Is there a compendium of traditional mens' fragrances?

[_MementoMori_]

Good evening gentlemen,

I'm very interested in traditional colognes as opposed to contemporary designer fragrances. When I wear them, I feel a connection to the past when men were really men and were to be admired. I'm only familiar with a few of the established traditional fragrances, and I'd like to stock my shave den with as many as possible. Do any of you know where one might acquire a compendium of these fragrances? Barring that, please feel free to list as many as each of you can think of.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Niles]

The directory of basenotes.net would be a great resource for you.

 

[Austin]

Here's a good read for becoming acquainted with scents.

http://www.amazon.com/Essence-Alchemy-Natural-History-Perfume/dp/1586857029/ref=pd_cp_b_1

 

[_MementoMori_]

Incredible resources, both!

Thank you for the prompt replies and excellent links.

 

[Sparafucile]

I'm not certain about what "traditional" means in your post, but this is THE guide from a noted authority. (his other books on the science of smell are excellent)

http://www.amazon.com/Perfumes-Z-Gu...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273585558&sr=1-1

 

[StylinLA]

MM- The Basenotes Directory and the review section in here are a good place to poke around. Reading a few of the reviews will give you some idea if something seems likely to tickle your fancy.

One minor detail point- your use of the word "cologne." There is a distinct category of scents that are designated "cologne" as opposed to Eau de Toilette or Eau de Parum. I assume you are using the term cologne as a catch all phrase for men's fragrance.

Men's colognes (EdC) are usually quite light, and usually don't have a lot of longevity.

As such, here's a list of scents I'm familiar with that fall into the traditional vein. Look them up here and in Basenotes and see if any interest you. Most of these are EdT. These for the most part smell manly, traditional and like you've got bucks. Some of these date back to the 1800s- a couple are as recent as the 1980s. Most are not "break the bank" expensive either.

Boucheron Pour Homme
Creed Royal English Leather
Creed Vetiver (1948 version)
Geo F. Trumpers Eucris
Penhaligons Blenheim Bouquet
Penhaligons Hammam Bouquet
Chanel Pour Monsieur
Guerlain Habit Rouge
Guerlain Vetiver
Tiffany For Men
Santos de Cartier
Vintage Tabarome (sadly discontinued, but had to mention it. It's the ultimate to me in traditional male fragrance).

 

[_MementoMori_]

StylinLA,

You are correct. I was using "cologne" as a catch-all phrase. A little digging around on basenotes.net clarified that discrepancy for me right away. You've got to love a day when you actually learn something new. I ended up using the directory and searching masculine scents still in production with a original manufacture date between 1700 - 1920. I don't know why I chose those numbers... they just seemed to encompass the "good old days" as I tend to see them. A lot of the fragrances you've listed were on that result list, and I've read lots of reviews. It seems I need to stock up on several Creed fragrances.

 

[StylinLA]

StylinLA,

You are correct. I was using "cologne" as a catch-all phrase.

I do that a lot myself. But as one who has learned a lot about fragrance, I am careful to be clear. There is a classification of scents called colognes that are distinctly different than the usual fragrances we're used to which are usually Eau de Toilette strength. Colognes tend to be lighter and often citrus based with short longevity. Plus, some fragrances are available in each strength- EdC, EdT and EdP.

Glad to hear you learned to wrangle the Basenotes Directory to focus in like that too. The Creeds are well worth your time to sample. They make a lot of stuff that I would guess hammers "manly and traditional" in the way you seek. A couple of them from the 1980s- Green Irish Tweed and Bois du Portugal are excellent as well. They are hardly what one would call "modern" or contemporary. More like "classic."

For some reason, I'm picturing you liking Trumpers Eucris. Read up on it. It's a mature scent from a different time. People have to take someone wearing it pretty serious. It's not a scent for slackers. My only issue with it is longevity. It doesn't last as long as I would like (but that happens with me and a lot frags). YMMV as they say. It's pretty strong stuff.

 

[cvac]

Memento,

Here are some I enjoy. Not all of them are "old" but they are certainly traditional and classic compared to modern designer scents.

