Reviews of Yatagan (1976)
by Caron

Uncompromising. I can think of no better word for Yatagan. It concedes nothing to prettiness. Every element is honed sharp, just like the Turkish blade for which this scent is named.

Yatagan opens on a medicinal blast of Artemisia absinthium, commonly called wormwood, which is a principal component of the classic absinthe beverage. Having grown this herb for years, I can assure you that the note is dead accurate.

At first you might conclude that Yatagan is purely linear, since the wormwood dominates the composition for nearly an hour. But eventually the pine and geranium join in a new, though no less stark, aromatic accord supported by a firm leather foundation. A marvelously integrated dose of castoreum adds animal warmth and vitality to the mix. The whole composition softens slowly through its extended drydown, but never shows even a glimmer of sweetness.

Yatagan is not easily grasped at first encounter, and some will find it hard to wear. You need to be self assured to pull it off. Or do I have it backwards? Perhaps arming yourself with Yatagan channels self-respect and power. It may be far from pretty, but that doesn't mean Yatagan isn't beautiful. It's beautiful in the manner of a desolate landscape under a hot sun, and just as dangerous.

This brew is sharp, sour and dusty, and is more reminiscent to me of high desert sagebrush than any other frag. The first time I smelled it, I thought, "Oh, THIS is what Aramis would have been like if they had pushed it as far as they could." Or what the lumberjack in the Brawny paper towel logo smells like. In my Platonic ideal of Santa Fe, this is what the upscale southwest leather goods shops should smell like, or perhaps the potpourri pots full of wild local herbs in the luxury hotel lobbies.

The scent is woody, leathery, and herbal with hardly any sweetness...dry like certain wines, and drier in fact than most other dry scents out there. It's as though the perfumer limited himself to the slight intrinsic sweetness of the major ingredients, and refused to add any beyond that. Granted there is a pine-forest element, as the consensus seems to be, but I really don't think it's the pine trees that set the stage in Yatagan. Rather it's the dry earth, bushes and grasses that get crushed underfoot in arid mountain regions; it's forest and desert at the same time. I keep expecting my nose to feel dry and my lips chapped as I write this, as if after hiking up in the arroyos all day.

But would I wear it? Maybe. It's sharp in the 70s "power scent" way, but it might still be acceptable with a very conservative spray hand. It's "cologney" in the same way as Aramis (though maybe a bit more comfortably so), so even people who don't like it would at least understand why it smells the way it does. And people who do like it might find it as starkly beautiful as the high desert.

This one used to have bulging muscles, but has been reformulated down to a slimmer figure. It still has some power, and for nostalgic reasons, I continue to like it, though it is no longer what it was in the 70s and 80s. (Yes, children, I do remember those days: I was already grown up then!) Yatagan retains an unusual floral-aromatic accord within the chypre genre. What it seems to lack now is projection and longevity. Wishing for it to be what it once was is an exercise in futility; it still boasts a lively presence for its unusual character and its animalic undertones. I'll say it's still a thumbs-up. Many more alterations, however...

If you are, like me, pretty tired of all the aquatic/floriental sweet and "nice" fragrances they make these days, and you want something with balls, a real powerhouse, something eccentric, look no further, this is it.

In my quest for eccentric fragrances i have encounterd many a great scent, Antaeus, Quorum, Tsar, Nobile but Yatagan is my personal favorite. Gunpowder, celery, the smell of wet dogs, chickensoup, pineneedles, curry...it's all there. The opening can be pretty strong with lots of pineneedle but the drydown is rather calm and classy. There's no sweetness here and this is by far the driest scent i have ever smelled.

Very strange. Addictive. My first reaction was to smile. Now I laugh, because it is such an odd fragrance.

Well...everything i wanted to say about Yatagan is already said here.Probably no need for another boring review but still...i'm under imression.Especially Vibert's definition "Uncompromising" was very correct and that's exactly what i think.Went to a store and asked to test it.The lady seller of about 50 years old hearing me asking for Yatagan replied with a certain alerted amazement "Yatagan?!!!Oh la la!" (living in a french speaking area,"oh la la!"- in this situation that was like an equivalent of "wow,maaaan!watch out!").I don't have this kind of nose to describe the opening and the transformations,but i left the paperstrip to dry till i got outside.Then after my first sniff i almost shouted out loud "YEEESSSSSS!!!!!!!!".I was stunned! Absalutely fantastic! Like a truck full of fresh cut pinetree logs droped off its cargo right in my nose!Just trying to remeber the scents i ever sniffed:juniperberry-yes it is there!very bright and bitter,rosmarine-yes,maybe not too expressive,celery-...????maybe as an opening note which i partly missed,but not when it all settled down.The general impression:bitter pine very straight forward and absolutely nothing that modifys it to anything more agreeable or soft or mild-hence Uncompromising!Them guys who are 25 or younger-don't even try to wear this,you will not succeed in it.So far to me this is the ultimate masculinity materialized into a fragrance.Might be the best selling fragrance in Alaska and Oregon.

