Reviews of Tommy Bahama for Men (2005)
by Tommy Bahama

The website calls this a herbal-fruit scent with notes of sage, caraway, ginger root and patchouli. I find it to be a warm woody-spice scent.
This is delightful! A thread discussion and all these good reviews encouraged me to try this – I wouldn’t have given it the time of day otherwise. First of all I want to say that the bottle is a great substantial handful. It has a classy feel with its golden colour and wooden top.
The opening has lovely spicy rich notes of coriander, pepper, nutmeg and other nutty-woody spices which combine well with the ginger. There is a hint of a green mint note,which is from the sage leaf. That note adds an interesting balance to the golden brown spices. Then the patchouli emerges, and this is **really** well done. I’m not a huge fan of patchouli, but here it is mellow, complex, masculine, and very classy. It may be what is contributing the leather and tobacco notes (if they are not actual ingredients themselves). All in all, this is a suave and very enjoyable scent. It reminds me of the good old Comptoir Sud Pacifique scents, before vanilla took over.

absolutely AMAZING.

so warm, excellent sillage, lasts very long..this is great..my best fragrance bar none

Nothing but pepper was left on me after an hour..

Leather and spice and all things nice! I half expected an AdG clone when I first saw TB, but, boy, was I surprised! Just enough resinous wood (is that cedar? pine?) to make for a warm, woody dry-down. (But without the cedar headache that Gucci pour Homme (#1), Equus and Heritage can bring on if over-applied. Tons of patchouli, too -- yup, one of my very favorite kinds of dry-downs.

I have yet to buy a bottle, but have really enjoyed wearing the samples I've had. Big thumbs up for this modestly priced, terribly masculine frag.

Outstanding. Wonderful smoky spice, with a heart of woody resin, patchouli, and golden rum. Warm, elegantly dry, opaque, my favorite cool-weather fragrance. Tommy Bahama hit it out of the ballpark with this, their first try, and hasn’t struck out yet.

I like this fragrance a lot. My first experience with it was at Macy's (in USA), after smelling about 20 other scents in the men's fragrance dept. My wife placed a sample paper that had been sprayed with Tommy Bahama under my nose and I smelled nothing. My wife said she thought it was fabulous (I was thinking it was the emperor's new clothes!).

After reading the great reviews (and more so because of my wife's reaction) I bought some and have been wearing it ever since. The other reviewers have not touched on this, but my nose distinctly detects the scent of wood that one might find inside a 1700's era building (such as in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, for example). This scent MUST either be a by product of some wood or wood sap that was used in constructing these very old structures, or the perfumery was aiming for such with a synthetic re-creation.

I know that sounds bad -- what? wearing old wood sap? But if you try it, you will see that this is one great fragrance -- not too sweet or overpowering, cannot be oversprayed yet 2-3 sprays is enough, good sillage, lasts a good long time. I would say this is a diamond in the rough, but enough people have discovered it, the TB Company knows they have a good formula here, and the price is higher than most...and it is worth it!

i was scouring my local elder-beerman stores cologne section, and just tried this for completion. wasnt bowled over by the initial hit, but it was nice and different. for some reason, i waited for it to be really musky. anyhow, it starts out different and above average, and gets much better from there. however, theres a distinct black pepper smell to it at times, dont know why it only occasionally shows itself. unless thats a bump in the road for you, i would suggest this cologne to anyone.

Amazing. a lightyly sweet, woody, tobacco-y masterpiece. Get to wear in warm weather.

wow... this is quite unlike anything else i've ever smelled/owned... an ex-girlfriend swore by this magic, so i bought it off of ebay blind and have received nothing but compliments ever since... a few sprays (very strong sillage) and i'm instantly transported to a beach in the caribbean wearing white linens, drinking a rumrunner and smoking a great cigar... a classic in all ways

Unlike most of the previous reviewers, I actually expected this to be pretty good based on the reviews. Even though my expectations were somewhat high, this far surpassed them. Tommy Bahama is amazing! It's warm and woodsy without being overly sweet, boozy, or powdery. Perfectly balanced, IMO. Wow!

I may not like it as much as many of these other reviewers but I think this is a good one that's worth checking out. I find the fragrance to be refined and smooth and not too strong. I think it is versatile and can be worn anywhere and anytime. I don't know what else to say since I'm just here to give my approval. Test this one first at any department store since you can either like it or be underwhelmed since the reviews are so good.

Strong sophisticated Masquline. This is an interesting fragrance bought it by mistake but dont regret it. It opens up very warm slighty aquatic not sure whats there then moves to the middle thats where I take notice the middle is dry kind a woodsy tobaco controlled by a sweet under tone think it might be vanella which ballance the strong masquline with a sweet interesting tone. Havent reach the base yet first time i wore it.

