Reviews of Rocabar (1998)
by Hermès

A super woody aromatic of great proportion! This is pine, cedar, sandalwood--no, several types of pine and several types of cedar on a creamy balsam base. The dry down is pretty good, but the initial blast of woods is too much for me.

Woody, aromatic, spicy, herbal, fairly sweet — and a chypre. I find this a very appealing scent. Like most Hermès creations, this smells elegant. I can wear this to work, but it's also perfect for an evening engagement of a more personal character, dinner or a date; perhaps it would be most appropriate at an elegant soirée. One of things it does suggest to me is a night on the town. The juniper berries and cedar really take the lead with this. Lavender, spices and vanilla provide the underpinning and the chypre accord does the heavy lifting. Key words: Smooth. Elegant. Relaxed. Confident.

Spray it on and for the first five minutes, Rocabar smells like the most elegant, complex and sophisticated men's fragrance ever made. It's sweet and very woody, very reminiscent of Tsar. In fact, I used to wear Rocabar quite often about 10 years ago solely because I loved the top notes. However, after those first five incredible minutes, Rocabar falls apart, and its "heart" turns sour, cheap and kind of nasty. This lasts for a good hour or two, but it then settles back down to a sweet, somewhat powdery drydown, which is not terrible, but is pretty dull and uncreative. It seems like Hermes put all their cash into the top notes, hoping people will spray it on in a store and buy it on impulse. I really expect better from Hermes. (Edited from March 2009 review)

Very smooth, subtle (but still present), and well blended, it smells high quality. Has alot of pine and cedar in it. Although it listed vanilla as a base, I can't really detect it there. I think it smells like walking through a coniferous forest after it had just rained (when the wood smell comes alive). The new slim bottle is reformulated very slightly, the only difference I smell is that the pine note is sharper now.

Rocabar has juniper, citrus, and maybe even artemisia on top. It's cool, it's piney, and it's a bit astringent. In fact, the conifer notes in Rocabar have a bracing, almost menthol quality about them. There are also some sweet undertones which, combined with the pine, vaguely suggest anise. The whole thing is very clean and bright, like crisp cold air in winter. Or like Vick's Vapo-Rub.

Michael Edwards classifies Rocabar as a dry woods (read: "leather") scent, but I can't find a lick of leather here. If anything the base strikes me as a fairly conventional sweet fougère. Then again, what do I know? All I can tell you is that Rocabar seems simplistic, even puerile, coming from Hermès. It appeals less to me than any other pre-Ellena scent in the line.

The blend of woods, juniper berries, balsam and vanilla in this fragrance are distinctive and very refined. It lasts a long time and projects well. But it's what it projects which is what makes it special.

This is not a flashy scent, it doesn't scream for attention. It makes the recipient aware that they are in the presence of a fragrance that is a gentle seducer. It's calm, reserved and strong in a subtle manner.

This is a fragrance for a man who doesn't want to brag, but rather be appreciated for having excellence in taste.

As with most Hermes fragrances this is beautifully constructed, the transition of notes is smooth and understated.

It's the kind of fragrance a man wears to attract the kind of women who understand what the word "distinguished" really means.

It's lovely, A fragrance to enjoy for your own pleasure on a quiet day reading the Sunday papers. Or a fragrance to wear out for dinner on a first date when you want to exude quiet confidence but not in a flash or cocky manner.

It's a quiet masterpiece. And really quite addictive.

This fragrance is very pleasant to wear, not overpowering and very suitable for daily wear. The cinnamon and cedar top and mid notes rest smoothly over the vanilla base, giving a nice dry down with decent longevity.

Far more wearable than Eau d'Hermes, far less dated than the original Equipage (a classic though it is) and far less spicy than Bel Ami (my personal fave from this house).

A creamy, almost gourmand take on woods and spices. Very approachable, elegant frag with modest sillage and superb longevity.

Musky, semi-sweet, cedarwoods and coniferous greens. Kinda of a bland scent but different enough to be more unique than other designer scents.

