Adlon Homme by Berlin Cosmetics, 2000

This is a spicy, powdery, oakmossy treat. It is so harsh and abrasive at first that one wonders if you need to wash it off. During the day, it's oakmoss extraordinaire and two sprays really feels like too much. As it dries down, it softens up. After a long day, you get spices for the drydown. A very subtle spicy version of B*Men's drydown minus patchouli. It's one that needs to grow on you.

The Baron de Charlus once told me: 'It was, I believe, in Berlin that I first encountered Adlon Homme. Some runny-nosed waif was attempting to sell it on the street without much success. Unaccountably taking pity on him, I purchased a bottle and gazed askance at this square container of pale blue juice. Truth to tell, I expected the worst: something wan and watery, vaguely oceanic and definitively dull.
Imagine, then, my surprise when, applying this unlikely liquid to both wrists, its unpromising pale blue premiss yielded a conclusion that can only be described as soft, deep, warm and sophisticated. Snorting with delight, I immediately purchased the entire trayful of Adlon from the startled youth.'