Dunhill Black (2008)
by Alfred Dunhill

Oh Dunhill Dunhill Dunhill ..... What have you become? The quality days of Edition are long gone and that past master is becoming a memory. This modern junk annoys. Synthetic pap. Why do your bottles not have the name of the fragrance on them? Isit because even the bottle is ashamed of it ! The usual commercial stuff being churned out. London was overly sweet and fleeting ( with the rose making it overly effeminate too ) and this tries to sell on the basis of "nettle" accord. I have never gone close enough to nettles to absorb any aroma they give off and the only asociation i get is one of pain. Ah yes... pay £38 for an "unmarked" bottle of this, realise it is pointless and feel the nettle ( ie pain! ). Dunhill Edition 1984 issue was very clever with great sillage and longevity. As i said a past master ( from packaging to bottle to fragrance to reputation ) .

I was excited for this release and was hoping it was "better" than Dunhill London (which was OK but probably the most horrible longevity of anything I've ever tried). When Black was released, being in the US, it took me a lot of searching to get a sample. Eventually I got a few official vials from a kind Basenoter who went to Harrods. Black was an exclusive there. A week after I got these samples I saw Black in a discount shop... already!

So I was geared for a disappointment. How did Dunhill's newest stuff "fall off the truck" so quickly?

I quite like it. It's yet another fresh masculine so be prepared for that. It's good in its own merits where this green nettle accord is very aquatic, green and herbal with a small white floral heart note. Black, the word, suggests dark and mysterious, or even something dirty. Dunhill Black is neither. It's rather quite upfront about what it is and being fresh it's clean and polished.

Better than Dunhill London. Not surprising that Dunhill coughed Black out so quickly after London's release.

Very casual and youthful. It's a reluctant thumbs up. It's quite nice but nothing groundbreaking.

it opens with a smell like jews mallow which is very offinsive in my country .... but it settles down to an acceptable smell ...any way ...not my cup of tea .....

Can Dunhill ever climb back up the slippery slope they are falling down with their fragrances? Not with this one I fear. I thought 'London' might shake them to their senses -- it was so horrid, but hey maybe it sold well? Firstly, there is nothing 'black' about this. It has a green, oh so familiar opening, the supposed lavender is non-existent and the jasmine was of the dirty kind and not well executed -- not a good combination in my book anyway. It does get a bit leathery very late on, but again it's not really worth the wait. Dunhill have thrown their lot in with the populist male fragrance mass creations and can't be taken seriously anymore as far as fragrances go.

A crisp, leafy opening lends a fresh impetus to this rich blend of natural components. As the Green Nettle recedes, a sweet yet muted blend of Jasmine and Lavender unite to add considerable depth to the drydown. This is a decent addition to the Dunhill stable, and a welcome, if only partial return to form. As a designer fragrance, it performs very well against its peers and consequently deserves its thumbs up

The bottle of Black carries on from the previous Dunhill release of London, with fresh and pursuit being also quite similar. I can imagine these looking quite good on a shelf in a collection (maybe not as good as a collection of Creed frags though). As for the fragrance itself is extremely similar to x2o by Ted Baker which make this frag lack originality. As I already have x2o I will not be purchasing this in a hurry, but it is a nice release.