Was in a Walgreen's of all places and wandered into their frag department. I sampled T.Bahama and a few other notables that were on sale. Bahama was the first I tested and I expected a watered down, aqua type frag.

What I got instead was a pretty terrific leather/patchouli and I love leather/patchouli !!! The opening was pleasant but the base notes are money.
I walked out of Walgreen's with a new purchase.

Magic. Effin' magic. There is a tobacco, leather, wood, and spice thing going on here and it's a grand slam. There is also a salty note which speaks of a tropical beach, of course that could just be suggestive hypnotic nonsense that has more to do with the name than the actual smell. I don't care. That's how my brain is reading it, the overall effect is magic, and I enjoy it.

The bottom line is that if Creed made this it would be hailed as a timeless classic...

Tommy Bahama would not have been purchased by me, or even tried. "Tommy BAHHHAMMA!" However, received as a gift, I felt obligated to wear it once. Guess what? One of my favorites- both sophisticated and elegant. The fragrance is no lightweight. It opens a little too warm, but settles down into a tobacco/leather/incense "soul," that lasts. I have received many complements in a short period of time. It is not a replacement for my Knize, Eau Savage, or the several Creed's, but I really like this frag and it will regularly rotate.

I was expecting a hell of a lot LESS from this. This was surprising. Rich blend of herbs and spices that's not overwhelming. Light on the skin but blossoms amazingly. Soft woods are at the bottom. This is just plain good!

Quite spicy in the opening: The pepper comes through immediately giving the fragrance a surprising sophistication – not what I expected; I was thinking things more tropical. The top level is pleasant and warm. To retain the warmth, the coriander must be the more mature version of the spice rather than the herbal form. There is also some incense in there; I caught hints of it in the opening and it comes on stronger in the middle level. To my nose, the middle is dominated by ginger; fortunately a smoothly quiet version of it. The middle level is a bit boring to me. I don’t really find much going on there. The base picks the momentum up again. It is very nicely done. Nicely balanced between dry and sweet, the vanilla does a good job of controlling its exhuberance, while the light woods – patchouli and vetiver – provide a solid base for the long lasting drydown. An enjoyable fragrance without an excessive exoticness that one might expect of something named “Bahama.” Love the bottle.

Just purchased this after trying a sample. It is now one of my favorites. I am not sure what I smell, but it is nice, mature, and reminds me of the subtle scents I experience when in a club room with a fine Cuban cigar. Could it be tobacco? Not sure. But I really love it.

I have to agree with the Gucci PH comparisons this is a softer nicer fragrance what Gucci PH isn't this can prob be worn on any occasion and anytime of the day

Randolph, I think you may have gotten a bad bottle of this to try :) I can't sense even the slightest resemblance between the two.
This is a great scent.. Warm, inviting, woodsy, spicy. It has a familiar smell to it that can make you think of early Christmas mornings as a child with a fire in the fireplace and snow on the ground. It's very natural and earthy.

I normally hate scents with patchouli, but this is really well done. Kind of like a modern Polo day to my nose. Spicy, interesting, pleasant, and attention getting. Longevity is quite good also.

I will be buying a bottle, Tommy Bahama fragrances are quickly becoming my favorites.

I was about to write what I think of this, then I read iMavericks comment, and all I can say is 'ditto' minus the church/incense part. This should have been GUCCI PH II instead of the rubbish in a nice bottle bearing that name.

This is extremely similar to Very Cool by Tommy Bahama. I'm not sure why they felt compelled to make them both. The mint dominates in both, creating a heavy, herbal scent (which is somewhat surprising given the tropical image the brand is known for). The main difference between the two is that Tommy Bahama for Men is also smoky and a little fruity while Very Cool really smells of rum.

I don't love Tommy Bahama for Men, but it's not a bad fragrance. You need to like mint to enjoy it.

A good scent, but it's something I can't wear. I can't really explain it, but it literally hurts my nose when I smell it- almost like a dagger going through it or something- but at the same time, I find myself wanting to keep smelling it. It's very, very dry in nature and it seems like something that would be good on a very hot, humid night.

The fresher counterpart to Gucci Pour Homme, which makes it suitable as a year round fragrance, as well as for all occasions. The composition is fresh, dry, smoky, resinous (frankincense) and woody. Don't know why I'm partial to this type of scents, probably because I connect the purity of church incense with this type of scent. Cologne strength with the longevity of an Eau de Parfum. Classic, timeless, yet otherworldly.