Portos

Portos serves a triptych of castoreum, costus and IBQ adorned with exhilaratingly punchy green top notes and underlined with vetiver and geranium. These are the elements that stand out most prominently to me, but how does it make me feel? What does it evoke? Wouldn't you like to know! Seriously though, 1980 approached the apotheosis of the machismo era of men's fragrances, eclipsed by the big league releases of Kouros and Antaeus. Portos was one progenitor that, while riding the coattails of Aramis, and Givenchy Gentleman, and Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, took their various themes and amalgamated them with dark edginess and oily, brawny bravado. A clean/dirty dichotomy prevails, converging chypre and fougere elements create a storm of passion in the heart of Portos, marking its unrestrained virility down to its final musky exhalation on the skin. Whether Portos is essential is up for debate; it was discontinued only five or six years after its release, and in the wake of its scarcity its demand is high, only further encouraged by its being deified by online vintage fiends (like myself? you hush!). With this in mind, don't blow 300 US dollars on it. If you must, wait until a good deal comes up online like I did, and go for a splash, they tend to be cheaper. That said, there's no denying the delight I feel while wearing this juggernaut.

Portos for my taste falls within a small group of vintage cult fragrances that everyone should enjoy at least once in life. The composition in pure eighties style, is complex and powerful, where a beautiful, leather key agreement breaks from start to finish to accompany herbs, feels this agreement smoky, patchouli, myrrh that makes a lot of balsamic and heavy but especially the smell of castoreum gives the fragrance a vibrant, wild, unique and super masculine effect. Portos is one of those fragrances designed for an alpha male, of those typical man of 80, with chest hair, semi open shirt and tight jeans, confident, dominant, irreverent and have a devastating sex appeal. And since the dyes Animalicos fragrances are becoming fashionable again, this might be a good retro candidate that could be used without problem to be trendy. Not recommended for inexperienced youngsters who love soft fragrances and light eau de toilette. Rating: 7.5

Lana Lool said it all. True castoreum , strongly animal with bold character. Love, love this 70/ 80 gem. !! Don't let it go of you love bold and spicy leather.!!! 10/10

VERY Macassar like. Just try them

A rich, multifaceted blend that to my mind conjures the image of a refined continental gentleman - sophisticated, elegant and a bit of a dandy. Portos was one of the Three Musketeers, right? There’s a subtle animalic aspect to Portos that is immediately apparent - presumably castoreum - that enhances the sensory experience and creates an impression of a magic potion of luxurious pre-IFRA wonder - a mosaic in which my amateur nose detects hints of castoreum, oakmoss, rock rose, and myrrh. Aspects of wood, leather and botanicals unite in a rich, complex blend redolent of luxury and elegance. Portos is a potent brew for an EDC, classically and traditionally masculine, that projects well for the first hour - if one were to “splash” this stuff on it would be overpowering, although the opening is quite bold, it evolves rapidly and as per ElGonzo's review, longevity is around 4 hours, although in cold weather it’s around 6 hours. Mini flacons of 10ml are still widely available and an inexpensive way to try this classic.

I' m a fan of vintage Balenciagas ( except Talisman , though ) and Portos is another beautiful masculine that drives me a little crazy as the more it develops on skin the more it gets way too masculine to be worn by a lady in public . The spicy opening soon goes bitter and the heart is raw . My favourite part of Portos is the drydown , when its leather gets warm and silky : fabulous animalic fragrance ! It is not a green fragrance at all buy I think of it as Hulk's perfume coming back to normal , once the cistus labdanum wakes up to tame down the animalic leather side . Another perfume of the past that makes you think " they do not create good stuff like this anymore " .

I bought this because I found a cheap miniature on eBay and someone said this is a dirty scent and I'm into dirtiness. When I put Portos on my skin I was surprised, because it smells very much like (the new version of) Bandit by Robert Piguet. I love Bandit, so that isn't a bad thing, but I was excepting something a bit different. EDIT: After testing this a second time I still think it resembles new Bandit, but it's perhaps more animalistic (but still not dirty enough for me) and the leather note is less dominant than in Bandit. I'm happy I bought this.

