Reviews of Millésime Impérial (1995)
by Creed

Why do people go ga-ga over this fragrance? I don't get it. Is it the nice gold-colored bottle? I'll confess that the bottle wooed me in my purchase of a 2.5 oz. bottle, my very first Creed purchase, 8 years ago. It smells like it doesn't know if it wants to be an acquatic or a fougere, like it's trying to be Green Irish Tweed, but with much less complexity and a loud, hammering rubbing alcohol/paint thinner note up top that never really goes away. It's not a terrible scent, but that acetone smell just flattens any other note that may be in the mix. It's like Cool Water on crack. I liked it when I first bought it years ago, but it was so loud and strident that I quickly got sick of wearing it and threw it in the trash.

Creed has many fragrances that are so much better than this. Stick with Green Irish Tweed, the real deal.

Millesime Imperial is a bit difficult for me to review. The sample that convinced me to buy a full bottle and the actual bottle I purchased are clearly the same scent, but the two developed very differently on my skin. In both cases, however, Millesime Imperial opens with wonderful, rich, melon accord with a bit of salt water thrown in. This top is the best I've experienced in any fragrance as of this writing. As the scent dries down, it becomes warmer until it eventually settles into the typical Creed ambergris base. So, why the neutral? The top and heart notes in my sample lasted a good few hours on me - after three or so, I could still smell waves of fresh and slightly warm melon periodicallly. However, in my bottle, the scent went straight to the base after a mere half hour, and I don't find the ambergris base particularly compelling; indeed, it even seems somewhat out of place in a scent that is otherwise fruity and slightly aquatic. This could easily be a thumbs up if I could consistently find bottles similar to my sample, but as the one I purchased was one from the newest batch, I can't in good faith give Millesime Imperial more than a neutral at this time.

The freshest of the fresh.

MI is a smooth fresh bright elegant scent. Perfection out of the bottle. However, having heavily applied this on a recent visit to Harrords this wonderful smell was gone without a trace by the time i'd completed 1 lap around the fragrance department. Needless to say i returned for another blast of this masterpiece, only to find it disappeared even quicker. Wonderful smell but £140.00 for one hour in fragrance heaven! Not for me.

I absolutely love this scent. It's fresh, melon note is the highlight, which warms to a delicious amber. I couldn't stop sniffing myself after the initial application. Unfortunately this joy is short lived. The scent is taken away before it can really be enjoyed. Kind of like a one night stand, but if a one night stand lasted twenty minutes.

If this scent lasted even just up to an Hour, I would raise my vote to a Positive^10. As MI stands, with the price and the fleetingness which induces heartbreak I give it Neutral to Negative.

Like other posters, I didn't care for it at first and then grew to like it. My first impression was of slightly rotten fruit in stagnant water. A couple of days later, it became refined slightly rotten fruit in stagnant water and weeks after wards it is now a very interesting salty acquatic blend of slightly rotten fruit in stagnant but clear water.

Erolfa is better, if you're going by the seashore--or anywhere else where there's a sea breeze. On land, sea and air, Himalaya puts it to shame. However, this is just my subjective, humble, and infallible opinion. In any case, that there gold bottle sure is shiny and purty.

I wonder if this is Creed's best seller, running neck to neck with GIT?

Smells fantastic! however it didn't last more than an hour on my skin. Due to the lack of longevity, price, and commonness of fresh scents like this, I give it a neutral.

The melon note is marvelous, but the fragrance does not last on my skin, and projection is weak. Quite overrated.

It is a nice scent just a little too feminine for my tastes. It is uni-sex but leans to the ladies side of that scale I think. Some men can pull this off but I like broody male scents I guess.

This was my second Creed right after Green Irish Tweed, and is my favorite of the Creed line. I feel rich, important and even a bit important wearing this. The only downside is that it's not very powerful and perhaps even a bit "watery" at least on my skin, and does not last too good. Extra point for the very fine bottle.

MI smells aquatic without smelling like all the other scents you see at the department store counter (*update: it does now compared with Sean John's Unforgivable). It has a nice marine accord and I also smell watermelon even though it's not listed as a note. The drydown has the typical Creed house note along with a musky base. The only downside to this scent is that it doesn't last long for me. A couple hours and then it's gone. It's also a little too subtle for my tastes and doesn't project the sillage that I like in a frag. With that aside, this is a very sophisticated scent and is very versatile. It would be really awesome if Creed made an Extreme version for this.

After hearing so much about MI and how Unforgivable, which I actually quite like, was a rip off of this scent, I thought buying a bottle of MI was a no brainer. Suffice it to say, I was underwhelmed.

This is a very one dimensional scent in my opinion. The initial top notes have this sweet metallic and citrus emanation that certainly speaks to something fresh, novel and sophisticated. However, I was hoping there would be more of a herbal/floral middle note to flesh out the fragrance some more. Furthermore, the dry down is rather weak, leaving faint traces of a powdery and floral scent, albeit not as feminine as it may seem by my description. The longevity is a key issue here, the scent didn't last for more than 3 hours, which is contrary to what we have come to expect from Creed.