Chypre/Coniferous

Rocabar is quite nice actually. I don't know where all the neutral ratings come from. It is an excellent coniferous chypre which is laid over a very balsamic/vanilla base which is where it gets its sweetness. It's not "green," its "coniferous." It's resinous and rich. I find Rocabar very wearable. Many of these coniferous chypre types of scents start to smell like pinesol, or nature walks through the forest; it can get a bit too much. Whereas Rocabar, on the other hand, is subdued and elegant. My only disappointment with it is the last stage of its dry down which becomes an almost linen-clean musk on my skin. Not a bad smell, but completely random and having nothing whatsoever to do with the concept of the fragrance. I'm quite happy with pretty much all the men's fragrances from this house. The only one that hasn't yet grown on me is Eau d'Hermes. I'm still trying to acquire the taste for that cumin note in there.

Rocabar is a first-rate fragrance, and I find it mainly intriguing because it blends coniferous and 'forest' notes with a beautiful base of balsam and vanilla. The coniferous and forest-like notes remind me of a combination of Creed's Epicea and Creed's Baie de Genievre, but with Rocabar you get the unique addition of a vanillic-oriental base, which I have not found in any other fragrance. The fragrance opens with juniper berry, cedar needles, lavender, and spicy nutmeg and cinnamon, which reminds me of Creed's Baie de Genievre. It is fairly strong and bracing, like the smell of a beautiful forest, but the heart gives way to a smoother accord of cedar and smoky cypress, which is quite an elixir of its own. The drydown is wonderful and oriental, with just a hint of the earlier woods intermingled with a strong combination of vanilla and balsam. A truly "oudoor" fragrance, yet it works extremely well in formal situations or for a romantic evening. Occasionally, I will wear it out during the daytime, but it really is more of a formal/romantic fragrance, and is also best suited for fall and winter. The longevity is amazing as well; 2 sprays will easily last 16 hours or more! Rocabar is another fine addition to the exceptional fragrances of Hermes.

To date, my favourite on him, and he likes it too.
Just new to the site and am uneducated in matters of scent so can't offer anything more descriptive than this.
I am not acquainted with the individual elements and therefore cannot identify them when smelling a blend.
Am very interested and would like to learn to learn more. If there were such a thing as classes/workshops here, I'd go.

A rather anonymous scent from Hermes -- it's almost as if it has been run through with sugary water. It's a pleasant enough cool, coniferous (pine, cedar) aroma, but lacks any kind of depth or half-decent sillage and is basically bland. A big surprise from Hermes who can usually be relied upon to be at least interesting with their creations, i.e Equipage (valiant but flawed) and Bel-Ami (valiant and not flawed).

Kaern

Rocabar certainly contains an entire evergreen forest: The coniferous notes are present from top to dry down, which normally would please me, but with this fragrance, I’m not very excited. My main problem with Rocabar is that I find almost all the accords in it rather unclear and needlessly crowded and I also have a problem with its sweetness. For instance, I think the opening green accord doesn’t need both cinnamon and cardamom contributing to the accord. Those are strong spice notes and both of them together just confuse the cedar, juniper, and greens of the top IMO. I not too sure the lavender helps in the top notes, either. The accords are just busy and unclear. To top it all off, the vanilla and benzoin from the base already appear in the opening, adding a quantity of sweet and further muddling up the accord.

Where the top notes are strong and hearty, the middle notes aren’t: They just seem to fade. Of the three pyramid levels in Rocabar, I like the middle best. The florals in the middle form a very attractive accord with the cypress and the cedar woods. I would like these heart notes to project more than they do, but they are minimized for some reason. With the basenotes, the strength returns to the fragrance somewhat — I get what could be an incense note, or else what I’m smelling is the cedar and balsam and patchouli combining to form a note that resembles incense to my nose. The patchouli / woody accord would be nice except that I also get an overload of vanilla and benzoin — way too sweet, and sweet combined with conifer is a lethal combination. These overdoses of sweet simply ruin the fragrance for me. Rocobar is about the only conifer scent I’ve tested that I don’t really care for. It isn’t a poor scent, by any means, but it is a disappointment.

