CUBA Black and CUBA Red are great but so many released so fast............

I think it depends a lot on how particular you are. Cuba Gold is a Le Male type of thing, but I can't say if it's too cheap (quality wise) to be worth it, because I don't like this kind of frag, in general. Cuba Black, IIRC, is a Tuscany type of frag. I prefer the original Jordache Man, which I got for about the same price as a Cuba frag. Orange is a Rochas Lui/Dunhill Desire for a man type of frag, but not as complex. Red is like Burberry London for Men without the port wine type accord (I think the quality is the same, just that it is lacking notes). Green is fruity/citronella, with an herbal element. Then it goes into a generic cedar and amber base. Blue is like CK One (don't like this type of frag so can't comment on how good it is). These days, I prefer to hunt for vintage bargains rather than to dumpster dive in the frag bargain bins. LOL.

Sorry to go off topic here, but I've taken this approach for my last few purchases, and it's amazing how higher quality (in terms of materials) some older frags can be. It's all about cutting costs, I guess.

On topic: never smelled any of the Cuba frags, but the only one I've seen consistently discussed around here is Gold. Several members swear that it's a higher quality version of JPG Le Male for a fraction of the price. Le Male can smell pretty noxiously chemical, to the point where I had to stop wearing it due to headaches, so there's definitely room for improvement in that style.

The Cuba scents I've tried are all very good longevity and projection wise, and in that sense they definitely put some of the recent and not so recent timid or shortlasting scents to shame. In the same way that the Perfumers Workshop Samba scents often do. That said, I wouldn't assess them as being of a higher quality or higher complexity version of anything in particular. To my nose, they do their job well, but they tend to be a bit on the basic side.
Renato

Although I wasn't ecstatic with all the Cuba fragrances that I have purchased, I would say for somebody wanting a cheap wardrobe, the Cuba house can certainly give you quality and versatility. Samba as well for that matter.

I have not tried all of the Cuba fragrances, of course I would have to blind buy most of them, since there are a good 20 or 30 for men that have no info on them anywhere on the net. I can tell you from experience what I think of the following.

Cuba Black: Big powerhouse.. Similar to Azzaro pH, the smell itself is not bad, but it doesn't work well on me.
Cuba Red: One of the spiciest fragrances I've ever smelled. This one I do still own, unlike Black which I gave to my father. Cuba Red has a very spicy opening, that will either make or break it for you, since the spice stays with the fragrance for the majority of its life. The dry down is then a nice sweet tobacco and woods. I see a slight resemblance to Burberry London -- in Cuba Red's base. I never would have thought it resembled Burberry London some what if it weren't for Bigsly's assessment that he made on other threads, comparing the two. Anyways, Cuba Red, isn't horrible, but like Cuba Black, it doesn't work well on my skin.
Cuba Gold: Just read the forums, it's similar to Le Male, only I think it's even better.
Cuba City Hollywood: Somebody told me that this smells just like John Varvatos, only with better longevity. That was enough to get my 3.50, so I purchased this one pretty blindly. Unfortunately it's nothing like JV. It's just basically a synthetic amber with a sweet creamy vanilla and tonka. It's actually quite nice, but again, I have no purpose for it in my collection, so I gave it to my father (who happens to be getting addicted to frags now thanks to me); he enjoys this one a lot. He says it's mature and sophisticated, yet doesn't smell old in any way.

I realize they may be low in price, but a blind buy is still a blind buy. I wish there were more people like me sometimes, who saw things this way. A little review can help people a long way. 3 bucks here, 12 bucks there.. it adds up, and I'm the type who doesn't need fragrances on my shelf that I don't use.

Have only tried Gold and Hollywood - nothing special IMO.

I've got Cuba Wild Heart, which isn't in the directory yet. Its probably my favorit from Cuba so far. It's a clone of Ed Hardy's Love and Luck, but to me, it's a bit less sweet and not quite as cloying. I actually like it better than Love & Luck. Definitely worth $3.

