Baldessarini Hugo Boss

Timelessly Elegant (Jean-Marc Chaillan & Pierre Wargnye, 2002) Bottle Design: Lutz Herrmann Scentrack: Robert Palmer – Know by Now At a first glance, Baldessarini Eau de Cologne seems like a simple standard released for men, loaded with citrus and devoid of any performance. However, a few miracles are hidden among the molecules. Baldessarini starts with sweet citrus fruits - orange and grapefruit, very similar to legendary PEZ candy, accompanied by a dash of mint and to my nose even with a touch of basil. In this first phase is uplifting, sunny and charmingly Mediterranean. Soon darker notes are invited, clove with its medicinal character, very pale patchouli and warm tobacco. Initial relaxed mood was upgraded with this touch of friendly seriousness. But then the magic starts. At one point the composition warms up even more with musk and amber, and unexpected fruity sweetness turns up from nowhere. The fruitiness is light and airy, yet so substantial and hard to decode. At one moment is completely fruity, on the other is almost completely radiantly floral due to the damascones. Another great feature of this composition is solid performance on my skin for the EdC. To my nose it seems like Chaillan and Wargnye took the best from the past, and recreate the classic form for the new millennium while possessing some distant echoes from the late Escada pour Homme. Later, Tom Ford revisited the theme in much inferior Tom Ford for Men. Subsequent Baldessarini Eau de Cologne Concentre ruffled these gentle fragrant layers and totally lost the charm. Rating: 9/10

The Baldessarini brand is not widely known in the fragrance community. The company has some fault in this, because their newer scents tend to be quite "generic" i.e. Stricly Private. A nice gourmand, but smells very similar to every other gourmand out there. They did pull all the stops on their first release, though. It's great that they did so, because they created one of the greatest Eau de Cologne's of newer times. It opens with a fantastic minty tangerine note. This note persist throughout the life of the fragrance. The midnotes . especially chamomille - come into play after a few minutes, complimenting the topnotes nicely. After that the tobacco and musk appears. Both notes are mixed back, allowing the fantastic top notes to shine. The thing about this one, is that it is extremely well crafted. The blending is superb, and everything works together. This fragrance shares some ground with Tom Ford For Men. TFFM is muskier and more focused on the tobacco, where as the Baldessarini is zestier and sticks to the Cologne style. Longevity is 5-6 hours for the normal, and a solid 7-8 hours for the Concentree. The Concentree amplifies the top notes slightly, and I prefer the Concentree. Rating: 8.5/10

Funny thing is, not a single reviewer, not even the almighty Luca Turin, says anything Baldessarini being in the same league as Guerlain Herritage, New York, Bois du Portugal, somtimes leaning towards Chanel pour Monsieur and Boucheron, and almost innevitably paying homage to Habit Rouge. Nothing at all, but it is all there. And it makes easier to see why some dont't like Baldessarini, it belongs to another world altogether. Hwoever if you are fond of any one of those you will also enjoy this, so far the only Boo scent I will keep. And yes, it is a bit weaker, after all it's an eau de cologne, mine the concentree version. One more reason to to make use f a nice scent when you don't feel like being too imposing on others. That's also what i think happens to Dior Homme l'Eau for Men, a milder version of a very potent and deep juice. I like it, a lot.

oh god yes... sometimes the best things in life are...well...you know. for a 'mainstream' perfume, this certainly doesn't have the hallmarks of a hallmark perfume. it's not pigeonhole-able, you can't say "it's just one of those", it's royal and regal. seriously, it smells like something Frapin would put out. this has a sugar-sweet citrus with 'something'. i'm not sure it's the musk, possibly it's the tobacco or something along those lines. maybe something woody. either way, it's a lovely accord that is struck. wonderful. i discovered this scent when it was a 'boss' perfume back in 2006. i finally found it again, and it arrived yesterday and all my ozf memories are flooding back. also, it's amazing how much i've changed and/or grown. it's funny how we grow and mature 'away' from something only to come straight back. signature perfume for sure...

Good cologne, but kind of subtle. I have the concentree version and have never tried the other one. But even the concentree has a VERY limited sillage and longevity. Apart from that, Baldessarini is very good for its kind. Not exactly fresh, more medium energetic, but elegant, shimmering and warmer as you go along. Described as "woody-fruity" by some reviewers, I surprisingly agree with the gentleman below who identified banana as one of the few notes that I can actually detect. The rest span "from raisins to rose", with some very gentle masculinity behind and sparsely any musk or tobacco, but maybe some bright amber below. I wish there would be more masculine basenotes here, some more of the tobacco, musk and amber perhaps, that would give the fragrance more depth and radiance (and longevity). 8/10 (if you reapply every 4 hrs)