Sybaris (1988)
by Antonio Puig

I'm kind of so-so on Sybaris. After a nice strong, spicy and bitter opening, Sybaris mellows into a somewhat sharp smelling fougere, with a slight animalic feel to it. Its middle accord does remind me a lot of Lauder For Men, a scent which I do not like, and unfortunately it smells a bit cheap and thin duriing my nose. I guess I was expecting something a bit more mutifaceted and natural smelling in the heart accord, but it just smells a bit flat. What I do like, however, is that Sybaris does have a subtle sweaty, animalic feel underlying the sharpness. I doubt there are any actual animalic ingredients here like civet or castoreum, so I assume this is some sort of olfactory illusion. The drydown is pretty good by maintaining that slight animalic feel with some spiciness.

Overall, Sybaris is a pretty good, masculine smelling fragrance, very bold by today's standards. But I can't fully endorse it, due to its relatively dull and somewhat cheap smelling middle accord. The drydown is pretty good, but not quite good enough to give this a full thumbs up. I'm on the fence with Sybaris

1988 leather chypre from Puig. I'm always a bit surprised when I wear or try something from the 1980's that I expect to be a powerhouse type,only to discover it's rather well mannered and leaning toward reserved.

I get herbal from Sybaris....albeit a very good one. The combination of cumin and geranium give this a distinct texture. Cumin can be off-putting in some fragrances, but it's rather good in this one.

The barely perceptible amber in the base literally restrains the leather,moss, patchouli and vetiver from taking a no-holds-barred macho direction.....and it does it in nice fashion.

Sybaris is a moderate sillage and moderate longevity frag that's excellent at what it does. Think Maxim's Pour Homme and Yatagan getting thrown into a blender. The end result is much better than you think. Big thumbs up from Aromi.

IT REMEMBERS ME A LITTLE OF ONE MAN SHOW, IT`S A NICE AND INTERESTING FRAGRANCE, ONE OF BEST PUIG`S FRAGS

I read about this one first at Perfume Emporium, a site that advertises itself as carrying 'Cheap Perfumes' --and arguably cheaper reviews.

As of today there were four for Sybaris. Two giving it the worst 1 star rating, They were entitled 'mustard gas' and 'bug spray' respectively: which frankly sound somewhat negative to me . . .

Two others gave it their highest 5 star rating. One of those reviwers assured us that it was better suited for those sophisticated Europeans. The other knew his stuff. ---He mentioned Guerlain Heritage, Patou Prive, and Hermes Equipage, and thought it was best suited for the over 30 crowd.

I got a bad bottle. (NOT from PE) The Green topnotes of lemon, mandarin, etc. were completely missing.
Instead there was a kind of synthetic lipstick smell, which mercifully receded after 5 minutes, and then Sybaris started rising on the machometer.

I did get the middle and basenotes, and they're exceedingly well blended. This is a leather scent but skip it if you're looking to get strong, dominant leather. Here it's only a part of the theme.

Altogether I found Sybaris refreshingly light on its feet yet possessing a dark undercurrent. Perhaps best suited for a boxer with a fast jab?

A super macho Spanish leather chypres. Great for those days when you want to feel like you're Antonia Banderas! But I've to give this a neutral rating as I don't think it's really that special as described by some of the other members.

Eventually I laid my hands on a bottle, its not the easiest of scents to acquire. A back street perfumer in Zurich had one bottle left (along with, wait for it, 3 of Havana). Its a warm sensual perfume that needs to be worn in small sprays. Don't dab it on like paint stripper or the effect will be over-whelming. You cant say its a classic because it just isnt that well known, I guess therein lies the beauty.