Yatagan is, as many reviewers have stated, unique in the world of fragrances. It is certainly unlike anything I have ever encountered before! Off the top I get a huge, head-blasting hit of wormwood that powers on for a good couple of hours. Yes, I can detect patchouli in there as well, but the wormwood is dense and heady and almost a little overwhelming. It's bone dry - Atacama Desert dry - and it's got balls like a bull Rhino. After said couple of hours, the patchouli becomes more assertive. It stays around for the duration, fading gently as the more animalistic elements in the base start to almost ooze forward - dark, brooding, even taboo. Yatagan is a confronting mix that will challenge your perceptions of "perfume", and is absolute must for the collection of any serious fragrance connoisseur.

If you've ever driven anything with a diesel engine and bogeys, know what a torque wrench is, have herded cattle, or can juggle chainsaws while holding off a grizzly bear, then Yatagan MIGHT be for you. Strong stuff. I don't get celery as much as strong patchouli, a scent I normally don't like, but Yatagan is so unique that oddly enough I find myself drawn back to it again and again. And every time I like it even more. Blues jeans and pointy boots cologne, the kind that hired hands would wear for a night out on the town. Gritty, strong, astringent stuff. Two thumbs up.

Yatagan is a very arid and brawny fragrance. It is a parched landscape. Virile and anti-floral. The binary opposite of sweet. Silage is noticeable, but not tremendous. Use with caution at the office. It shares similarities in the upper notes with Quorum Silver, although it is not as fresh and certainly not citrusy as QS. Best when mixed in with a little sweat, but only if you've showered in the past 6 hours!

Wolverine wears this. No doubt in my mind. Awesome and sexy... almost too much mansex, but then it dries down to a comforting and clean whisper of its earlier growl.

i first smelled this on someone(a tutor) around 1978-79...i do not know how i found out what it was, i dare not ask. 6 years later if ound i was travelling all over the world, and one day in hong kong duty free i walked by and smelled it again. i bought it immediately and treasured, as i had not even found it in paris. i no longer wear cologne having gone through penhaligan's, annik goutal and got bored...i think i am going to buy yatagan again right now.Like persol folding aviators it is synominous with that era when things were just so much simpler
-i think i'll buy those sunglesses again too

Hubba hubba!

Bathroom cleaner, creosote, wood, more wood, pine needles and butchness. This smells like a forest. And possibly also a lumberjack. It really is good.

I'll be wearing it and to hell with the consequences, but I do wish I could bump into a chap sporting this cologne. I'd probably follow him down the street. And into a bar. :)

you know the guy whose face is plastered on each and every roll of brawny paper towels??? this is what he smells like... this is burning forest mixed with hot sweat and old flannel... paul bunyan would probably have this in his daily rotation... this scent requires a generous amount of facial hair and twenty pound boots, along with some sort of axe or chainsaw... i think that there's only a few people that could actually pull this off as a daily fragrance, and utterly blasphemous for the wrong person to try... the woods are extreme, the patchouli absolutely dirty (not unclean, but straight out of the earth), and whatever other notes are there are pummeled into submission by the sheer masculinity existing from top to bottom... if oscar pour lui is the refined gentleman sipping a martini at the jazz bar downtown, yatagan is the hulking mass of a man drinking wild turkey at the hole in the wall pub on the outskirts of town... this is the essence of testicular fortitude, and that gives it a thumbs way up

Quite simply I think this is one of the most beautiful fragrances for men I have encountered. I've heard people make reference to "celery" and as it dries down and mutates you can see where that comes from but it's a small part of what is quite simply a gloriously rich, spicy and evocative fragrance. This is a rich leather scent, yes, but with it comes a whirl of pinecones, earthy muskiness (from the castoreum) and more with the patchouli adding a sweet yet dry richness in there.

