Bentley for Men

Late to the party. I picked this up for $19.5 from my local notino on sale (after conversion). How is this even possible for $19 ?!?!?! This IS SO GOOD. I much prefer this to the Intense flanker. So much more wearable. There is something very calming and classy the more this stays on my skin. The woody and leather quality in the dry-down is very soothing and classy at the same time. What a gem! Didn't expect this after all the buzz on Intense. The rum note is not pungent and sweet like I was worried it might be. It's just right. Layering this with Molecule 01 does wonders for projection and longevity on my skin. It's good to begin with but I'm experiencing both lengthened and heightened projection for additional ~90 minutes. Depending on weather. But then again Molecule 01 works on my skin as a standalone - I know that's not the case for everyone. A reason why I prefer this to the Intense is because Intense can very easily fall apart like another of Nathalie Lorson's creations - Lalique Encre Noire a L'Extreme. Hope I can explain: EN a L'Extreme starts out great but after 3 hours it falls apart to a very nasty mix of rotten veggies and dirty butt. YUK! It does the same on skin as well as on clothing regardless. All of the good things evaporate leaving this horrible mixture behind. Now, Bentley for Men Intense doesn't do that on skin - unless you wash it! When I tested Intense I initially sprayed on my wrist and accidentally ran it under running water. I was greeted by that same rotten veggies + dirty butt smells EN L'Extreme falls apart to. All the good stuff was washed away. If left on skin untouched it's OK. But that also means that if you take a shower before Intense is completely gone, you better make sure you scrub wherever you've sprayed to perfection. If left on clothing (where it lasts for ages) it reaches that state about 2 days afterwards. It's just disgusting. The regular Bentley for Men doesn't suffer from these issues and I much prefer the profile. Considering price and what this is - Love from me :)

Unexpectedly good. I would even say, as for a "car fragrances" it is a mind blowing good! Starting from bottle, to smell, longevity, sillage - everything is truly classy and outstanding, easily beating expectations! This is definitely not unisex fragrance, all man - sophisticated and well educated macho man! But without being offensively aggressive or suffocating (as most macho scents tend to be). For me opening dominates by bay leaf, but bergamot and pepper being right behind it, with cinnamon starting emerging as soon as 5 min after spraying and being present almost all the way to the end. Within 10-15 min rum start emerging too together with woody accord. All it still staying in the mix after base notes start to appear, with exception of bergamot than dissipates completely within 2 hours (which is still very long time for bergamot to be present). Scent slightly changes all the time first 4 hours, but at the same time core of it staying consistent and very pleasant all the time. After 4 hours it is bit less spicy, but still aromatic - sweeter, buzzier and more leathery. It starts more like daytime perfume for colder time of the year and ends up like a night time scent. Which is great taking into consideration that it lasts and projects pretty well for about 10-14 hours! With about another 4-6 hours as a skin scent. I would say it is among longest lasting not cloying or suffocating inexpensive perfumes for men out there, that are still in production now. Scent 8 of 10 Longevity 9 of 10 Projection 8 of 10 Silage 7 of 10 Versatility 7 of 10 Originality 5 of 10 Quality for price 9 of 10 First "caf fragrance" I will definitely buy again! I also think it is very safe buy for anyone who like this group of scents. Zero controversy is in here.

One of my absolute favourites ever; and just discovered this year as a blind buy. It smells gorgeous, I did not think I would say that about a fragrance, and I now have a few others I think the same of. It smells expensive, rich, generous. it takes me for a trip in a very nice car past interesting and beautiful places. I drive a lovely old Jaguar which, to my mind, is a poor man's Bentley - a Continental GT if you please. 2021 - my year of fragrances, having bought more frags in one year than over all my years combined so far, and I am not young any more. A year of lovely discoveries, several now owned and several more ear-marked for next year. I'm very happy to have found this useful website, thanks to which I have made lots of successful blind buys. My thanks also, very much, to all who have shared their thoughts and experiences of the thousands of fine smelling juices. PS: I already own Bentley Absolute but I have not used it yet; it and some others are put away for my birthday in December, and some for Christmas. Also in-waiting and unsmelled, is a bottle of vintage Jaguar Performance (this shall be my birthday scent), Others are Baldessarini Ultimate, Milestone by Armaf, Mercedes Benz Club Black, Quorum by Puig, and Lalique Pour Homme Lion - well, when the price is right you go for them. All of these are blind buys I am looking forward to opening and enjoying - fragrant times are ahead. I suspect the Benz Club Black will be shared with my wife; she adores vanilla in scents.

Bentley for Men smells like the idea of adulthood you had when you were twelve. That half-formed fantasy of mahogany offices, amber liquor, and being the kind of person who knows what cufflinks are actually for. It opens big and boozy with syrupy rum and cinnamon. The kind of warmth that hits before you even know you’re in it. Like the first fifteen minutes of a dinner party where everyone’s still performing their best selves. Then it exhales, softens into something more reflective. Wood, leather, a faint sweetness that feels almost like remorse for its own bravado. It’s a warm, spiced inhale, the scent equivalent of sinking back into a leather armchair that’s seen better men than you, and somehow remembers every one of them. There’s something deeply comforting in how unapologetically grown it smells, like a handshake that’s just a little too firm. It’s not trying to seduce you, it’s trying to reassure you that you can still be composed, deliberate, adult, even when your life feels like a series of browser tabs left open too long. It lingers for hours, maybe longer than it should, but so do the good things like the aftertaste of a good drink, the last line of a good book, the faint echo of competence. If I had old money this would be my signature scent.

So I, like many others, got sucked into the hype for Bentley for Men Intense at the beginning of my fragrance journey. It's still commonly mentioned as being "niche quality" and one of the best value fragrances on the market - neither of which I can disagree with. Now, years later, I find myself with the original Bentley for Men. And I think I like it even more. This is, as everyone else has already mentioned below, a boozy, very masculine concoction. The rum note is very strong and no-holds-barred right from the beginning, but the leather and benzoin combine with it to make the fragrance smooth and very pleasant. It's a potent fragrance, but nowhere near cloying; it's quite well-rounded. This leads into why I prefer this original Bentley to the Intense flanker. I just find it to be easier to wear; it's less dry than the Intense and a tad sweeter. I could see this being worn in colder days of spring or at nights, whereas the Intense strikes me strictly as a winter fragrance. Is it redundant to own both? Probably. But if you own neither, I would honestly try this one first. It's classy, masculine, and a great performer. P.S. Nathalie Lorson doesn't miss.