Atkinsons English Lavender
Taylor of Old Bond Street Mr. Taylor
Monsieur de Givenchy
L'Occitane L'Occitan
Bath House Spanish Fig and Nutmeg
Woods of Windsor (discontinued, but shouldn't be too hard to find)
Elsha 1776
Meehan's Bay Rum
Diptique Tam Dao
Crown Perfumery Spiced Limes (also discontinued, harder to find these days)
Givenchy Vetiver
Guerlain Vetiver
Penhaligon's English Fern
Trumper's Wild Fern
Floris no. 89

You may also want to look through the review section as many classic colognes have been reviewed there.

 

[sensor]

i use this as my guide since i get great deals on some old colognes where i live. it has most scents that i have grown to love. i would actually be happy to have 80-90% of this for a wardrobe. 10% of them are the newer ones at the bottom. as you can see most of them are designer. i associate designer fragrances with the men were men era you were talking about or at least the peak of it. the nichey stuff today not so much but i love those too.

 

[sensor]

http://www.leffingwell.com/h&rfragrance/poster_genealogie_masculin.pdf

i use this as my guide since i get great deals on some old colognes where i live. it has most scents that i have grown to love. i would actually be happy to have 80-90% of this for a wardrobe. 10% of them are the newer ones at the bottom. as you can see most of them are designer. i associate designer fragrances with the men were men era you were talking about or at least the peak of it. the nichey stuff today not so much but i love those too.

 

[Austin]

http://www.leffingwell.com/h&rfragrance/poster_genealogie_masculin.pdf

i use this as my guide since i get great deals on some old colognes where i live. it has most scents that i have grown to love. i would actually be happy to have 80-90% of this for a wardrobe. 10% of them are the newer ones at the bottom. as you can see most of them are designer. i associate designer fragrances with the men were men era you were talking about or at least the peak of it. the nichey stuff today not so much but i love those too.

Great link! Thank you.

 

[The Knize]

http://www.leffingwell.com/h&rfragrance/poster_genealogie_masculin.pdf

i use this as my guide since i get great deals on some old colognes where i live. it has most scents that i have grown to love. i would actually be happy to have 80-90% of this for a wardrobe. 10% of them are the newer ones at the bottom. as you can see most of them are designer. i associate designer fragrances with the men were men era you were talking about or at least the peak of it. the nichey stuff today not so much but i love those too.

That really is a great link! I wish I got great deals on old colognes where I live!

 

[Cheapshot]

Halston Z-14
Nuatica: Latitude & Longitude
YvesSaintLaurent: rive gauche pour homme
Drakkar
Versace: V S

...all classics IMHO

the new Banana Rep: Black Walnut - is worth mentioning

 

[Oglethorpe]

Two that scream "traditional" to me:

Czech & Speake Oxford & Cambridge
Brooks Brothers 1818 (aka Signature)

 

[dwnwrdishvnwrd]

Floris Vetiver (if you can find it....discontinued )
Kouros by YSL (if you can stand it....80's powerhouse....MAF)
Aramis by Aramis
Habit Rouge by Guerlain
Tsar by Van Cleef & Arpels
Yatagan by Caron (refer to Kouros comments but replace 80's with 70's)
Antaeus by Chanel
Spanish Leather by Truefitt & Hill
Freshman by Truefitt & Hill
Knize 10 by Knize (hard to find, unfortunately)
1903 by J.Peterman

 

[Luc]

Bumping this up, there's a compendium on B&B here: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Category:Fragrances_Compendium

If you see a way to make the compendium better, please jump in, send me a PM if you need help.

 

[john parker]

MomentoMori, to focus on the year criteria you mentioned, if you go into Basenotes, select Fragrance Directory and select Advanced Search, you can zero in on years as well as several other search criteria, such as masculine. Have fun!

 

[erickson]

I ended up using the directory and searching masculine scents still in production with a original manufacture date between 1700 - 1920. I don't know why I chose those numbers... they just seemed to encompass the "good old days" as I tend to see them.

Acqua Classica Borsari (1880)
Penhaligon's English Fern (1890)

 

[crfcom]

Might not be the type you're looking for, but no list of classic scents can be complete, IMHO, without Acqua di Parma Colonia. Still produced in the original formulation since 1916, so far as I know. Sophisticated for its day, and still a standard. You can tire of leathers and musks without something like an Acqua di Parma to balance your selection as weather as social situations call for.