I also have Cuba Orange and Cuba Grey. I didn't care for Orange (too mature & old school for my tastes). And Grey is ok (it's a generic, simple, bright lavender fragrance that reminds me of Wings for Men and Aqua Quorum).

Yeah, Wild Heart is my favorite from the Cuba brand so far. A friend of mine got it as a free gift when buying something at a fragrance kiosk in the local mall, and I was really impressed by it. I ordered it myself a couple of months ago and would definitely recommend it. When I saw the tattoo design on the bottle, I was wondering if it was an Ed Hardy copycat, and it is. It's very similar to Love and Luck and also Sean John's Unforgiveable (both of which are similar to Creed MI).

To me, though, Cuba Wild Heart is a bit less sweet and cloying. It's still very close to Love & Luck, but seems to have more florals in the middle and a little less fruit. I have all 3 (Love and Luck, Unforgiveable, & Wild Heart), and I actually prefer and wear the Cuba Wild Heart most. I would say it's easily worth the $4 asking price & is a good blind buy if you like Love and Luck.

Also, speaking of Cuba. I've heard the Cubano brand is very similar. And I just noticed TJ Maxx had variety packs of Cubano in this week for $19. (It includes Gold, Silver, Bronze, & Copper. All 60ml bottles). Has anyone tried these? I here Copper is Cool Water, Gold is LeMale, and one of the others is like Polo Sport. I think I may pick one up & give them a shot.

I have Cuba Red and Orange! Orange seems fine but Red is my favorite of the Cuba line. I certainly agree with Biglsly's and The_Cologneists' takes on Red! Spicey opening, wonderful sweet tabacco drydown! I do get the Burberry London reference although, to my nose, I also get a 'Pure Havane' feel from TM to this fragrance too!

Agree with others than these are great budget fragrances. These are especially good for cheap gifts for friends or for filling holes in your collection with budget alternatives. If there is a certain style of fragrance that you want, but doubt you will wear often enough to justify a more expensive purchase, this is a good option.

These scents are amazing for the money. Many smell like they cost 4 or 5 times what I paid for them. I have also tried the Cubano fragrances (made by a sister company).

These never smell cheap and even though they are an homage to other scents, they often smell superior to the original scents especially in the dry down phase, where most get a wonderful tobacco like masculine, classy finish.

Cuba Brown: Homage to Catalyst, only better. Same qualities, same unique scent, else challenging, I like it better than Catalyst, because it has everything I like about that unique scent, but somehow is better. But the HUGE problem with BROWN is longevity. Frankly, its horrible. Your fortunate to get even a few hours period. After 3-4 hours, I can't even tell I'm wearing anything, with my nose to my skin. And my body chemistry carries fragrances. After the first hour I can only smell it up close to the skin. Horrible. Only one of the whole line, that I've tried like that. Fix this defective formula CUBA PARIS! That being said, at $10 for a 3.3 oz bottle, you can reapply every 3-4 hours. So still not a terrible deal. Especially if your a Catalyst fan.

Cuba Red: Homage to Berburry London and John Varvatos Vintage. A personal favorite! Warm, fal/winter scent. Spicy, manly. Great longevity, amazing high class manly scent. I people don't like you in this...they just don't like YOU. Put it in your fragrance collection immediately. Especially if your hurting for cash and want something that smells classy and elegant.

Cuba Black: Homage to Azzaro pour Homme. Another personal favorite! My wife loves this on me.....LOVES....LOVES....LOVES it. It's Azzaro, but done right. Azzaro is a classic, but this takes what is great about that scent, and again makes it more accessible and polished. Dry down is amazing. I could smell myself all day long. And I do. Great longevity for me. Another sophisticated, classy, manly scent. It's what a 19th century gentleman wears while he's sipping his cognac, smoking a pipe, in his study, reading a leather bound book. It smells mature, but never old. This one is tied with RED for me, but for different reasons. This is all class.

