Today, Aramis continues to be an ever popular brand of male perfumes under the Estee Lauder umbrella. What you get is a wonderful old school musky leathery accord that is found in the old greats like Vintage Bel Ami and Vintage Derby by Guerlain. I have a soft spot for Aramis as it was the first designer fragrance that I bought as a young adult back in the 90s. Aramis is a living legend from the times when fragrances were completely different - Stronger, more aldehydic. The artemisia, with its bitter and astringent scent, opens the fragrance, with the jolt of aldehydes.

Aramis was founded in 1964, and specialised in producing perfumes and other grooming products for men. Jack_Hunter is right, all the challenging aspects are gone, there's nothing sharp or powerful about this. Animalic, piercing strong and slightly off putting, but that makes you sniff it a bit more like a guilty pleasure. On skin when you first splash it on, it smells very fresh, citrus, floral and zesty, very enjoyable and fresh.

There is also something legitimately coniferous in there, pulling it together in a harmonious whole. To me, this is reminiscent of going to a family get-together when I was a child and heading down to the unfinished basement and preparing the fold-out tables and chairs with my Dad and uncles for the dinner which would be served. The man is stern and strong, runs a series of restaurants in the city, and commutes in a blue Chevrolet Impala. Respect to all others who share the same sentiment, you are cultured and chose individuality over mass appealing scents. I’m too young to pull it off in public but I like wearing this when I’m home during the dog days of summer.

A spicy, green leathery chypre - very closely related to Cabochard and Azuree also by Bernard Chant. Not because it smells like your grandpa, not because it reminds you of past times you lived through, but because it is a great fragrance and it always will be. And also, as brokesta 911 notes, a vetiver accord I really didn't 'get' in my first year of wearing Aramis (it was always there -- my frame of reference wasn't.Anyway, it became my signiture scent and every weekend I'd be out ob the tiles wearing my Aramis cologne feeling enything was possible.

Rebellion and nymphetic in it's intake, but how can I picture the way it reads to others when it wafts off me? It begins with mainly a spicy herbal composition, but takes on a bit of softness that adds dimension. Though I don't think this can be classified as a "gentleman" anymore, it's too strong for the social norm of being seen and not heard (or smelled in this case). A nostalgic scent that reminds me of my dad getting ready for meetings, birthday dinners and family get togethers.Overall this is one of the most dominating masculine scents I've ever smelled and I still wear this if I'm going to be in a big crowd of men to assert my dominance. Honest question: WHY DOES IT SMELL LIKE EVERYTHING IN THIS GEM OF A POTION IS FIRMLY CENTERED AROUND RIPE ROSES?