Preferred Stock (1990)
by Coty

Mix some Sung Homme with some Red from Giorgio of BH, give it a splash or two of each Drakkar Noir and Pino Silvestre and voila, you have Preferred Stock.
It has its drawbacks but it is a pleasant scent that sells for peanuts, how could you not like it?
My thumbs up

23rd January, 2012.

A very nice fougere for a cheapo.
There are better offerings in the genre, but for its price, it's hard to beat!
I match it with the after-shave and find it smooth and not overpowering at all.

1st September, 2011.

For Coty's 1990 release they resurrected the name of a men's fragrance that dates at least back to the 1950s. I don't know if there is any continuity in scent with the midcentury model (although I suspect there is none since this is, as others have noted, similar to Red and hence more modern). The name has a masculine ring to it and connotes business suits and power deals, yet this is not a formal scent. I remember it as soapier (I owned a bottle upon its release) than the current formula. The bottle I now possess has a fruity top note, perhaps a juniper berry or plum. The patchouli and musk predominate and lend an impressive longevity to this budget offering. Overall I think anybody from 16 to 86 can wear this. It's better than the supposed "sport" fragrances on shelves today and for the low cost, even cash-strapped youngsters can splurge on a bottle. Guys, the other boys at the flip-flop store won't be wearing this, trust me.

11th July, 2011.

It's been mentioned, but Preferred Stock really smells like Red for Men by Giorgio Beverly Hills, only it seems cheaper and has a sort of sour tobacco woody note and a bit less depth. I don't mean this to sound disparaging, because for the $15 or less you'll pay for a bottle of this it's a steal. But now that Red is back on the market for $20 there just doesn't seem to be much of a point. PS has more character than most budget scents, so it's really not bad at all, but if you can afford higher, aim higher.

29th January, 2011.

If all scents to be reviewed had to be collected at some central point, in unlabelled vials and reviewers zapped with a temporary-memory-loss taser, i wonder how the review statistics of Preferred Stock will be affected. But what do i know?

PS is, IMO, which opens with a sweaty lavender intro is a fougere-like scent rich in patchouli and some tonka bean and amber in the base. I want to believe there is something representing labdanum in the mix as well. This note is probably what gives it the sweaty/BO/whatever smell alluded to in several reviews below. This animalic tinge is actually what makes PS quite attractive to my nose.

Preferred Stock is a delightful, cheap and cheerful scent. It smells quite substantial without being overpowering. Yes, with most cheapies one cannot totally escape certain olfactory realities. PS has a synthetic/perfumey phase a la Sung Homme (rogue links or territorial skirmishes within the synthetic aromachemical chain structures?) but this is just for a very short while before the accords make peace and recalibrate with eachother.

I enjoy wearing Preferred Stock, and have even worn it to a black-tie dinner. It held its own among the identified Creeds and Guerlains. Then again, maybe it was just the wearer.

30th July, 2010.

Bland, smelly, old. I actually think of dead people when I get a whiff of Preferred Stock.
Anyone who would "prefer" this.. it's competition must be Gravity or something equally as horrific.

I used to own this as well as many others from the cheaper lines (Coty, Dana, Avon)
There are few good ones from Coty, I enjoy Raw Vanilla and Avatar very much. Even Aspen is better than this. There are plenty of "basic" colognes that don't smell like death; Grey Flannel, Drakkar Noir, English Leather, and Aspen to name a few.
Preferred Stock is disgusting from start to finish and gets an F in my book.

1st March, 2010.