Essenza Di Zegna by Ermenegildo Zegna, 2003

This is no aquatic. But, I do agree that it bears a strong resemblance to Aqua de Gio, which I dislike. Confusing? No, and here are the reasons why. Aqua de Gio is what happens when you get a quality fragrance like Essenza and then strip it down and add cheap ingredients while tampering with the settings of what was a fine-tuned piece. Where Gio goes awry with high-pitched, cloying notes, Essenza grows into a complex citrus-wood fragrance. The middle notes is where this frag excels. The herbal notes balance out the lemony top notes and the wood base notes. It has at least four layers whereby the fragrance changes as you wear it. Is it original? Not really. But, it is a quality scent for work and summer. It has quality ingredients and will only get you compliments at work. If you want a super original, come-and-look-at-me fragrance, get M7 or Angel. But if you want to be taken seriously at your place of work, get Essenza. *****Update: This is in my top five now (out of well over 50 bottles of fragrances). This has to be memorialized as a classic. It is a masculine, elegant fragrance fit for an Italian Count or Baron. And a great value. I wake up and can still enjoy this fragrance from the previous day. Bravo.

I found a bottle of this on one of my thrift store runs and since it was only a couple of bucks, and after a quick sniff, I brought it home. It was very light. So light, in fact, that it seemed to evaporate from the mind as soon as it was sprayed. And yet, it was compelling enough to keep me coming back for reassessments. Zegna is the purveyor of fine suits, and this scent lent itself well to fine suit wearing; especially in warmer weather. Outside of a suit, it was a bit too formal due to those spicy midnotes. Spicy notes always put me in mind of winter. I guess I was sort of in limbo regarding Essenza Di Zegna (although I love that name! It rolls off the tongue with such elan). This failure of mine to commit to Mr. Zegna led to my giving the bottle to my BF for his briefcase cologne. One of the most important elements of the "briefcase cologne" is the flacon. It must be sturdy and lend itself to easy transportation and access. The scent, of course should be good, but is more or less an afterthought. The briefcase cologne is motored through rather quickly; which is alarming when he gets his hands on my Chanel Pour Monsieur. But smelling the EdZ on him grew on me. I realized the fragrance was rather intricately composed after all, and certainly was redolent of fine perfuming ingredients. I find it interestng that it was composed by Msrs. Jacques Cavallier and Alberto Morillas-- who have been hitting my radar screens a lot lately. They've composed many of my favorite recent scents...and strangely, many of my least favorite recent scents. I guess that qualifies them as LOVE/HATE perfumers. But that's good, because it means they know what they're are doing. They are creating scents with character and originality...quite a feat nowadays in the heady world of perfume.

Let me start by saying that THIS IS NOT AN AQUATIC FRAGRANCE. To call it one would be an insult to this superb scent.

I look at Essencia di Zegna as a modern take on the traditional Italian styled eau de cologne, but with much better longevity than the old school Italian colognes. What starts off as a bright citrus scent becomes a dark and very dry woody fragrance. As the citrus in the opening fades, you can smell pepper notes emerging, and evenutally the vetiver becomes dominant. The vetiver is what gives this scent its dryness, darkness and austerity. The fragrance has an over all dark, tea-like smell, kind of like brewed Earl Grey tea.

No, this is not the most unique scent in the world, because lord knows the whole woody fresh masculine thing has been done countless times before. But few if any do it anywhere nearly as well as Essencia di Zegna. Where most fragrances of this type end up smelling metallic, harsh, boring, poorly balanced or synthetic, Essencia di Zegna manages to smell completely natural, extremely comfortable to wear, and perfectly balanced. With this fragrance, Zegna nailed this tired genre, and produced what I consider to be the perfect woody citrus scent.

MY RATING: 9/10

Every statement I made in my original review remains the same, but I have revised my rating for Essenza di Zegna to a Thumbs Up. The quiet power, and unique flavor of this fragrance remains with me over the 15 months I have not used this creation. In that time I have tried many acclaimed fragrances, and my experience has proven to me that for my personal tastes, and not as a universal recommendation, this fragrance suits me very well. On my skin, Essenza di Zegna is distinctly unique, assured, refined, elegant, and subdued in a most alluring combination.

My original review from November 2009:

Essenza di Zegna is a refined and quiet fragrance with an evocative note that presents as comfortable, familiar, but indefinable. To me this pleasant creation does not echo any other cologne. It has one great advantage over many similarly restrained but unique fragrances: it can be found online at shockingly inexpensive prices. I wore this fragrance as my primary cologne for more than a year, switching to Angel Men when I felt more outgoing, or aggressive.

Like many fragrances which project refinement and strength, this Zegna is not completely beautiful in its initial impression. And its lasting quality is more of quet depth, and interest, than excitement or delight. Angel is exciting and delightful, but a bit bright; I am not sure I would want to shower daily in Angel soap.

Essenza di Zegna milled soap is a wonderful, rich, and fine smelling product which lasts for ages and keeps on giving uniformly fine scent until the very last. Sillage for the cologne is polite but firm, and the scent lasts well close to the skin.

Everyone will not appreciate this creation's primary accord, and some may feel the total experience is too subdued. And may not be complex enough for the practiced. Others will smell the richness. This idiosyncratic scent releases a pleasant depth of accords that come gently through.