Cuba Grey: Homage to Eternity by Calvin Klien. If you have Eternity, don't buy this, because to my nose, on my body, it smell identical. Eternity has it beat on longevity. That stuff lasts on me for days practically. But Grey has plenty of longevity, I get a full day out of it. But it is so much like Eternity, in a blind scent test, I'm not sure I could tell them apart. If you love Eternity, and short on cash, get CUBA GREY! It doesn't smell like a cheap knock off of Eternity (i've smelled those...yuck!) It smells like the original. Save money and enjoy the scent that was my signature scent for my high school and clubbing days. If you love Eternity, get this an pay 1/4 the price.

Cuba Royal: Homage to ??? Can someone help me with this one? It smells very similar to Cuba RED. More mature maybe? It feels more of a night frangrance, wear as red is a more all day, or night scent. All I can say is I love it. And if you like RED you will like ROYAL. But I would love for someone to tell me what the inspiration scent it for this little jewel...any thoughts?

Cuba Prestige: Homage to Angel A*Men by Thierry Mugler. Fresh, clean, powdery scent. But the tobacco base keeps it manly. I love this scent. It's been years since I smelled CK Be. But for some reason, this vaguely reminds me of that scent. But definitely not unisex, and more manly here. But has that soft powdery vibe. Smells like a yummy desert, but without making you smell like a ladies perfume. Very classy light smell. Nice all day smell. Very unique. Will get noticed in a good way. Everyone asks what I'm wearing, and where they can get it with this one.

Cubano Gold aka Cuba Gold (they are identical) Homage to Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male. I think Cubano version is better, in the quality department, because it's longevity is much better. Although GOLD lasts too. And seems to just have a slightly more polished version of the scent. But other than longevity, they scents are nearly identical. If you love Le Male, get this. I love it. I think this is better than Le Male, again because it's more accessible to everyone. Less synthetic smelling, somehow. Smells more polished.

Cubano Bronze: Homage to Aqua Di Gio by Giorgio for Men. Very similar. Nice clean aquatic scent. Excellent longevity. I'm not a huge aquatic fan. Makes me feel like I'm back in a high school locker room again with a bunch of wanna be jocks. But sometimes in the summer I like to sport an aquatic. And this scent fits the bill. Excellent projection. My wife likes aquatic scents. She says they smell clean. Agreed. This smells like you spent real money on it. Not like some cheap dollar store teen body spray. If you dig aquatics or love Aqua Di Gio, its a must buy.

Cubano Copper: Homage to Davidoff's Cool Water. A classic in my book, like Eternity. Yes, I know I said I don't like aquatics that much. (I don't hate them, just not my fav) But Cool Water is a classic. It is the quintessential aquatic that should be in everyones collection if they are to own only one. This smells just like it. Like the Eternity homage of Cuba Grey. This is Cool Water. I've smelled cheap knock offs, this smells like the real deal. In fact, I can't tell the different. Longevity actually seems better with Cubano Copper than Cool Water, which has a notoriously short scent life. So in that respect Cubano Copper is better. If you love Cool Water, get Cubano Copper, and save 1/3 the price.

Cuba Wild Heart: Homage to Ed Hardy's Love and Luck. Just ordered this, hasn't arrived yet. I'll submit my thoughts soon. But the word on the street is it awesome. Like Cuba RED, BLACK, PRESTIGE, ROYAL awesome! Got it a 3.3oz for 10 bucks on Ebay. So I'm excited to take it for a spin.

Times are getting lean for many a 21st century gentleman, I'm just glad with the Cuba line of fragrances, we can get high quality masculine scents, at generously reasonable prices. Seriously, go out and get any of these off amazon or ebay. Get the 3.3 oz or magnum size or the red, black and gold. You will use them, and love them. One of the greatest discoveries in scents I've made in years. How often can you say you bought something that is many times worth the value of what you paid? Something that feels rich, and expensive for a meager price. That's what the Cuba Paris and Cubano fragrances provide. Keep it up Cuba!

NOTE:
The CUBA GOLD MAGNUM, CUBA BLACK MAGNUM, CUBA RED MAGNUM, only refers to the size. The magnums I believe are 4.2 oz. The standard are 3.3 But the exact same scents!