Also, what it projects above the skin is far warmer and sexier than right down on skin level (which is where you will find the "celery" like note). I suppose it depends on your skin, but on mine, this is just an elegant, warm and deeply dark and rich fragrance that lasts for hours.

This is not a fragrance to be afraid of - unless you are in your late teens perhaps or early twenties. It is a mature scent for an older male, for it carries with it an authority and confidence that a young, fresh buck would not be expected to harbour.

It is unmistakably a male fragrance. Dignified with a kind of snooty indifference but alluding to an animalic growl underneath.

A classic - oh yes. In every sense of the word.

I've heard so much good feedback about this stuff. Now I know why. I also bought a dacant from PerfumedCourt and haven't regretted it since. Maybe it's time for a full bottle when my decant's done.

For a woman--or at least for this woman--exploring masculine fragrances is a bit like dating. Most contenders make an agreeable first impression, but either don't stick around, or beome too dull too stick with. Some are men who you would marry--depependable, elegant, smart, rich and strong. (If some miraculous alchemy could transform Eau Savage into a man, I would marry him sight unseen.) Then there are the ones you would have an affair with--sexy and exciting but also a bit dangerous and not someone you'd want to be around all the time--men like Yatagan. It has the boldest, brashest, butchest opening I've yet encountered, a blast of lavender, wormwood and something resinous, almost urinous. It quiets down (relatively speaking) to a woody, herbal and very animalic scent with good staying power.

The very butchness of Yatagan is, IMHO, why women ought to try it. We all know that notions of masculinity and femininity in frgrance are just so much culturally ingrained nonsense, right? Come on, ladies, fight the power! (If you don't feel like fighting the power, Yatagan will induce the feeling, believe me.) I would totally fall for a guy who wore this, but, alas, I've never met one. So, I'll just have to wear it myself.

Yatagan is a band apart. Nothing that I have smelled before comes closed. Yatagan is hard to understand, at least to me.
Very dry, earthy, woody, leathery and spicy.It is an explosive cocktail than never burst. You imagine a great sillage but it does not have it, at least on my skin stays very close to the skin. When you think is not there just smell yourself and it will come at you like a ghost in the dark.

This fragrance is very masculine, sort of old school and yet intriguing. It is masculine in a classy way far from barbershop or 70´s bomb. I dont get any floral or sweet note and for that I am graceful to the designer, a masterpiece.

I first purchased a decant of Yatagan from The Perfumed Court, knowing full well that I would not be able to get my husband to wear it. He has a nice natural scent of his own, so I don't force upon him my need for aromatics. I bought it for me. I am a fool for patchouli, though not of the head shop variety. But when it lies quietly at the base of a pyramid of dry citrus and herbals, it is most enchanting. I'm like a dizzy kitty lolling in catnip. Yatagan smells like the man I would be, were I not a woman. Breathing it in, I feel strong and self-assured. I can face a roomful of middle-schoolers and not flinch, not even slightly. Yes, I wear it some days. Today I wore L'Heure Bleue, tomorrow I may wear Courtesan, but I can guarantee that one morning in the near future when it is a cold, rainy Tuesday and I need a jolt of electricity to get me humming, it WILL be Yatagan, and none other.

Eeegads! Yatagan! I give Caron's hypermasculine beast 5 stars and a thumbs up because it's just so... Yatagan. This is definitely from the 80's. This is what you reapply in the bathroom of you lear jet as you go from a hostile takeover of a company - and raiding its pension fund - to Vegas for a long night of misogynistic debauchery.

Basically, Yatagan is pine needles and castoreum. A lot of castoreum. Its very easy to stink for 36 hours with this stuff, it has so much castoreum. And it's probably real castoreum. I know, Luca Turin says everything's synthetic now, but they're farming beavers in Russia for fur coats, so it's not like castors are hard to come by. That's just speculation though.

(Castors are the scent glands around the anuses of many mammals. They produce an incredibly pungent compound, castoreum, which is diluted way down and used as a "fixative" in perfumes because it lasts so long, giving the impression that the upper notes linger as well.)

Seriously, though, I recommend trying Yatagan on, if only for the experience. I wasn't man enough for it: this stuff "wore me" (not I it), and not in a good way. You may be different.

I'd note that this stuff is a polar opposite from Caron's early classic Pour un Homme, a totally soft and sweet lavender fragrance that, while formally masculine, doesn't make me feel that way at all, rather, it makes me feel un-masculine, though not feminine. On the other hand, Yatagan gives me testosterone poisoning. That deserves a thumbs-up.

