Hummer by Hummer, 2004

Why on earth was this beauty named Hummer, after one of the ugliest and pointless automotive creations I can think of? For some, the name invites instant preconceptions, mostly negative and derisory. It appears that only the curious and the olfactorily adventurous will give this fragrance time of day. Naturally, not many would want to admit they were wrong. However, some will be haunted by the reality of what they smelled and would grudgingly admit they need to give Hummer another try. This, ladies and gentlemen, is myself. And I am glad and humbled that I did. If the creators of Hummer carry out a market survey, they may find out that the frag would have a very high ratio of Eyeballs-to-No Sniffs/No Buys. The name, the name.

Hummer switches on the ignition and burns its highly aromatic wheels with one of the mintiest (almost eye-watering) top notes I have experienced. I am surprised that mint is not listed among the notes. I wonder if it is the listed thyme playing a part here, or misinterpreted. Strong lavender (as observed by Shamu1, another note not listed) kicks in and anchors Hummer as a predominant note. The amber in this frag is a dominant player in tandem with lavender, and it joins the chorus early. The spices, however, add an interesting dimension to the theme. At this stage, when I first smelt Hummer, I started having a nicely disturbing feeling of déjà vu. Where had I smelt this before? Francois Blais below alludes to its similarity with Sung Homme. Hmmm yes, in the sense that they both have this high-treble metallic, obviously synthetic vibe. But no, that wasnt it for me. Then it clicked: Jo Malones 1995 Amber and Lavender. Admittedly lower quality, but spicier and lower-priced. Therein is the value proposition of Hummer. We have very good niche scent now available for cheap.

Hummer has significant sillage and would be the monster the actual vehicle is, if over applied, both to the wearer and those unfortunate to be around him/(her?). It is a long-lasting fragrance, especially in full wear. Hummer will enable me have the Jo Malone experience cheaply, stretching my 30ml bottle of Amber and Lavender longer.

Ignore the silly name, overcome any bias against its cheap price and you could find Hummer to be a very nice aromatic scent. I do, and I love Hummer (the scent, not the box-on-wheels).

Surprisingly very nice scent! I don't like the opening blast of citrus and lavender because it's got a loud sport cologne freshness that I don't like and feel I'm too old to pull of wearing. I don't understand why lavender and citrus are not listed in the pyramid, because they're so obviously contained in this fragrance. Though it's not a powerhouse frag, don't spray this on too much or else you will smell totally obnoxious.

After the citrus fades Hummer mellows out into a very nice sweet lavender scent with woody and mossy green notes blended in. In fact what I like most about Hummer is that it smells greener as it evolves over time, even though there are no green notes listed in the pyramid. I can smell the woody and spicy notes in the pyramid when the drydown arrives. The drydown is very good, and is the spiciest and best phase of the scent.

This is not a particularly unique fragrance and it does have some of that generic sport fragrance vibe to it, but there's more substance in this than your average sports fragrance. Its spiciness in the drydown is what separates Hummer from the boring sports frags. Awesome heavy glass bottle!

P.S. I HATE HUMMERS!!!

MY RATING: 7.5/10