Acqua di Parma Colonia Assoluta (2003)
by Acqua di Parma

How I came to own and love Colonia Assoluta: Was in a store that carried the AdP line. Saw it and thought, I've heard of that, so I ended up trying them -- original on a wrist, which was nice, assoluta on another wrist, also nice, then intensa on a card, more interesting, then essenza on a card, not so great. Overall the quality of the materials was evident, but it's only cologne, so whatever. Some time later, walking around, I think, what is that wonderful smell? Finally realize it's coming from me. IT IS AMAZING. Struggle to remember which wrist was what. Return to store at next opportunity. Buy Assoluta. Love Assoluta. The End.

14th January, 2012.

Very pleasant and very clean. There's some soap in here, which I usually love. Ideal for the office, but I'm not sure it captivates. Definitely worth considering though. Must retry.

27th October, 2011.

Friendly...but a little too soapy for my likes.

5th October, 2011.

I have to say this is a bit of a disappointment to me after the original, which is one of my all time favorites. The citrus opening on this one seems more synthetic and lacks the original's nice balance with an herbal note. There is less complexity and less quality to my nose. The dry down is also very pale and never completely looses the touch of sweet industrial solvent that spoils this for me. Not a negative because overall it's still a decent, wearable fragrance. It's just that its a bit like the undistinguished child of a legendary parent to me.

23rd September, 2011.

I am confused by the naming of Acqua di Parma COLONIA ASSOLUTA, which suggests that it is a stronger, more "absolute" or pure version of COLONIA. In fact, it's a completely different composition. Among many other differences, lavender and rosemary are conspicuously absent from ASSOLUTA; resins are happily present; and this one strikes me as more feminine than masculine, rather than vice versa!

These differences are all improvements to my nose. COLONIA ASSOLUTA is a very subtle, smooth, resinous perfume with such an understated presence that it seems more like a base than a full-fledged perfume. I'm not that surprised, though, since minimalism is Ellena's signature style. Overall, I think that I find his work more conceptually than perfumically appealing. I would definitely wear ASSOLUTA, if I had a bottle, but I also wouldn't go out of my way to obtain one.

28th August, 2011.

It took me a few wears to completely understand and love this scent. On first wearing, I immediately fell in love with the top notes that are a beautiful classic smelling orange and lemon citrus blast that is quite similar to the original AdP Colonia and must be the JC Ellena part of the scent. They are his best work outside of his masterpiece, TdH in my opinion, and are absolutely incredible.

The problem I originally had with Assoluta was the Duchaufour amber and musk base that came off as a bit too feminine for my tastes initially. After a few more wearings (and after exploring other Duchaufour scents like Amouage Jubilation XXV) I have come to appreciate the dry-down almost as well as the opening and the scent is now in my top 10. I still prefer the top notes and wish they lasted longer, but the whole package is a very strong overall work. Longevity for an EdC is incredible as I get about 10 hours.

So, I guess the real question remaining is did these two top tier noses improve on the classic AdP Colonia scent? I think the answer is "yes" in many ways and "no" in others. The opening and longevity are improved but I still prefer the original dry-down to some extent. I think I prefer the original by a slight margin, but both scents are so strong in the EdC category and different enough from each other that I feel they are both deserving of strong consideration for anyone's scent wardrobe. I own and will wear both with great enjoyment and pride.

25th August, 2011.