This is really nothing to write home about. Goes from a pungent opening of pine to almost nothing in about 2 hours. Not a good offering from Hermes and not as good or unique as Bel Ami or their Jardin range.

I'm a young boy (only 21), but I owned this fragance a couple years ago. It's a extra-warm scent from top to base notes, with a sweet nice touch. However, it's not my favourite scent. I think in fact, due to his strong smell, you could quickly finish hating it.

Rocabar has such potential, such lovely ingredients. In my opinion it fails. Where are the cedar needles? Where is the austere and haunting cypress? Where is the complex, interesting wood? Since the wood notes are named (“Atlas Cedar,” “Virginia Cedar”), I expect something more than a basic wood vibe! I find Rocabar to be a simple, sweet-powdery scent and little else. And there is something here I don’t like, probably a heavy-handed dose of cinnamon or vanilla. The dry-down has some lovely balsam elements but by then the damage has been done. Still too sweet for me. I like Equipage by Hermes very much, but I can’t endorse this one.

Rocabar has a special place in my heart. It served to awaken me to the world of fine cologne and if that were all it did, I should be most grateful. It has remained a favorite. To me it conveys a confident masculinity, sexy and distinctive. The cedar and coniferous notes are pronounced, but vanilla provides a counterbalance, without being excessively sweet. A wonderful synergy is at work! It has a warmth, but not one that precludes summer wear. Longevity is good. I recommend it.

A nice woody, no, woodsy, scent with a hint of sweetness, the sweetness of walking through a pine forest. Lots of evergreens and herbs but not really a "green" scent, more of a dry brown scent. The reason I don't give it thumbs up is a certain soapy/perfumey quality, a little sharp, a little overly "clean" and artificial, a little generic.

Rocabar is a calm, alert, natural fragrance. Reminds me of quiet mornings, walking around and smelling pines and pungent desert grasses where I grew up in Northern California near Oregon. I also get spices and a bit of fruit, pear and a touch of green mango, maybe. Rocabar is a definite presence but its organic quality means that you can still smell the world around you, unlike, say, Rive Gauche, which I also love but which is about cityscapes and the human world to me. Not a staple but one I come back to with grateful recognition.

Rocabar is a lovely oriental. I have only tried it on my hand a long time ago. In those days I felt it was a little strong. Maybe I test it a litte later on. But Hermes have easily become my nr1 favourite perfumehouse. I have now decided to jump between Terre d'Hermes and Eau d'Hermes. Terre as my everyday scent and Eau d'Hermes for special occassions. They are really masterpieces both of them. Real gems. And that is coming from a perfectionist who has been looking for the perfect scent for years. Equipage and Bel Ami are really good and wellmade scents but doesnt stand a chanse against Terre d'Hermes and Eau d'Hermes. Both of them screams elegant simplicity with an extra twist that as I said makes them into masterpieces. But since I was to review Rocabar I can only add that it is a lovely scent who deserves a thumbs up.
benb

Hermes has a difficult culture to understand. Many of the products have a limited ability to stay the course with me and Eau D'orange verte is the prime example of elegance and class, taken out and applied before 9:00 and gone back home by 10:30. (am) ROCABAR however is completely different in its attitude. I get a menthol opening, whilst the game begins to happen among the other notes. This has an underlying strength that will be there all day, the subtle changes dry down to the woods and vanilla. Not a classic in my collection but one that I sport for a refreshing change. It receives its admirers, though more in winter as the perfume excels on chilled, clean skin. Definately worth a look, but just a tad expensive via normal routes, and not as intriguingly irresistable for the similar priced Rochas Lui

Hmmm... For some reason, I can smell Dill as the top note for about an hour. After that, it's an OK scent, but nothing special. DO NOT get this thinking it is "John Varvatos' rich uncle". It's not sweet, or powdery. This scent doesn't really stick out, but I have gotten one or two compliments from it. *On a side note, Terre de Hermes has the same Dill opening when I smell it, so neither of these two fragrances wow me, but try them for yourself, you might like them.
- Rich