People are mentioning it smells of pines, it smells dirty, maybe like a wet dog, or a wild wolf, some smell a hint of leather but I think it smells like a slightly wet wolf in a lair richly layered with pine branches chewing on a man's boot. It's probably the most amazingly-wonderful horrible scent I've ever smelled.

The most notable effect I noticed while I was wearing it was that I almost stopped caring about what other people think. The 'almost' part is that I was enjoying the notion that it potentially offends people within smell reach, with it's raw in your face attitude.

You really have to be in the right set of mind for this one, it's not your daily wearer, it's a sword you take with you if you expect a battle or if you're looking for one. Well, something along those lines.

This is, quite simply, a virtuoso treatment of bitterness in all its glory. The astringent bitter of wormwood; the damp, earthy bitter of geranium; the sweet, raunchy bitter of patchouli.

And all underneath, there is castoreum. Oh yes yes god yes castoreum. Some prefer to their animalic kicks from whale snot (ambergris) or cat pee (civet) or the ol' reliable deer loins (musk). But there really is nothing quite like the raunch of the mature beaver's castor sac.

Leather is a bit player here. To my nose at least it's basically indistinguishable on its own. What it does do is blend into the castoreum and lend it some respectability. That and the symphony of bitter herbals let the magic beaver juice do its thing unobtrusively.

Yatagan is very good.

Being female, I was surprised when I loved this scent on me. The initial application smells like a pine woods, yes; but once it dries down it's musky and leathery and woody and lovely. Give this one a try, ladies, if you're tired of the old floral tropes!

Yatagan is a very outstanding and classy fragrance. It's sweet but pefectly balanced. I find it similar to Christian Dior's Jules but more persistent. Yatagan transmits the aura of powerful man, a man in charge and confident. I think this is the type of smell that a woman wants to find in a man when she's looking for security and stability.

I`ve heard this has been reformulated, and I have that supposedly new formulation. (125ml bottle with silver cap)

I`m couldn`t ask for more. Its hard for me to believe the old juice could satisfy me any better.
Yatagan is definitely one of my all-time favourites. Along with Antaeus, this is probably richest, deepest scent I have ever experienced. Drydown is breathtaking with astonishing development.

I use Yatagan mainly during the summertime. I love it (moderately applied) during the heatwaves, when the sky is blue and the sun is burningly hot. Yatagan is a true animalic skin scent that responses wonderfully to raising tempreratures. Match made in heaven with beads of sweat !!

When I smell Yatagan, I think of hot beach nearby the forest. I smell hot sand, natural human odours, decayed driftwoods, warm pinetrees, the whole population of the forest including the animals and dirt....Subtle whiffs of campfire smoke is lingering in the air.

In South Australia there is an area known as the Flinders Ranges. Most of this area is dry and beautiful, and what makes it memorable is that its beauty is matched by its starkness. Most plants that grow in the Flinders Ranges look like they have worked hard to stay alive and grow, and give the impression that they are going to hang onto life with grim determination.

Like the Flinders Ranges, Yatagan is beautiful and stark.

There is only a little bit of sweetness in Yatagan, and it makes me think of how sweet overcoming the odds can be.

The combination of worm wood, Artemisia, and petit grain is captivating, and gets even better once the pine needles and vetiver come into play.

The base of Yatagan is a combination of leather, patchouli, and wood. The patchouli is kind of inky and oaky, and I have never smelled anything like it before. This is the only leather scent that truly reminds me of old used leather, and what I picture is an old whip hanging in a tree, both of them weathered by heat and drought.

Yatagan is probably not for everyone, but is worth a try for anyone who is familiar with the link between starkness and beauty.

smells like fine tabac and great charm.

You just went for a long ride when your horse decided to fall down in the herb/veggie garden. Earthy, rich herbs that mean business with manly, animalic notes to back them up. You will not like it if the smell of celery bugs you.

While drying, this smells almost exactly like Irish spring bath soap (though much stronger). After about 30 minutes it's lost much of the bite, and I smell sage, slightly sweet, and a small amount of celery. Nice, spicy, fairly strong. I like it, but am not enraptured.

Edgy stuff. Patchouli and pines. Leather and an odd sweet note. Mint? Anyways, this is essentially patchouli done right for perfumes. It's without the hemp-shop feel to it and more like an inky cedarwood. Bold and unique. Not for the weak-stomached.