In my last post I mentioned what fragrances seemed to inspire the various Cuba Paris and Cubano scents. The only one I have a question on is Cuba Royal. Can someone help me solve this mystery? Since all the other scents seem to be a HEAVY homage to existing scents, I assume the same is true of ROYAL. It seems like a sister scent to RED. Is it closer to Berburry London, or John Varavatos than RED? Or is it inspired by something else altogether? Any insights would be most appreciated!

Thanks for the input. I didn't mind the sweet. Especially as my wife likes it. The dry down seems less sweet to me once you get past the initial pop.

For those who like the Cuba frags, try the dollar store ones. I thought the One Million "homage" was quite good as a frag, though I'm not sure how close it was to the real thing. The Paco Rabanne PH and Creed ones weren't bad at all, though the Creed one was more like Cool Water without the tobacco note.

Thanks for the tip! Although personally I have found very few "cheaper" frags that have the quality of Cuba. But I'm will to give these a shot.

I recently purchased the Cuba Latino 4 pack. I am not impressed with any of them. There is one though - Carnival, which smells a bit like 1 Million, only with a weird salty note, or sea/seaweed accord. Ya may see this whole set up in my swap thread, or maybe a good few of them ;o

Never heard of this. Sorry to hear they didn't work for you. Which scents are included in the Latino pack?

Checking the scent profile and a few online comments it seems like Cuba Brazil is inspired or and homage to Dolce and Gabanna. Can anyone confirm this? Did they find these two similar? An homage if you will the Dolce. I was a fan of Dolce and wouldn't mind a very similar fragrance. Thanks. By the way my wife goes loves Cuba Black. loves it. It's a very masculine scent for sure.

Any ideas on what scent Cuba was inspired by/giving homage to:
For Cuba Royal
Or Cuba Brazil

I suspect it might be John Varvatos for Royal and Dolce & Gabanna for Brazil. Based off online comments. Wondered if anyone can confirm, or offer opinions...

Hey man, you got the point at Cubas: they're really similar to all that frags you mentioned!!!

One sight mentions that Cuba Brazil has this profile...blood orange, amalfi lemon, green accords, lavender, sage, basil, vetyver, sandalwood & tonka bean. Suitable for daytime & evening wear. This description is strangely similar to the notes that make up Dolce & Gabanna for men. I ordered a bottle. So I have wild heart and brazil in the mail. Based off their other "knock offs" for my body chemistry, I'm excited. The tobacco based dry down, is awesome on my skin. Every scent thus far drys down to something amazing on me. My wife loves it!

I've been so impressed with dollar store frags (not counting Horizon, which is a "no brainer") that I don't see the reason to buy Cuba ones, especially since it's so easy to sample the dollar store frags, which is not the case with the Cuba ones.

For me I find the quality of most dollar stores to be sub par. Guess I'm too familiar with some of the originals. But I find the Cuba stuff works for the makeup of my skin, and smells quality. The tobacco base or whatever it is they use smells fantastic on me. Most of the dollar frags smell cheap on me. Cuba never smells cheap on my skin. Just different, at times. Glad the dollar store frags work for you though.

Anyone tried Cuba BRAZIL? Identified any similarities to any other disigner frags? I strayed from the Cuba frags. And am getting a bottle of Halston 1-12 and z-14 (I hear they are crazy strong) so one spray is all you need. But if you use them moderately, they are "supposedly" quite complex. I like some of the old school frags. Azzaro - or its' cheaper cousin Cuba Black. (not sure I could tell them apart in the dry down. So I thought I'd try a few other old school designer frags. I like the idea of a leathery dry down, which both the Halstons are suppose to have. Also these were high end frags back in the day...70's-80's. And they are quickly going the way of the dodo bird. So I missed that generation of frags...I was in diapers. It's now or never. I got a 4.2 oz (125ml) bottle of each for $10 a piece. Not bad. They should be coming in the mail any day now...Long live inexpensive, (but not cheap) frags...

BTW is there anything else that is a quality scent at a rockbottom price? Cuba runs between 10-15 bucks for a 3.3 oz-4.2 botte. Halston 1-12 and z-14 are about the same. Anything else in that range for that quanity, that isn't cheap swill? No dollar frags need apply. I've smelled many of them, and they all are soooo alcohol heavy...its too much for me. I'd like scent not alcohol.