What a nice unisex scent! This is without a doubt, one of the best last decade colognes of Hermes I've ever encountered. Easy to describe it's a straightforward scent: Smells like tons of juniper stacked on top of vanilla... very warm, spicy besides amber dominate. In my mind a cross between Azzaro pour Homme and Creed Millesime Imperial, and perhaps a pinch of many women scents. It is masculine...it is feminine... it has a sort of unisex fragrances in some way. More appropriate for especial events, romantic or evening wear, fine for daily wear too. Works well in moderate climates and all textiles. Classy, elegant and exellent in terms of quality. The only negative thing about Rocabar is that isn't last for approximately 2 hour...no problem ;)

Mario Justiniani is correct: love it or leave it. I left it. Received this as a gift. Nice, all right, but could not relate to it. Wore it for about ten days, still couldn't recognize the scent even after the last day of use. Down into the "drawer of neglect" until it somehow disappared. This is a very personal thing- - men and their fragrance choices. One should not give them as gifts purely because the giver likes something, unless the giver KNOWS the recipient likes somehing already, and doesn't have it. Absolutely nothing wrong with this. It is somewhat warm, somewhat spicy, somewhat masculine, a teensy bit sweet all in the nicest way. Yawn. I guess my friend mistook me for someone else. Who, I wonder?

Joe

Winter, Rainy days. Pensive. Combination of fruit and fougere; John Varvatos's upper-class uncle. Perhaps too introspective? Four out of five stars. You'll soon come to love it or leave it.

Rocabar starts out with a burst of fresh orange and works its way down into some sharp and pungent pine and cedar needles. It then settles down into a warm, creamy vanilla mixed with sharp cedar smell. This has a holiday feel to it because of all the pine, but seems best suited for late summer through winter. Reminds be a bit of the country in the autumn, with its forest scents and the smell of freshly cut hay. Not a leather scent, but has a bit of a saddle smell as Rocabar is a very rich and warm golden smell. Heady and somewhat oily, this reminds me of the rural Kansas of my childhood.

All in all, not a "must have" scent and far from amazing, this is a good, solid masculine cologne that's sweet, but not too sweet. Very bold and rich, but not too dark or overpowering. A great autumn scent and proabably one of the best pine scents ever made (that I have tried thus far).

Rocabar. Starts with a blast of juniper and pine-like stuff, with some spices. Very interesting at first and very manly, in the traditional sense. Reminds me somehow of hiking amongst redwood trees on a sunny day (though clearly it's shaded under the trees' canopy). As it dries, it becomes less interesting, sort of the typical "woodsy-vanilla-generic amber" dry down that typifies many designer scents. I agree, there is something reminiscent of Declaration Essence, especially in the base. Longevity could be better...but the opening and middle - very nice and worth returning to.

Chypre, slightly Oriental, heavy with spicy and ambery notes. Very masculine beginning with the unusually massive and puristic bottle. Warm, balsamic masculinity overtly opulent and sensual up to the point of becoming romantic and extravagant. Therefore suitable and almost craving for dandy-style, flashy and slightly vintage evening wear. Strong and lightful, sparkling and glowing with lush yet not intoxicating balsamic and spicy notes. Underlines simple, straightforwardly energetic masculinity as well as elaborate stylishness- there's just something for everyone in this aromatic scent.
A bit like Aramis, Heritage or Azzaro pour Homme due to the chypre notes.

Kicking off my holiday trilogy with Hermes Rocabar. This has been a favorite of mine ever since its release (1998), especially during the colder months. Heavy in fir (cypress, balsam and juniper), cedar, nutmeg, and cinnamon, it balances these elements beautifully without ever becoming too sweet or cloying. I find it somewhat similar to Cartier's Declaration Pour Homme, especially the Essence version. Rocabar will bring in some vanilla toward the end, which will extend the fir and spice notes while adding a little depth. It lasts very long, especially on clothes.

Jeff

For the urban adventurer, smells of the sophisticate just back from the stables or a hike in the woods. This one has presence, and dries down to an earthy and musky nature. It's like a hybrid of Bel Ami and Equipage. Wish I had the personality to reach for this one more often.