Having read Mr. Turin's review of this fragrance ("Perfumes, The Guide"), "...one of the most disturbing...masculine fragrances of all time. Pg 363", I was uncertain as to whether I had the courage to wear this work of art in public. Being of a somewhat retiring nature, the possibility of co-workers avoiding or reporting me to Human Resources gave me pause. For 4 minutes.

Upon opening the package and sniffing Yatagan, the much anticipated urge to purge myself did not rear its anticipated hoary head. I was puzzled that it smelled of Pine Sol, with a hint of civet/musk in the background. After 20 minutes (give or take an hour), the Pine blast retreated gently and a musk like note took over (at least on my skin).

The following day, I bravely strode forth either to meet my doom or glory. The first three (3) co-workers I met (all women) stopped and asked what I was wearing. I told them I was an old fashioned kind of guy and didn't feel comfortable revealing such information so early in our relationship (I don't want all the other guys to wear what I wear). I asked them if they liked it and to a woman, they all said yes; all of them said (outside of each others presence) that my fragrance smelled 'manly' or 'like a man' or 'rugged'. Interesting.

In short, this has to be the single most unique fragrance I have tried yet. A manly pine forest, if you will.

I was a little reluctant to take the plunge and buy it unsniffed, but after a couple of years I gave in and I love it. The pine note is huge upon application, but quickly turns into sweet incense, woods and spices on my skin. It seems really masculine at first, but softens up quite a bit and could be considered unisex. I sprayed all my drawer sachets with it as well and it smells great.

A difficult scent to describe as it is so very unusual. Dirty comes to mind as does bitter in the top notes and herbal. There is an astringent amonia note that is also reminiscent of pepper. Think dirty underwear, fragrant wood chippings (pine) and a touch of lavender. There is no softness here or warmth - however there is heat and spice and edge. Yatagan is Magnificent in its approach, delivering a masculine that is unique and special. If you are a fan you'll be one for life. If you are not you may convert...given time. This is not an easy scent to like but it is a scent to love and love deeply.

Having worn Yatagan a few times (have bottle on order) - I have to say it is a very unusual scent. Some folks recoil since it is not "pretty" or "lovely" by any stretch and has a few notes that are downright unpleasant. In fact, I don't think you could use the words "pretty" and "Yatagan" in a sentence without the word "not" thrown in there and maintain any sense of artistic integrity afterwards. It is no mistake that the word Yatagan refers to a sword used by Janissaries in the Ottoman Empire - the elite, non-muslim, foreign born, expendable, shock troops of the Emperor. They LOVED their Yatagan (sword, not cologne!), and sometimes were buried with it and treated it in a similar manner to a sword owned by a Japanese Samurai. There is very little you can do with a sword to divorce it from its purpose - the purpose is un-pleasant no matter how many jewels are encrusted upon it, death-dealing regardless of whose name is inscribed upon it in gold leaf. I believe this captures the "artistic vision" they had when making Yatagan, even if "artisitc vision" is a bit over-the-top for this one.

Side note: I have noticed that some people are inspired to poetic lengths by some perfumes, and I really didn't understand until now. This one elicits a load of descriptions from me, my first one that has done this, though I do not find Yatagan even 1% pretty or pleasant any more than (wait for it!) a overtly masculine official from HR bearing down on someone with a pink slip informing them that "their services are 'no longer needed'" is pleasant or pretty - and yes I am comparing getting laid off to wearing Yatagan, but only if you are the one doing it. Is there no amount of hyperbole and poetic license I will forbid myself as I write this?

It does project power, and is very masculine in that it is not even one whiff or touch sweet. This scent will not attract others and make you the life of the party. It will make you seem like you have the authority to determine the life and death of your fellow man. I imagine Julius Caesar would have worn this as he crossed the Rubicon, Leon Trotsky might have dabbed on some during those fateful days in October 1917, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis both would have worn this when signing documents declaring the opening of the American Civil War in the 1860's. You get the picture - if you have a tough and powerful job to do - unpleasant and life affecting - this is your scent.

Now you may be asking "what does it smell like? Not what does it feel like other that it is not the least bit sweet." Well I don't think you can divorce the two, but in essence, it smells vegetal. Vetiver and Pine with celery. Almost, but not quite sweet at first then a crushed grassy-celery smell with a hint of all things mustard. It evolves into a touch of pine needles and pine sap (hence some comments about pine smell). And for me it remains somewhat linear only adding a touch of patchouli after awhile. But, you really ought to smell it for yourself. It is pungent for sure and seems to change upon each application with certain things emphasized and de-emphasized. And while one might catch a whiff of pine detergent - it isn't a clean smell at all.

