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Tell me about Havana and reserva...revolutionary or tepid

post #1 of 9
9/23/07 at 10:31am
Thread Starter 
Whats the big deal with these guys...i see you cant get a bottle for under 90 bucks...is it really tha good or is it a waste of the 90 ? I tried using the search function in the community, but my pc keeps shutting me down with that request...just looking for some opinions good or bad on what you guys think...is it worth a blind buy at 10 dollars less than benjamin?
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post #2 of 9
9/23/07 at 10:38am
I've never tried Havana Reserva. As for Havana, I'd call it neither revolutionary nor tepid. It's a very fine, distinctive scent with enormous presence and a very complex composition. It falls squarely in the love-it-or-hate-it category, and while I think it's worth the $90, I wouldn't buy it blind.
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post #3 of 9
9/23/07 at 11:18am
+ 45 years,no problem, work fine
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post #4 of 9
9/23/07 at 11:23am
Perhaps the best men's frag ever created- tobacco and rum- very masculine! Everyone should own a bottle if you are interested in this type of frag.
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post #5 of 9
9/23/07 at 11:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdnba View Post

Whats the big deal with these guys...i see you cant get a bottle for under 90 bucks...is it really tha good or is it a waste of the 90 ? I tried using the search function in the community, but my pc keeps shutting me down with that request...just looking for some opinions good or bad on what you guys think...is it worth a blind buy at 10 dollars less than benjamin?

I'd definitely sample first and not blind buy at that price, unless you have $$$ to burn. That's my advice not only for Havana, but for nearly every other hard-to-find, niche, or discontinued scent that costs a lot. In my experience, I've been underwhelmed with nearly every "holy grail" fragrance that gets praised endlessly around these parts. That's not to say there is anything wrong with our tastes, it's just that everybody's noses are different.

Havana is no exception. Like PdN NY, Chergui, Patou PH, and a few others (a year or two ago it was the discontinued Jil Sander Feeling man) that get consistently superlative reviews, I wasn't floored or found it anything worth the extra $$$ or time in finding it. They're all quite nice scents, but there are many wonderful fragrances still in production at that price range that I'd want first.
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post #6 of 9
9/23/07 at 11:44am
I miss mine
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post #7 of 9
9/23/07 at 12:39pm
Check the reviews in the directory - there's over 40 between the two. Personally, I can't tell a significant difference between them. One of these days maybe I'll bother to compare them directly, one on each arm, since I have both.

As for how "great" they are? Well, they aren't in my top 5 but maybe at the bottom of my top 10 (I only have about 20 in my wardrobe). I can appreciate their following; however, I doubt that I would own them if they weren't discontinued* and so sought after.

*There is a claim that Havana can still be readily found in some S. Africa shops. However, it makes no sense to me why Aramis would continue to produce and distribute this fragrance in a tiny little spot in the world (and why S. Africa of all places?) when it is selling for $100 per 50ml on Ebay. S. Africa may still have a stash but I do not believe it is still being actively produced.
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post #8 of 9
9/23/07 at 1:04pm
What I can remember from then is that I was waiting without patience Havana and Heaven to test and finally they arrived to the local fragrance shop. I was not that much impressed with Havana, but I was well impressed with Chopard Heaven. Probably I was expecting something much livelier looking at its box, but I found Heaven much more livelier, fresh and attractive. I have tested them a few times more and then I had found Havana a bit boring. Maybe the things would be different now if I would have a chance to test it. It is possible that I might like it, but who knows.
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post #9 of 9
9/23/07 at 1:22pm
I own this gem, but -- if you just like the spicy notes and don't need as much tobacco -- go with Montana Parfum d'Homme (red box) for far fewer bucks. Havana is great; Havana Reserve is stronger. But Montana PdH has both beat in the bucks dept.
*****
Just added Jardin du Nil to my swap list, btw.
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