A beautiful smooth blend of Kouros and Givenchy Gentleman but with a resinous sweetness that makes it a bit more wearable to my tastes. I have a 10ml mini Eau de Cologne and it's intense on top with a lasting power of 4 hours approx. Top quality through and through. 9/10

Portos is on frag at last; great job lords of fragrantica. I agree with the previous reviewer.

So what can I say about Portos? It's basically Aramis with alittle twist. It smells like Aramis, the whole life of the journey but as it dries down, it develops into its own thing but still smelling like Aramis, if that makes any sense? I bought my 50ml for around $120 and absolutely regret it because it's basically a dupe of vintage Aramis. I had to try it because of all the vintage fragrance conisur on YouTube, hyping it up. So if you really like Aramis Aramis and want to try something similar, buy Portos but if not, save you're money. All and all, is it good, I'd say yes but not $120 dollars for a 50ml good. Edit: "Aramis With Soul" If you own vintage Aramis and didn't love it, don't write Portos off. On the opening it smells remarkably similar — same leather chypre DNA, same era, same masculine boldness. If you stopped there you'd think it was redundant. But give it time. Where Aramis is bone dry and cold, Portos develops a spunk that Aramis simply doesn't have. More animalic vitality, more oily warmth, more soul. I didn't like it at first. It grew on me. Now I own a backup bottle — that should tell you everything. Discontinued and getting harder to find. Don't sleep on it.

Masculine Chypre Oakmoss, myrrh, carnations, geranium, galbanum, coriander, & cumin. sour yet herbal which makes it quite chypre but in the masculine rough way. I don't detect that much of castoreum, or leather but the rest are quite clear and direct. I really enjoyed this blend and it's quite the 80s powerhouse masculine blend, not much creative but it's quite addictive. I would classify it as a drugstore kind of blend and animalic. Brilliant. Thanks to my friend Flo for this sample. Addictive.

Totally agree with whiffwizard76, Portos is like a tender version of Aramis vintage. It focus on leather and spice with soft texture. On the other hand, Aramis really shows true power of multifacets. The final thought, Portos is nice but not that great in comparision to Aramis Aramis Cologne Edit: After long time wearing, I do appreciate Balenciaga taste in this hairy animalic style. Aramis is elegant, then Portos is another simpler but also much more attractive. Beautiful!

I just mentioned Paco Rabanne Pour Homme above. Cause Portos smells like it. A lot! A very freaking lot! With a dolop of galbanum at the top and leather down in the base. Actually, the (in)famous animalis base (civet, leather, musks and whatever else). But, all in all, oakmoss heavy and aromatic like PRPH with Kouros’ base. This is where PRPH, Kouros, Macassar and Bandit meet (aromatic/herbal on top, mossy animalic/leather in the base).

Classic masculine chypre which a woman could wear. Tested from vintage bottle in extremely good condition, it becomes startlingly obvious why vintage frags are the best. Big and bouncy, full of spicy with a leather animalic base, vague hints of floral and clove. This is what your fellas used to smell like when they got themselves all toffed up for a night on the town. I miss good smells.

This smells like the classic Aramis to me but without the sweetness and more darker. It also has a vague Kouros presence. Very animalic and distinctly from the 80's. It lasts fairly long for an EDC (few hours at least) and a dated one at that.

Another great discontinued fragrance! Portos was on the same ballpark as Aramis & Givenchy gentleman original❤️ I really miss Portos & wonder why Balenciaga discontinued this Chypré leathery masterpiece🤔🏆

I am an old man and I start using Portos since I was 21 years old. I will not changed. Expensive, but worth every drop.

The "modern" version of Aramis cologne, with our fathers fresh out of the shower vibe.