I do think Yatagan is a very challenging scent, and would not be a daytime scent unless you are in charge of a large number of people (say more than a dozen), and even then you would have to be sparing with the application (I can only imagine the reaction to the sillage), and there is no shame if you don't like it, after all it is also projecting a unreconstructed 1970's idea of conservative powerful masculinity.

As you can see, it made an enormous impression on me. My wife found it disgusting. I didn't like it at first, but wore it to work anyway. As many scents have their uses, I think Yatagan has its use, and I ordered a bottle.

This is my first review for Basenotes. You can go ahead and flame. I am wearing Yatagan as I post this, after all.

Dear Yatagan,
I've written to apologize. It's just that last December I had much less experience. Things were happening so fast, I got scared. But that thing I said about minestrone under a Christmas tree, well, that was wrong of me, man. I didn't understand you in the context of 'leather' notes. I needed my space. The time with Mazzolari and Knize Ten helped, I know it hurts, but they got me back on my feet, you know?
And then this morning. Just wow. Please give me another chance.
YT, Strollyourlobster

I bought this a good thirty or more years ago while visiting
my parents in Montecito, California. It struck me as smelling
of the area, the eucalyptus trees, the sage, the dryness of
Santa Barbara.

It remains a favorite of mine - a fragrance devoid of sweetness,
makes a statement (not to everyone's liking). I think it must
have been off the market at one point because it was being
remaindered but it seems back in production.

It is in a category quite it's own.

Got this one from an ex-GF in 1980. I was not real impressed with the pine/leather/patchouli notes, it reminded me of a wood workshop where I used to work for an assh@le of a boss-bad memories.

Now fast forward to today, I like Yatagan. It smells very different on my skin, the leather notes are more prominent and the pine notes tend to be a bit more muted. I can detect the worm wood topnote, it tends to stay with me for a long time.

Age really does change your preferences and body chemistry. Yatagan is a definite keeper for me. Unlike the myriad of leather scents on the market, this one has proven its worth, after all it's been in production for 33 years.

This is amazing stuff! One of the best I've had the pleasure to try. I purchased a set of 'leather' samples from The Perfumed Court and this was one. It took me a nanosecond to find the best deal on the internet and order. Wow. If you like leather, smoke or near it. GETTHISSTUFF!

Some fragrances lie close to your skin and reward close perusal. Caron's scents stand tall and when your nose gets close they give it a quick jab with a knuckle-duster. None of them punches harder than Yatagan. This is truly one of the great fragrances of the world, and there's nothing like it elsewhere. It was my first "blind" purchase (based on reviews here), along with Caron 3rd Man and PH, and it has pretty much ruined me for other fragrances - though I'm happy to keep trying!

I had mixed feelings about Yatagan
when I tried it for the first time.

Now,after a year ,its become my favorite
"in your face" fragrance.

The Lavender/Pine top/middle notes linger on the skin.

Reminds me of the scent of the Pine Barrens(where I live) after a strong warm summer rain.

I am impressed. Bold, unique, and unusual, Yatagan holds a place that is occupied by few fragrances. I put it on par with Djedi in its ability to stand alone--no imitators come close. And I say the same thing: I cannot call it beautiful in the classic sense, but it is arresting and amazing. Pine, wild and untrammeled. This reminds me of the long-lost, big, green bottle of foaming pine bath soap that we used to purchase from the department store when we were children. That bathwater used to fill the entire room with the aroma of the mountainside. There is wormwood making it bitter, but also basil giving it freshness, oakmoss adding to the greenness, and a great musk and leather at the end. If this doesn't take you outdoors, nothing will. Don your hiking boots, grab a backpack, splash on some Yatagan and be there.

Andy Tauer notwithstanding, Yatagan is my Lonestar Memory. This is summer evenings in the dry and dusty central Texas hill country. A bonfire of dry live oak branches, with a little oak moss. Some grass and a hint of livestock give it some warmth as it develops, but it never gets sweet.

It's a flinty-eyed ranch boss with a deep tan and a black hat. It's quiet and versatile and dry. Wear it with a dark suit, but not a light one. You'll walk tall in this scent.

