McGraw (2008)
by Tim McGraw

As generic as this stuff is I like it. It isn't like the typical Cool Water fare. Honestly I liked it from the moment I first smelled it, only because it didn't try to be the usual stuff, but somewhat different.

Up front to me this smells doughy. After that a bit of spice (nutmeg?), some lavender ends up slightly sweet and woody. I agree with The Cologneist on this, I think there is vanilla in here regardless of what is listed, it is probably to sweeten it up and prevent it from coming off as too dry and woody. Longevity is average, but I don't expect much from drugstore stuff. Sounthern Blend has a better drydown but has less projection and for me is a skin scent almost 10 minutes after I put it on and even on a hot day I don't get anything out of it. This will at least project if its getting hot. A tradeoff of sorts.

This is a good $10 buy though. Should be plenty of it floating around after the holidays in reduced gift sets if you're not willing to even spend that much.

26th October, 2011.

Not bad at all, though I'm assuming you will get a bottle for around $5-$10 at a discount store. It's got a nice vanillic/pachouli/woody base. There is a somewhat musky lavender and mild spice before you get to the base, and that persists as well. It's not "synthetic" enough to be irritating, though the musky lavender may be too much for a lot of people. I need to be in the mood for it, and don't think of this as an "office scent." However, if you think of the base of Roadster and the middle notes of L'Instant Pour Homme EdT, then you will get an idea of McGraw. L'Instant is more gourmand/anisic whereas Roadster is herbal/minty, while McGraw is musky lavender/spice, so it's sort of like what you want on the side of your steak to me: baked potato, French fries, or onion rings? Granted, the French fries might be better than the onion rings, but there are times when you prefer onion rings. Longevity and projection ("sillage") are at least good, especially the longevity.

5th October, 2011.

Phew.

The advertising says: "McGraw is a spicy woody fragrance with notes of bergamot, nutmeg, lavender, moss, amber, patchouli, sandalwood and aged whisky."

I sampled this at Kohl's where I sometimes stop by the fragrance booth to check out the more commercialized brands. On the blotter I got a fleeting hit of a more mature man's fragrance, almost like a discreet Azzaro pour Homme, rather than the typical cheap sporty stuff I usually find there. After spraying it on however, it quickly morphed into all of Cool Water's synthetics with nothing on top but some old banana peel and pepper. Maybe that's supposed to be the whiskey mentioned in the advert. It diminished quickly to a faint musty iris found at the bottom of an aunt's old leather handbag.

Just way too full of irritating synthetics for me. Maybe as soon as something gets market penetration, they reformulate to reduce any costly components. That is the only way I can understand the diversity of opinions here.

3rd April, 2011.

No whiskey here, just a pack of Milk Duds with a slight cucumber smell to it.

Surprisingly, McGraw lasts and projects pretty decently.

Actually, it's not that bad, but not that good either.

5/10

24th March, 2011.

Most celebrity scents are really vapid commercial attempts to cash in and this may be true. Anyone who IS anyone has released a scent of some sort, many purporting to be "unique" and refined. Most are rather commonplace and lack the "edge" promised in the advertising.

Still, one can find a celebuscent that is interesting and above the ordinary. In the morass of men's popular aquatics, McGraw is a nice change. The bottle has a faux- leather textured top, and the guitar pick them of the box echoes on the bottle bottom.

It is a woody scent. I detect creamy woods, citrus and vanilla. I do not get the advertised whiskey, as a pronounced booziness is absent. This is a nice wearable.

Is this ultra-cutting edge fragrance? No, but it does not deserve to be overlooked. Very affordable and perfect for everyday.

In my 1-10 scale, this rates a 7.

21st February, 2011.

I don't get why this fragrance gets bashed the way it does. It's actually a rather nice, comforting, warm fragrance. Generic? ya, a little.. but not entirely.

For me, Mcgraw starts off with a spicy yet very creamy woods and lavender. I pick up on a vanilla note that isn't listed anywhere, but I do believe it's there. Sooner than later, (10 minutes in) it dies down to a slightly sweet, boozy cognac and nutmeg mix. Although whiskey is listed in the notes, I get cognac in this one.

The longevity isn't too great for a dark juice like so, usually those tend to last the longest because of more perfume oils. In this ones case, they may have just dyed it this color to make it match with its appearance. Longevity is about 4 hours for me, I tend to hold fragrances very well. Projection is below average, but that's what I love most about the entire Mcgraw line. They all sit close to the skin, but aren't as generic as other skin scents, these have the country thing going on for sure! All of them have exquisite dry downs to my nose, especially Southern Blend.

I think all of the Mcgraws for men, are safe to blind buy. As long as you understand, they're all spicy, they all have some of alcoholic drink accord in them, and they're all "country". They all also lack in the projection department, but sometimes we all want something of that nature.

29th December, 2010.