Reviews of Silver Black / Onyx (2005)
by Azzaro

NOT BAD, BUT A BIT BORING, SO SUAVE, ´TOO MUCH INOFFENSIVE, I HOPED MORE FROM AZZARO

When smelling many fragrances it is easy to visualize the ingredients that contribute to the scent, but Silver Black inspires more than an image of what is in the bottle: between the black shadows stretching down from a mountain and the silver shimmer of sunlight on a sea are a patchwork of orchards, gardens, groves, and wilderness, and Silver Black is the scent of this living vista. It is a fragrance that captures the essence of a place, and I wonder if this place might have been where Loris Azzaro spent his formative years.

Silver Black opens with sweet green apples, bergamot, and lemon, and the sweetness and citrus quickly find a happy medium. In the middle caraway and coriander combine to create an interesting and enjoyable heart, which makes me want to smell caraway in more fragrances. Silver Black rests on a base of cedar and musk that effectively supports both the middle and top notes without overwhelming their character.

Green apples, caraway, and cedar does not sound like the most interesting combination around which to build a fragrance, but I commend the perfumer for creating such a substantial, engaging, and soothing fragrance.

Not very interesting and feels like a spicy and soapy fougere. Lacks distinctiveness but certainly not terrible.

I've got Silver Black, not Onyx. No need to overspray, which I could see might cause problems. I use 3 sprays. Well blended, yet you get hints of individual notes, or at least you think you do. There is also a nice aromatic quality to it, but it's also a bit musky. When I think of other well blended frags, I remember that I get bored with them after a while (Pasha, Must, and Valenti's 101, for example), but that doesn't happen with SB. It keeps you interested in it, yet never becomes boring or overwhelming.

I was prepared to not like this as I don't care for any other Azzaro offering. However, after giving the sample I received a couple tries, I bought a bottle at a local discount store.

The scent is dry throughout its life, so the ever-present apple top notes remain noticeable but not overbearing (as is the case with fruity scents like dunhill desire). The apple notes fade into a light woods and musk that doesn't project far off the skin but lasts a long time. This is one scent that could work at the office or a night out, in the summer or the winter. There is nothing spectacular about onyx that would keep it in my regular rotation, but I could never see objecting to wearing it.

The bottle is very 80s - a huge monolithic black cube that is miami vice masculine.

Is this the most refined, elegant, smooth fragrance ever? Certainly not. However, to me it seems to be a more mature version of Drakkar and possibly some of the Axe products. It is similar to the original Azzaro pour homme, but sweeter with more fruit. Onyx does have anise and caraway notes present, which resemble the original.

This is probably the best name to scent combination I have ever encountered...well, next to Polo Blue maybe. Anyway, Onyx is right on, namewise, Silver black I am not so sure. And the dual name is weird too. Anyway, the opening is unique and not bad but not great. The dry down is nothing but tar to my nose. It isn't well blended though, so it smells more like a very '70s/'80s scent that was slightly altered to smell modern. It's not bad, especially if you are into those 'weired' scents like Paco Rabanne's Utlraviolet. Unique but not appertizing.

This is yet another flagrant example of how shabbily the FDA treats US residents when it comes to fragrance.
This "babysitter" gov't only allows "dead" scents to be imported and until internet sales exploded and by sheer volume enabled cross border scent shipments the only way to experience the true perfumers art was to travel abroad and sneak some back.
Thus we come to Onyx vs. Black/Silver as they are actually two distinct potions.
Is it by chance most of those negative reviews come from N.A. where Onyx is on the shelves, while most of the positive reviews are from around the world based on B/S?
No, both CAN be correct!!!
The extra animate spark in B/S is the glue that creates the cohesion of timeless intrigue, unequivocally.
Mating these unusual ingredients is a risk that pays off handsomely...my only nitpick is that the green apple on top is a hint too sweet, but after that lingering moment the rest of the aromatic experience is invitingly unique (Manly yet modern).
So hop on the internet and try some genuine B/S soon and just leave the Onyx on the shelf where it just may belong.
Oh and for the record, despite the specific naming, the bottle is in fact a heavy brown; therefore, you CAN see how much liquid remains...a significant pet peeve for many, including myself.