You can only admire this. I can imagine some people getting offended by it, but to be honest if your the sort of person who wears yatagan chances are you couldn't care less. Unbelievably dense. Completely the opposite to the modern girlish clean/fresh scents. For that reason alone it makes me smile & gets the thumbs up, although perhaps it isn't quite a masterpiece. Maybe this one should be called the anarchist..

The reference to geranium puzzles me greatly - I have never been able to pick out the slightest hint of anything floral in this unique fragrance.

And unique it most certainly is. People will ask what you are wearing, not always certain if they like the scent or not. It has an uncompromisingly direct strucure that speaks (shouts!) "none of your omni-sexual Calvin Klein concoctions here!" A man's scent through and through - a rare thing today.

A daily wearer for me.

Possibly favorite fragrance! The slight celerey-esque note dies within minutes and lets loose to a barrage of woody-goodness; imagine walking through a deep pine forrest.

An unmistakably masculine fragrance. This one takes huevos the size of bowling balls to wear. I cannot imagine any woman wearing this. If you're tired of the banal aquatic citruses this is for you. This is the type of fragrance that beats up Acqua di Gio and takes its lunch money.

First impression: Just received the bottle from Ebay and sprayed some on a piece of paper. The scent is very masculine, somewhat sharp, but pleasant and distinctive. When following the quite sharp trail I detect the wormwood, pine needles and vetiver on a leathery backdrop.
Second impression: Just sprayed some on the back of my hand. A curious thought runs through my mind – is this what people smelt like in 1976? By no means! This must have been quite avantguard at the time and has all hallmarks of a distinctive classic. Even though the name Yatagan in my ears have an exotic ring, this scent brings me to the south of France, when the fragrant winds bring in its notes from the surrounding fields and woods of St: Paul-de-Vence, where you could have seen Maurice Chevalier and Roger Moore sharing a nice game of Boule.
Third and final impression: Is lost in this absolutely magnificent and distinctive scent! This fragrance contains a wide range of notes, of which I can only distinguish a few, but the accords this fragrance strikes on an emotional scale is everything from melancholy to euphoria and basically amplifies the current mood. –Just fantabulous and if you have not tried this one yet, this is a must for any frag fan!

Whooo-heee, what a scent. How can you "not" love such a forceful stab at fragrance-making? Yatagan is foody, yes.. it's dry and spicy, of course. Will it push others to their knees.. likely. This woodsy herbal concoction is like liquid poison right out of the bottle, but given time to mellow... it becomes quite a natural and alluring fragrance. Hints of drywoods and distant smokey body, mixed with a virile sweatiness.. make this stuff special. I understand the mixed opinions on this one, but pencil me in on the "hell yes" side, my friends.

Testosterone in a vial. Rich, wonderful, heady, masculine stuff. Definitely NOT for the weak and indecisive.

Yatagan,possibly one the best fragrances I could buy. Top class,no sweatness,strong,lasting. I like the parallel with a nordic wood. On the minus side 1 spray lasts for hours even if you want it gone. Wear it carefully and it will be very rewarding.

The impression I get from Yatagan is fall in a northern pine forest. A very masculine scent with an outdoor feel to it. No floral notes so it is not sweet but the pine notes keep it from being too dry. I fine it a real keeper!

Whoa! Macho in a tuxedo. No matter how rarely I actually wear this, it always sits on my shelf next to Polo, Trussardi Uomo and Santos.

Recently, when I decided to expand my wardrobe, I went back to this scent after almost 20 years and it still smells great to me. Just not the same longevity that I seem to remember. I think the combination of Artemesia, wormwood, herbs, and leather is very striking and very masculine. I find this scent very similar to Aramis Devin but slightly drier and sharper than AD. My second most favorite scetn from Caron after PuH. I'm still trying to make friends with their other two men's scents.

This is without question, along with Antaeus and Ungaro III, the best colognes I have ever experienced. This scent is so deep and mysterious and absolutely so rich. Some say it smells like Celery seed, but I think not. I promise you, you will love this stuff. Nobody in the world wears this stuff, so it is unique. It is somewhat of an acquired taste at first, but in the end you will fall to your knees when you wear it - there is absolutely nothing like it, nothing. Yatagan is the most unique - so masculine cologne I have ever tried bar none.

This is the most unique fragrance I have ever smelled. It may turn some people off, but it is a very complex and hard to describe scent. Very deep and mysterious in so many ways. It is very masculine and so powerful. It does have a hint of pine needles, but it is still so hard to describe. There is nothing I have ever come across that is even close, get this stuff now! No floral notes at all. This is my first review, as a member! Yatagan is a must have - nothing ordinary about it. It seems to change by the minute - a very complex and mysterious smell.

