Fath Pour L'Homme by Jacques Fath, 1998

I had been thinking about purchasing this fragrance for a while, but never did. Thank you to a fellow Basenoter, Slayerized (you're awesome man!), I went ahead and purchased a full bottle. I am very happy I did! Beautiful flacon...traditional, chic with a modern edge. The cap (a piece of art in and of itself) smelled wonderful - good things to come, I thought. I applied two full sprays to my inner wrist and one small one to the top of my hand. Wow! This is some damn good juice! It is so warm - the amber, wood, musk all are seamlessly integrated with a blend of citrus & spices, a dash of lavender, mint and a touch of clove (in the heart). I took notes along the way, but found it (very interestingly a scent that is integrated upon application)! I get a lot here - and, also, like some other amber-based oriental wood scents, it doesn't seem to transition much from out of the bottle to the skin, except get warmer and more radiant! To me, that is the difference between a lot of Oriental Woody's with an amber base like this - and those that have vanilla. Vanilla, as a note (I find) sits on the bottom of the bottle wafting through the fragrance (separated like a blob of extract on the bottom), but pronounced throughout a scent. Okay - imagine a bottle of, say, Le Male (I just wore it the other day) - a large puddle of vanilla extract is "plopped-in" and it sits there from the waist down of the upper torso and fills out the hindquarters and bulge in front! You smell it from the start and it gets stronger as all the rest of the composition dries off and melts away until you are left with a rather heavy vanillic accord that is a bit too sweet for some - cloying is often used. I happen to really like Le Male and other scents in that vanillic vein, but Jacques Fath is in a whole different vein...I am VERY happy with it. The smell is great - really nice, rich, warm but also chic and sophisticated. The spices with the lavender and mint make the heart so rich...along with the nice wood (cedar, sandalwood). Not cloying at all. And, here is the key - I would be very doubtful if any vanilla is in here (although reviewers reference it) at all! Amber, musk and wood together can create a great warm accord that is found in Fath Pour l'Homme, along with the baking spices (my nose says a touch of nutmeg and a whiff of cinnamon - neither too strong). Some noses may confuse this with vanilla when the composition comes together (but this has a pure amber base at the end). But, some get it right - so I am not saying something entirely new. Timing on this is rather funny, because, I have been on a huge amber-binge in the last several months of cold weather for both me and my wife. Some are very unisex - Jacques Fath Pour l'Homme is a very masculine composition. I am impressed as it comes together very well - overall score (with a warm thanks to Slayerized for helping me push the "BUY" button) - 8.5/10! Really good juice and definitely one I will look forward to wearing...!