A potent concoction...A ride through the countryside on a starry night...smoky, sensual, mysterious...this fragerance seems like a glimpse into the bygone era of royalty; kings, queens, lords, and ladies...oppulent, rich, and spicy...this fragerance will draw compliments...

Of Hermes' main line of colognes for men (Equipage, Bel Ami and Rocobar), Rocobar is the easiest to like but perhaps the most difficult to love. It's a snap to get one's nose around it, as it is a smooth blend of vanilla, cedar, pine and juniper, of good construction and excellent quality. Equipage and Bel Ami can be a little off-putting at first, for different reasons (Equipage starts off floral with carnation, and Bel Ami begins smoky and rough), but their development is more enticing. Nevertheless, Rocabar is a worthy addition to the line, and an excellent present to those who are less adventurous in their fragrance choices.

I adore this scent, and not just on my husband. There's nothing in it that makes it so overtly masculine that a woman can't wear it, and it's also so well crafted that even the marked presence of cedar (a note I ordinarily don't love) neither dominates the other notes nor comes off as "hamster cage shavings." It's a spicy and clean waft that deepens into something more polished and glowing, like a wood polished to show the luminosity of its grains. My husband wears this well year round, but I reserve it for winter wear, when the evergreen notes smell the most lively to me. There is a very vague resemblance to Caron's Nuit de Noel - they share the same spike of pineyness and balsamic base. But the Nuit is much soapier, almost in a Victorian way, and also a tiny bit smoky, something that Rocobar isn't at all.

Glorious Fall colors. Family..Friends..Warmth of a cozy fireplace. Rocabar. 9 out of 10.

OUCH! To preface, most of my favorites are Hermes (I also like Dior and Chanel in general). This, however, is just too potent and unfocussed. Most Hermes scents are unexpected because of their originality and successful because they cleverly fulfill a mission. But this is just raucous! In grade school a group of friends visited a department store. One, to annoy us, "tested" all of the colognes at once ... Rocabar revives that memory.

This is one of those that I often forget is in my collection since I own the small bottle. The top of this one reminds me a lot of Creed Millésime Impérial, as if a bit of that "oily" house note is in here. Perhaps it is the juniper. Anyways, it really changes in the drydown, becoming a wonderfully cedary scent. Then I get the vanilla, which normally is a turn off for me in great concentration, but it works here. Perhaps the balsam or residual cedar serves to temper it for me. This is definitely a gentlemanly scent best worn for formal evenings and black tie affairs, which would explain why I hardly wear it.

Winter comfort scent. Extremely peppery and warm woods steadily anchored by a not too sweet vanilla. Rocabar feels very outdoorsy due to the clear pine and Hermès' reoccuring equstrian theme is strong as ever with this one.

Rocabar is my summer fragrance. Bright and crisp the green woody notes with the soft vanilla base notes balance the spikey top notes. The lasting power of Rocabar is terrific, even after cantoring horseback in Central Park, this one lasts and just gets better. Maybe not for everyone, but everyone should give it a try.

Excellent fragrance. Long lasting, unique, elegant but also sporting. Superb dry down.

Very pleasant warm woody fragrance. Before sampling I've heard of it "for those aged gentleman who achieved everything and already has nothing to aim at". Once sampled I can say it's completely out of age. Light spices introducing more deep smooth woody tones. Then appears soft woody-earthy forest scent with a little touch of vanilla on the background. I like it in cold fall and winter days with my thick cozy wool sweater. Top Hermes quality.

This is a great fougere scent! The coniferous notes are there but not too sharp, and the balsamic vanilla woody base is great! I'm in love with Hermès scents! Give a try to Équipage too! :-)
I have a bottle of Eau d'Orange Verte coming in the mail too! :-)

The heavy influence of cedar and pine needles reminds me so much of the wilderness of my country. It's like walking in a rain forest on Vancouver Island.

The fragrance lasts and lasts (at least on me). I always seem to smell it on something in my room, on a shirt in my closet or something I've touched. It's a quite unique and pleasant fragrance.