After reading all those contradictory reviews, I had been waiting the opportunity to try it. Well, last week I finally did, and 20 minutes later I purchased the bottle. I really liked it. I found it very intrigued and classy. Absolutely masculine notes: pine, patchouly, vetiver, and leather; great longevity, wonderful sillage as well. Yatagan has a sound personality and It doesn't evolve much after the initial application. This one could easily fit the description of a "signature scent" in my dictionary.

In my opininon, it is not as strong and in-your-face as some people argue. I love this one and now it retains a favoured place in my wardrobe.

I come down solidly on the positive side on this one- woody, smoky, and (happily) completely w/o the celery-like scent others report. It is extreme, but in the best possible way

So, i've been thinking about all the dregs produced in the past few years and coupled with my readings of Herbert Mancuse, i just can't help but see how correct the man is when his theories are applied to the ubiquity of today's scent creations. The idea that everyday life is becoming colonised by "mechanisms of conformity" is so startlingly reflected in the strict conformity of today's scent offerings. Marines, citruses, linear concoctions abound in a society that imbibes the relentless advertisements that portray them for more than what they are. True individualism becomes drowned in the face of the "totally administered society" where we partake in the ultimate act of repression, our real needs transformed into false ones and subsequently "satisfied" by the pleasure industries in an orgy of contentment that masks the dumbing-down effect of ubiquity. Marcuse's argument is that the passive consumption of superficial products leads to short-term contentment but in the long run, creates an uncritical and one dimensional society.

Now, what would such an intellectual wear? Definitely something against the grain of mass culture. A scent that exudes strength and leadership. A powerhouse scent it must be to resist the conformity of the times. Yatagan fits this description to a tee! It combines the forces of woods (wormwood) and leather to great effect. A very masculine scent of intellectual proportions. A slap in the face of mass culture. A gauntlet thrown down on the side of individualism, signifying the rebellious attitude of revolutionary times.

I just used half a spritz and that is more than enough to carry me through to the end of this review. Excellent longevity with a grandiose sillage.

Okay, where to begin... Let's start by saying that there is a very big ( I estimate it to about 85% ) chance that Yatagan is the most masculine smelling fragrance ever created. Caron's contribution to the 70's madness took things just a liiittle further. Simply put Yatagan smells like a horse. Not just any old horse either, but a musky, power stallion on hormonal overload living in the mountain areas of Tibet working as a lumber transporter of some sorts. This brew is just extreme in a way the kids of today could never grasp. Yatagan is perversely spicy, woody, piney, leathery - it does NOT take prisoners. So if these are the qualities that excite you, look no further, this Caron has Azzaro PH and Polo Green for starters, Paco Rabanne as the main dish and
even Bois de Portugal for dessert (in terms of it being hardcore - not qualitywise). Do I wear it myself? - I don't think so! Wouldn't even cross my ind, but dissing the ultimate power juice #1 in the world wouldn't either!

I love Yatagan. Yatagan is an incredibly dry and very earthy fragrance. The Patchouli is very prominent in Yatagan. Yatagan has always conjured up images of the sun setting over rolling hills covered in golden grass. This is a great fragrance, but difficult to wear. It’s very very dry, and very heavy. It’s not for everyone, but it is a brilliant fragrance.

There is nothing like Yatagan. There is nothing out there that one can use for comparison. I spray it on and I can face the day as a champion. Plus Yatagan never fails to draw inquiry and approval if mostly from other men. ("Can I work for you? Lead us, O great leader!") Celery? Yes indeed and thank Allah. Plus the bite of dried oregano and the green aroma of just-crushed juniper berries. About one thousand light years from anything even remotely sweet or floral. Like two other Caron manly masterpieces--Royal Bain de Champagne and L'Anarchiste, Yatagan is an unmistakable, unforgettable and instantly recognizable scent. "A turkish curved sword" indeed!

Very, very different from any other scent - with the exception of Gigli's discontinued Sud Est. This fragrance contains no floral notes; the primary ingredients are woods and herbs, particularly those grown in the Mediterranean: rosemary, basil, thyme, juniper, etc. A great scent but try before you buy; it might not be to your taste. Yatagan is a Turkish curved sword.

This is an awesome scent. But a very acquired taste.