Just got halston z-14. If you love Cuba black and Cuba red. Buy it now. It's pretty awesome. Two words. Cinnamon leather. Me likey. Smells different than black or red, but has the same vibe if that makes sence. Especially like Cuba black. Cozy cold weather frag. It's spicy. And is way more complex, and well crafted than the Cuba scents. And cheap. 12 bucks for a 4.2 is bottle. Heck I'd pay more than 20 for it if I had to. And I'm cheap.

Word on the street is Cuba royal is a bit of an homage to 1 million. But less sweet. More tobacco.

Nice to read detailed description knock off perfumes like Cuba. I personally love these good quality knockoffs. Most of them I have tried are watered down with no longevity whatsoever and crude scents.
There is one brand Designer imposters, I have tried out few of their fragrances, they are very cheap to buy and I believe they are all excellent. Their imitation of Code lasts longer on me than actual Code. I have never tried Cuba, but after reading about Cuba here, I guess DI would beat them in terms of longevity and sillage. You can check it out on http://www.fragrancerebel.com/design...men-s/view-all. They even mention what the juice smells like.
unforunately I cannot get it in my country(India) neither does anyone ship it to India. I have to rely on people coming from the US to get my hands on them.
Good luck hunting

my first perfume was a cuba gold...I was impressed how complimented I was back on my 20-23 yo.... Today I still have my cuba gold

in case you are interested guys someone posted this list for similarities among Cuba and the real perfumes (posted in a spanish perfume forum)

I also have I think is Cuba red but I feel some similarity with SpiceBomb...

Royal (M) (one millon)
BLUE (M) (CK One - Calvin Klein)
GOLD (M) (Le Male - JPG)
RED (M) (Must - Cartier)
ORANGE (M) (Dunhill Desire)
BLACK (M) (Azzaro)
BROWN (M) (Herrera Men)
GREEN (M) (Boss Classic)
GREY (M) (Eternity - Calvin Klein)
HOLLYWOOD (M) (Boss Soul)
HOLLYWOOD (F) (Curious - Britney Spears)
LAS VEGAS (M) (Boss Red)
LAS VEGAS (F) (Amor Amor - Cacharel)
MIAMI (M) (Lacoste Grey)
MIAMI (F) (Light Blue - D&G)
NEW YORK (M) (Polo Blue - Ralph Lauren)
NEW YORK (F) (Angel - Thierry Mugler)
COPA CABANA (M) (Armani Code Homme)
COPA CABANA (F) (Armani Code Femme)
CARNAVAL (M) (Ferrari Black)
CARNAVAL (F) (Euphoria - Calvin Klein)
CACTUS (M) (Swiss Army Homme)
CACTUS (F) (Paris Hilton Classic)
MAYA (M) (Perry Ellis 360)
MAYA (F) (Perry Ellis 360)
YES WE CAN (M) (Euphoria - Calvin Klein)
YES WE CAN (F) (Euphoria - Calvin Klein)
SI PODEMOS (M) (Swiss Army Homme)
SI PODEMOS (L) (Juicy Couture)
JUNGLE SNAKE (F) (Romance - Ralph Lauren)
JUNGLE TIGER (F) (Gaultier Femme)
JUNGLE ZEBRA (F) (J'Adore - Dior)
HEARTBREAKER (F) (Ed Hardy - Christian Audigier)
PRESTIGE (M) 90 ML (A Men - Thierry Mugler)

I am shocked at the similarity with Cuba Gold and LeMale. It's hard to even notice a difference. Gold may be better as it seems to last longer than LeMale.

I'm buying right now


Cuba Black by Cuba for Men and Cuba Wild Heart by Cuba for Men

I will let you know guys

I have Cuba Wild Heart. It's a clone of Ed Hardy's Love & Luck and is in the same vein as that one, Unforgivable, and MI.

I dig Cuba Red. It's like a more wearable & rounded version of Jasper Conran Mister.