masculine' catagory of scents (4711 seems fairly unisex to me). This may sweeten a little at the end of the drydown on my skin, but it's tough to tell. Hoyt's lasts much longer with a more present scent on me than 4711 as well. My Wal-Mart carries 4711, and might be a good place to get a rough ballpark idea of Hoyt's, assuming they have samples.

Complexity- I have trouble picking out different scent notes in any product unless they really stand out. It's a heck of a lot more complex than most of the stuff I've tried in the same price range, that's for sure.

Longevity- The tops are gone fairly quickly (although I can still pick up traces from time to time later on), and the rest is gone after 4-5 hours, tops. I gave it a 5 for average, as four hours is about average on my skin for edt's.

Overall I was very pleased with this purchase, I can see always having a bottle. Got mine from QED.

Hoyt's is one of those "hidden gems" of the fragrance realm. Smelling it straight out of the bottle does not do it justice. Not real complex, it does have staying power. A very clean scent, reminiscent of a 20's or 30's barbershop. For the price of $9, it's worth a try.

I must admit, that I had never before heard of Hoyt's until I joined B&B ans saw the review above.

I finally broke down the other day and ordered a bottle. Initially I opened the bottle and was disappointed. After trying some on I, soon changed my mind.

The reviewer above got it right after all.

The stuff has a wonderful scent all it's own. I dinged it on the packaging and staying power. It comes in a plastic bottle that is trying hard to look like a vintage glass bottle. It is a good looking bottle as far as plastic bottles go, but it's still just plastic. Also it just doesn't stay with me all day. Granted I tend to use it sparingly as it's not what you would call a mild scent. A little bit goes a long way, and it would be easy to apply too much. Even so, I can still catch a faint whiff of it 4 or 5 hours after I put it on. I have been using it almost daily for a couple of weeks now, and it still looks completely full. I can see a single bottle lasting for quite a while.

As is always the rule here on B&B ymmv, but for less than $10 you owe it to yourself to give it a shot.

I'm an old man. This product was an old product (1868) even when this old man was a kid himself. This was one of the product's of choice of my old man & most of the WW II vet's that had come home from their hell spent youth. A drenching in Hoyt's erased the stank of cordite & the rank smell of young men's death. Hoyt's was love & reproduction. Hoyt's smelled of life.
Hoyt's was romance...
My generation "moved on" to other scents: English Leather, Canoe, Jade East. Way more expensive products. Way cooler products to our minds. (but we were wrong as usual, in retrospect). Over the years I poured gallons of very pricey, very elite products over this old carcass to remove the stench of a life ill lived for the most part. Am not sure if they worked or not...

Cuz, you know what? Wot ? I DON'T REMEMBER ANY OF THEM !!!! NOT ONE STINKING ONE OF'EM !!!

Wouldn't remember them again if you doused me with them. All of them were somehow different but somehow really fundamentally the same. About half a dozen basic scents & an endless variety of "designer" bottles with the latest trendoid designer name but always somehow the same-o-same-o.The smell of the "Worst Generation", my generation, the "Self Centered" generation.

But you know what? Wot? As soon as I opened the Hoyt's & took a whiff, it
hit me: This is the real McCoy, This is an original product. This is a masterpiece. This is genius in a bottle. In short, this is the "Good Stuff".

The last 50 years have basically been cultural SCENT "pretense" & "posing". a faux hipness, a Borg Cube.... while the genuine article sat on a few shelfs, overlooked, unappreciated, scorned -- Like traditional DE shaving itself. Old = Bad, Bright Orange Fusion = Good !!! Fusion Phantom = Even Gooder...


I REMEMBERED THIS ONE. The smell of eternity is not trendy, fellers, the smell is HOYT's.

Hoyts Cologne is so retro it's avant-garde. The scent is redolent of bergamot, neroli, oranges & lavender. The scent is delightfully decadent & "rotten" of squished exotic fruits & matted herbaceous vegetation in a weird wonderful distillation of a concoction.

This is better living though chemistry.


PRICE:

If you have never tried Hoyt's @ $9.00 a bottle (QED price), you have no excuse to deny yourself this experience. NINE DOLLARS, duh, we spend more than that on a hamburger platters alot of days.

QUALITY:
I've had colognes that set me back 10 times that price that weren't 1/10th as good as HOYT's.

PACKAGING:
Gave it a 10 because it is in a cheap plastic bottle. Am at the point that I want to pay for the contents not the bottle which is gonna end up in a landfill anyway.

Somebody already started a "Forum" thread on Hoyt's but so far it's an empty
shell. If you don't want to skew the review's ratings with zero's cause you just want to comment here is the link:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15920&highlight=hoyt's