Yohji Homme (1999)
by Yohji Yamamoto

Aside from the unique bottle, you're not missing too much by this scent being discontinued.

It starts off strong, astringent and alcohol driven like vibert said... which to me didn't make for a great first impression. I like strong wake-up openings that are marked with citrus, violet (grey flannel) or sweet (lempicka au masculin) notes but Yohji's opening was without personality for me, I found it disappointingly un-interesting and equally fleeting.

When I got to the middle of the scent, although I experience VERY faint notes of coffee, cinnamon or anise, I never would've thought of it as a gourmand. The amount of subtlety of it all was a real turn off, the notes ended up combining into something that I fellt was muddled and confusing. I didn't really experience the sweetness I enjoy in other gourmands like Pure Coffee or Lempicka. Near the end of the progression I guess I can sense the rhum note but... so what?? Again it fails to do anything interesting to the fragrance... the most I get from this is very short smooth wood base.

No silage, no projection. And as a close-to-skin scent I didn't like it because it stayed harsh to my nose until it dissipated two hours later. No longevity. It's not a bad scent by far. I totally understand why some would like it but I personally don't feel it good enough to offset the fragrance's mediocre preformance.

It's unsurprising that this was discontinued. I worked my way through a bottle a few years ago. Got a compliment or two, but otherwise it never grabbed me. Just too flat. Rochas Man shares some notes with Yohji, but there at least the lavender picks things up a bit, not like champagne without the bubbles which is what Yohji was to me.

I have to wholeheartedly agree with Vibert’s review below. I’d also like to add that I found it a little too harsh and synthetic for my tastes, hence my unsympathetic rating.

But hey, it’s one less fragrance to worry about…

Yohji has a fascinating bittersweet opening, alcoholic and aldehyde(?) driven. I can't recall anything like it. It quickly tones down to a woody sweet accord with well-blended overtones of coffee, spice, and anise: a lot like a balsawood dowel soaked in coffee with sambuca.

Yohji continues in this vein for some time, though the dry woods grow more and more prominent. Eventually the woods come so far forward that Yohji veers away from gourmand and into dry leather. The coffee floats in and out, but never re-takes the helm.

I suspect anosmia here, because inside a hour Yohji disappears on me, without showing any further development. What I can percieve is very promising, but the quick exit leaves me unfulfilled.

A gourmand scent. Think licorice, chocolate, coffee, cinnamon -- all resting on a base of sandalwood and leather. This should typically be a winter scent, but it is not too strong and dries down to a semi-sweet comfy alluring skin scent. Pair it with a Versace or Cavalli shirt, and a skin pants from Dior Homme and a Tods loafers
-- it'll give you that "I'm so hot!" feeling.

Along with Helmut Lang's Cuiron and CN Scent Intense, Yohji Homme is my favorite designer scent. It is soft, subtle, and very warm. It IS a gourmand, but not in the extreme... wearing it won't make anybody think you're wearing hot chocolate or coffee. Nevertheless, it has definite food hints in it, something like a softer, more versatile Bond no. 9 New Haarlem. Definitely worth a try if you can find a bottle.