Havana (1994)
by Aramis

Havana has one of the most cacophonous openings of any scent I’ve worn. Spray it on and you’re greeted by a raucous blast of alcohol, citrus, tobacco, leather, camphoraceous notes, lavender, and lord knows what else. For sheer volume and shock value, these top notes are hard to beat, and if Havana’s early withdrawal was tied to poor sales, it could well be because few customers managed to wait out its clumsy first five minutes. It’s a terrible pity, since for those intrepid enough to stick with it, Havana offers a real treat.

Make no mistake – Havana remains a busy, complex composition, but once it comes into focus the heart of tobacco, spiced rum, smoke, leather, patchouli, and lavender is as stimulating as it is rich, and perfectly balanced, to boot. The intricate olfactory structure at Havana’s center vibrates over a classic fougère base of coumarin and bergamot with oak moss (real – god bless Aramis’s parent firm Estée Lauder), that provides a cooling counterpoint to all the intense warmth. The juxtaposition of smoky, spicy heat and cool, forest-y fougère accord may be why Havana, for all its depth, never feels ponderous. On the contrary, Havana is surprisingly light-footed and nimble for its bulk. Wearing it is a bit like discovering that your gruff, hairy, 250 pound uncle Lou dances an exquisite waltz.

In overall demeanor, Havana is what I’ve come to think of as a BFFF (Big, Fat, F#!@king Fougère), to which class also belong Jules, Kouros, and Pascal Morabito’s gargantuan but elusive Or Black. Havana has a more staid and stolid older brother, too, in Estée Lauder’s own Lauder for Men, which shares Havana’s tobacco, aromatics, and bold fougère base, though not its booze or its jazzy anisic bounce. I think Havana is the most buoyant of this lot, inasmuch as “buoyant” can apply to a fragrance of such density. Despite the challenge posed by its top notes, Havana is also one of the most often complemented scents I wear.

As you might expect from my description so far, Havana is a potent, long-lasting fragrance that projects well off the skin and leaves behind plenty of sillage. It’s surely one of those scents that will elicit disapproval if over-applied. Used wisely, I believe Havana deserves its reputation as one of the great scents of its decade, and its absence is to be deeply mourned if not outright protested. One has to question Aramis’s brand strategy: they introduce distinctive, brilliantly composed scents - like Havana or Tuscany Forte per Uomo - that are built on fine ingredients, provide them with no marketing to speak of, and then wind up canning them when they (predictably) fail to sell. Or sometimes even when they succeed. All I can say is: Go out and buy yourself some of the excellent leathery green Devin, before they drop that one, too.

Newsflash!

Side-by-side blind testing leads me to conclude that (allowing for the effects of sample age,) the repackaged version of Havana released in 2009 as part of the Aramis Gentleman's Collection is substantially the same as the vintage EdT reviewed above.

A HUGE presence for the first 10-15 minutes. Intense and almost overpowering in the initial minutes if over applied. Easy does it.

Seems to turn its head away slightly during a middle phase lasting a half hour or so. Definitely still there, but changing, much more subdued.

Then, a long, slowly evolving glow of multilayered spice, incense, tobacco, dried fruit radiates from the skin. Almost edible at this stage. Great longevity. Finally emerges into a delicious and subtle melding of vanilla and fruitwood smoke. Damn nice!

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>>September 27, 2009 Review of Havana 're-release':

Hallelujah! The Aramis Havana 're-release' (did it ever really go out of production?) is essentially the same as the original--a wonderfully raucous opening barrage of spice/citrus/tobacco that is the olfactory equivalent of a spectacular nighttime fireworks display!

Middle notes are quieter with less flashy sparkle but more depth of fruit and a touch of rum and floral quietly and firmly taking center stage backdrop position. The drydown, simply put, continues to be one of the most sublime the fragrance world has to offer.

As I write this edit the single back-of-hand tester spritz of the 'new' Havana I applied at noon is in it's 8th hour, and I just cannot stop myself from sniffing it!

It DOES have everything but the kitchen sink. How could I not love this one, with all those great strong notes, it is exuberant and it’s hard not to admire. Of course tobacco is what hits me first—spicy tobacco—bay rum spicy tobacco lolling in a green / herbal accord with aldehydes, conifer, citrus, and wood to fill it out even though it doesn’t need to be filled out. This is a very abundant fragrance.

Abundance continues through the heart notes when a whole new lineup of spices and florals join the crowd: cumin, pimento, pepper, cinnamon, for spices; carnation, lily of the valley, hyacinth, and jasmine for florals. Of course, with all the spices, the florals could not be prominent, but they do serve to provide the heart of the fragrance with a very harmonious platform for the spices to perform on.

The base is my favorite part. It is superb: tobacco, of course, and amber, oak moss, patchouli, cedar wood, sandal wood, tonka, vanilla, myrrh, labdanum, and, my favorite, Oilbanum. Fourteen hours after applying I have a wonderful incense / wood accord still gently emanating from my skin.

I’ve mentioned abundance a couple of times, but that was only in the spirit of exaggeration. Havana is a very potent spicy-tobacco-woody-green chypre, but the strength can be controlled through application, and, besides, the ‘abundance’ lasts for only about a half hour. After all the spice and tobacco fireworks, Havana turns out to be a rich, lusty, but controllable fragrance that lasts and lasts. This is a superb fragrance. (Edit of 17 September 2006 review.)

The most interesting Bay Rum/Tobacco you're likely to find. Come to think of it, perhaps the only--

Well, be that as it may, do NOT make the mistake of supposing that we only praise it to the sky because it's a hard to find, discontinued frag.

The drydown, as previously noted, is truly superb. The notes begin to harmonize and we've soon got a Cuban melody of the first order. Makes me want to listen to an old Ernesto Lecuona love song while eating picadillo and sipping a mojito. Light, sparkling, and seductive Caribbean charm all the way.

I was fortunate enough to get a decant of this. And I can understand now why so many people are hoping for a relaunch. The fruity-herbal opening is fantastic. Like most Aramis classics, the herbs, woods,florals and citrus are blended to perfection.There is a distinct scent that is very Aramis and is also evident in 900, Tuscany, Aramis original. Has a lovely slightly musky dry down. A wonderful scent. Such pity it has been discontinued.

Havana was a very pleasing fragrance. Subtle, spicy, and manly. I enjoyed wearing this one for as long as it was on the market. I'm a swarthy, hairy kind of guy and this stuff really mixed well with my body chemistry. It also smelled great if you start to sweat. This is a more "toned down" version of JHL and much more diluted, too. I really liked Havana and would gladly buy it again if it was available.