I am not saying this is a bad scent at all, it is certainly very light, fresh and sophisticated. The only problem is, you'd literally have to be in somebody's face for them to smell it. The only time such an invasion of personal space would be warranted is when you're on a romantic date and dinner is just the tip of the iceberg, if you get my drift. Thus, it is a good night time scent to wear for an intimate rendezvous but if you're a player looking to draw the ladies close, you'd better have a wicked sense of humor to compensate for the lack of MI's sillage. Colors I would associate with this scent is Gold (yes, like the bottle color)and yellow green, followed by a white, sky blue, pastel green and a touch of baby pink: like I said, relatively weak after notes.

Seemed like a little went a LOONNNGG way. Smelled good once the top notes faded away. Too strong for my tastes, but may make the bottle last longer...

I owned Unforgivable first and thought it was a good scent, although there were times I was sick of it, I always went back to it. I kept reading the basenotes reviews about the comparisons between Unforgivable and MI and told myself that one day I'd put up the money for the Creed fragrance and and see for myself how similar they are to each other and which one is really the better of the two. When I ordered MI, I also ordered Himalaya because it just sounded like it fit my personality perfectly. When I finally recieved MI, I took it out and thought "eh, the bottle's okay, kinda tacky", I expected it to be much more appealing but it was this 'plasticy' looking dark gold glass bottle, whatever, y'know?! Anyways, I finally sprayed it on my wrist expecting this undeniabaly alluring and super sexy aroma and kinda got...eh, it's okay. I definitely saw the similarity between MI and Sean John, so obviously, yeah, he ripped off Creed! But really MI just smelled like a watered down Sean John, (or should I say, more natural) and MI had more 'Green' notes in it, I didn't really get a 'fresh fruit' sense from it. But I didn't give up, I kept on testing it along with Sean John and truthfully, after a while I noticed how much more natural MI smelled, you could spray it on your skin and smell it right away, if you spray Sean John on and smell it right away it will kinda burn your nose from all the alcohol and MI's longevity is better too, Sean John doesn't last long at all. Until then, I never tried any Creed Fragrances and now I'm drawn to them, I can't see myself using too many EDToilettes anymore, Creed is more sophisticated and probably better on your skin considering EDT holds so many chemicals. Anyways I forgot to tell you my results on Himalaya.....It's now my signature scent and it will remain to be. Comparing that to MI, no contest, Himalaya is much fresher, cleaner, more up to date, has better longevity and all, I love it! And just remember, if you never tried a Creed scent and you're used to Department store fragrances, when you first smell certain Creeds or any for that matter, you might not like them at first, because you're used to a lot of chemically produced scents. Keep going back to Creed, give it a few chances, see how it dries down on your skin throughout the day, trust me, you'll come to appreciate them much more.

The second Creed I ever tried / purchased. Absolutely loved it when I got it, but perhaps wore it too much.

I'm now finding that it is smelling a little too dull for me, and dare I say it, a little sickly.

Shame really, as I used to rate this highly.

The sweet, yet crisp topnotes of Millesime Imperial are very, very pretty. Perhaps even a little too pretty for me. Though the strong fruit (melon?) component is charming, the equally conspicuous citrus note seems rather conventional.

At first I was baffled by the comparisons with Silver Mountain Water, since that scent's currant/tea accord is much more herbal and earthy to my nose. But as the Millesime base revealed itself during the (very rapid) drydown, I began to see the point. The base of this fragrance is much like that of Silver Mountain Water, and even resembles Green Irish Tweed.

Since Millesime Imperial both reveals its base and fades quickly on me, I don't experience it as a distinguished or individual scent. In fact, the whole thing is pretty much gone within three hours. Nice, yes, and very well put together, but not terribly useful to me as a wardrobe item.

A perfectly enchanting, subtle, complex summer fragrance. It comes as a welcome break from the current aquatic craze. I only wish it lasted longer on my skin, I get about thirty minutes out of it at a time. So sad.

Created for an Arabian prince this is truly royal. A delightful scent with the départ of bergamot and seasalt. It is surely an uplifting scent. Yet elegant and not banal or playful. But even though it is created for the heat of Arabian climate, it does not resist higher temperatures.
I followed a lady who was wearing it through three long streets. I found it of uncomparable sophistication. fresh yet not a toilet water, but unfortunately when temperatures raise, the curtain of elegance falls down and leaves you with seasand mixed with bergamot traces,like a dried out flower.the watery element fades and something sadly thickeningly dry remains on your skin.
I guess it is fantastic for who likes citrus elegance in colder times of the year. I prefer warmer scents in winter.
so it was just a first moment enchanter for me

This would probably be my favorite scent if it lasted longer than 1 or 2 hours. Its fruity and fresh without that sharp soapy feel. WHY must it be so weak!?

I don't know what all the fuss is about. Yes, it's nice, with the characteristic sharp opening notes; but after that it fades to a barely imperceptable scent. I need to try it some more, or apply it more heavily.

An amazing fragrance whose every note seems to work well on my skin--it unfortunately also gives me an itchy rash. I used to try wearing it sparingly on special occasions, but finally gave up. Too bad, because it really is very elegant.

I do not anything bad to say about MI, but I do not have anything good to say either. It does not last long and it is not a very strong scent. I like some Creed scents and others do nothing for me. This one did nothing for me.