Although i have gotten COUNTLESS compliments from this (and i think it is a great fragrance), i cannot bear to wear this anymore. The musk is too much for me.. and i feel like i smell BAD! I agree that it is a very sophisticated fragrance..i wish i liked it on me =[.
Thumbs like!

Tried this as well on a sample card and the drydown had a hint of that "Old Lady annisette" perfume smell?

I dont know what note is in that "Old LadY" perfume smell BUT it was in the drydown of Onyx and Polo Blue! Top notes were great BUT then the aftersmell of what I mentioned comes to the senses.

VERY MANLY & SEXY SMELL......

A must-buy for men (not boys). Longlasting, sophisticated, subtle & really really nice scent. Timeless & priceless...this will be an all-time favourite, hands down.

Picked up a sample of this and was pleased with it. However, my wife and a co-worker both suggested that it smelled like an "old man" cologne... While I'm not exactly wet behind the ears, I've a few years left before I qualify for "old man" status.

I guess I could sneak and wear it for me, but the wife has to go for it too. ;)

Got a sample of this and I was surprised at how the scent opens. I almost thought I was smelling Azzaro pour Homme...a marriage of spice, wood and citrus with an unmistakable green edge. As the scent mellows, it becomes somewhat familiar again, a sharp woody tone, much like Visit. Definitely a modern formal scent, not too fussy or overly complex, meant to seduce quietly with refinement and calculated restraint, the definition of modern elegance.

Onyx, Azzaro’s ‘black’ offering is very good fragrance. Although I don’t care for the beginning apple-fruity notes, they aren’t obnoxious and they don’t last long. The apple opening is followed by an excellent, very masculine spicy heart that is quite unique, because it doesn’t depend on the usual spices: The caraway is a breath of fresh air. I think caraway should be used in more fragrances—such a pleasantly aromatic sharp scent. The drydown is a dry musk / cedar that retains some of the spices from the middle. The scent has good sillage and very good longevity. The bottle is a black version of the original, great, Azzaro Pour Homme. Another excellent fragrance from Azzaro.

This smelled great to me in the store, but after wearing it for a while, It smells like a combination of Speed Stick Classic scent (my favorite deodorant for many years) and breathmints. It's similar to Drakkar Noir but without the piney quality. To me this just smells cheap and watery. My roommate’s first reaction was that it smelled like a lockeroom with built in jock B.O. (He says the same about Drakkar Noir). I don't think I'd go that far, but I dislike it enough to have stopped wearing it altogether.

I think Onyx has a green/wood/citrus equilibrium. It lasts forever and is rich enough in its notes. A new classic.

Smells citric and green, and a bit oceanic, not bad but expected something more original or special from Azzaro. Gives a classic image, like a 40+ years old man, but it lacks of distinctive notes.

I got a tester of this a few weeks ago, I tried it a couple of times and wasn't a huge fan, I found the top notes to be really intense, but then it faded off to nothing. Today I accidentally splashed a bunch on, and the top notes were still intense, but I was able to smell the whole development of the scent over the course of about 7 hours. After this experience I really don't have a bad thing to say about Onyx, its even named appropriately. It smells like a Conan movie, its over the top masculine and in your face, but the plot develops over a lush and natural back drop that grounds the scent. This will go down with Azzaro pour Homme as a true classic designer frag.

The smell is much more interesting Chrome and to it than similar fresh smells. Balances on the verge of freshness and tartness, in the final note reminds classical Azzaro, but in more facilitated variant. It is noble and elegant, 100 % man's, stability any praises. In my opinion the best man's perfum of 2005.

Azzaro’s Onyx long the same lines as Antonio Banderas's Mediterraneum garbage and the dry down smells to me like Drakkar Noir; another perfume that I hate. Terrible concoction that wants to be spicy but fails at every aspect.

It seems to last forever. A strong scent indeed. I like it. Mysterious as advertised. It goes along with a well-dressed man.

Mysterious, confident, edgy with an attitude. I'm a nice guy, but with this I'm a bad boy.

DA BOMB! Starts out fruity and soon thereafter develops into something mysterious and dark, somewhat like the black bottle of jacomo, but so much better!!!!