Your Top 5 Favorite Colognes!

[joel]

So - Austin's reply to my Tabac Cologne thread of it being in his "top 5" got me thinkin'.... what is everyones top 5 favorite colognes?

Here are mine (In no particular order)....

1.) Penhaligons Hammam Boquet
2.) Castle Forbes 1445
3.) Taylors Mr. Taylor
4.) Brooks Brothers 1818
5.) T&H Trafalgar

 

[Austin]

My current top 5 include:

Guerlain L'Instant
Tabac Original
Acca Kappa Cedro or White Moss
Floris Vetiver
Lolita Lempicka

 

[HlSheppard]

Brooks Bros. 1818
Penhaligon Blenheim Bouquet
Trumpers Sandalwood
(the mythical) B&B cologne
C&E Sienna & Jack Black Black Mark (tie)

 

[AACJ]

George Trumpers Sandalwood
Floris Santal
Truefitt and Hill 1805
Truefitt and Hill Spanish Leather
Bermuda Perfumery Cedarwood

 

[joel]

Brooks Bros. 1818
Penhaligon Blenheim Bouquet
Trumpers Sandalwood
(the mythical) B&B cologne
C&E Sienna & Jack Black Black Mark (tie)

I FORGOT ABOUT B&B - IT'S BEEN SO LONG!!! - I can't wait till Rik gets that to decant.... gidddddy up!!!

 

[Scotto]

Too hard to choose between what I have in stock. Here are 5 that stand out, though:

1. Penhaligon's Endymion
2. C&E Sandalwood
3. John Varvatos
4. Taylor's Mr Taylors and St. James (tie)
5. L'Occitane Vetyver

 

[Rik]

Knize Ten
B&B Cologne
Creed Bois du Portugal
L'Occitane Vetyver
Shiseido Basala / Basara

 

[water]

Changes all the time, but right now they would likely be:

Creed Bois du Portugal
T&H Spanish Leather
Creed Cuir de Russie
Penhaligons Endymion
T&H Grafton

 

[rustyblade]

1-5: Floris Santal

 

[MJB]

Eau Savage Extreme

Art of Shaving Sandalwood

Eau Savage regular

Hermes D'Orange Vert

CK be

MJB

 

[Bartelby]

Creed Original Santal
Hanae Mori EDP
L'Occitane Vetyver
Boss Hugo Boss
John Varvatos

 

[craigrutan]

Penhaligon's Douro
Truefitt and Hill Spanish Leather
Creed Green Irish Tweed
Floris Santal
Penhaligon's Hammam Bouquet

 

[Phog Allen]

Trumper Eucris
Trumper Sandalwood
Floris #89
Penhaligon's Douro
Brook Brothers 1818

I'll add the caveat that I don't have NEAR the rotation or experience that others have with good colognes. I would have to say that of the five listed, the overall best so far would be Floris #89 or maybe Eucris.

Todd

 

[SSLStudio]

Did someone say Cologne ?

1- B&B Cologne (worn it all day yesterday 3 spritzes and your da man ! )
2- Floris Santal (4 bottles at home but they are for resale..hehehe ) very nice sweet sandalwood .
3- John Varvatos (sample I must buy this in full )
4-Quercus Penhaligon (sample I must buy this in full )
5-Aqua di Gio

 

[DEF]

1) Penhaligon's English Fern
2) Woods of Windsor
3) Trumper Eucris
4) Trumper Eau de Quinine
5) Crabtree & Evelyn Sandalwood

NOTE: I edited #5, which used to be Roger & Gallet Eau de Gingembre. I'd probably give R&G up before the C&E.

 

[Sam]

Creed Green Irish Tweed
Creed Millisime Imperial
Maitre de Perfumer Gantier's Eau Des Iles
Lorenzo Villoresi Piper Nigrum
tie between Creed Bois du Portugal and Villoresi's Yerbamate

Sam

 

[schatz]

I'm somewhat new to colognes and picked up a lot of knowledge both here and on Basenotes. Thus far I have purchased maybe 10 to 15 bottles and a number of decants and have rotated them quite a bit. My current 5 favorites, by category, are:

leathers/woods - Knize 10, YSL Jazz, Gucci PH
orientals - YSL Opium, Gucci Envy

I've just ordered some of Sue's new colognes (Bay Rum with a Twist and the Sandalwood) and have a 1 oz decant of the B&B parfum strength on order with Rik. The most contoversial frag by far on Basenotes is Kouros. I bought a bottle and have gotten very mixed reactions from my wife.

I'm finding this hobby is getting a bit addicting as I'm reading the boards (this one and Basenotes) on a daily basis and my bathroom shelf is filling up quickly. For those of you unfamiliar with Basenotes, the "for sale" section of Basenotes is a wonderful complement to the B&B decant club both for full bottles and decants. As many of you seem to really enjoy Penhaligons, there is a vendor with very attractive prices who has a listing under the following url:

http://community.basenotes.net/showthread.php?t=183362

 

[Phog Allen]

1) Penhaligon's English Fern

Thanks DEF. You have now rekindled my interest in this great fragrance. How could I have forgotten it? It blows scents like Polo completely out of the water. I don't know if Polo technically falls in the same class as EF but I sense they are intended to be of the same general type. I think Polo is fougere but is EF considered the same? I suspect it would knock Douro out of my top five. EF and Trumper's Wild Fern are superior scents and I love them both.

Regards, Todd

 

[DEF]

Thanks DEF. You have now rekindled my interest in this great fragrance. How could I have forgotten it? It blows scents like Polo completely out of the water. I don't know if Polo technically falls in the same class as EF but I sense they are intended to be of the same general type. I think Polo is fougere but is EF considered the same? I suspect it would knock Douro out of my top five. EF and Trumper's Wild Fern are superior scents and I love them both.

Regards, Todd

Todd,

English Fern is a great fragrance. It is considered "fougere," which in fact is French for "fern." Now, ferns really don't have scent to speak of; fougere is one of those invented fragrance names given to the accord of lavender with oak moss. English Fern has the fern accord as its base, along with some other green notes like thyme and maybe rosemary. I also pick up a distinct wintergreen note, but I'm not sure if that's because EF contains wintergreen or if it's just an artifact of some other combination in the cologne.

I'm not sure if Polo is supposed to be fougere. Basenotes.net might have info on that. Regardless, I'd put Penhaligon's English Fern in a class way above Polo or most other mass-market colognes. I once raised an eyebrow or two by mentioning EF in the same breath with Truefitt & Hill Grafton; and now I tend to agree that it was a mismatch. Though T&H does describe Grafton as a "fougere," it's in a much more modern style than EF.

If you're really into the fern scent, Roger & Gallet makes a great fern soap; it even comes in a big bath round with a plastic case. Penhaligon's also markets an English Fern shaving soap, but you may have to go to their company website to get it.

Regards,
Doug

 

[designwise1]

Top five (in no particular order):
1) Czech & Speake: No. 88
2) Floris: Santal
3) Penhaligon's: Endymion
4) Brooks Brothers: 1818
5) D.R. Harris: Arlington