Moss Cologne

I already had my antenna up for this kind of scent profile after I saw an advertisement for an "Oak Moss Cologne" in a vintage September 1969 issue of GQ Magazine. Doesn’t say the brand, only that it "...is available at Abercrombie & Fitch stores". That fragrance of course is long gone, but then seeing Moss Cologne in Bortnikoff's current catalog really got me excited, so I ordered a decant to test wear. The citrus-oak moss-champaca opening is simply beautiful, and its full-bottle worthy to me for that alone. Its got a classic vintage vibe, which seems to be a part of Bortnikoff's house DNA, based on my limited exposure to the brand. Throughout, the oakmoss imparts a musty facet, but a pleasant one that is part of the semi-sweet citrus-champaca melange. Really nice, like the most pleasant smelling sweet musty attic imaginable. I was wondering how and why a moss-centered fragrance manifested as light and bright instead of the powerful, intense, earthy vintage moss fragrance DNA's I was used to, so I queried an AI engine for fun. "The moss note in Bortnikoff Moss Cologne smells light because the fragrance is built as a bright, translucent citrus chypre rather than a heavy, dank forest floor. Dmitry Bortnikoff counterbalances the natural oakmoss absolute with a massive, effervescent opening of sweet orange, grapefruit, bergamot, and lemon, alongside sparkling natural ambergris and radiant champaca floral notes." So thats why. Its built go be a bright, translucent citrus chypre, and not heavy and dank. Its light and dank. On test blotter, the white floral indoles were quite prominent, but on skin the indolic facet thankfully didn't manifest. I wish the citrus persisted with the oak moss for much longer. Doesn't Litsea Cubeba enable citrus accords to appear to be more longlived? Maybe using something like that would have helped as that unbelievably beautiful citrus-moss opening melange subsided quickly, and the earthy and woody accords ascended. But its all very nice, although the performance is not good overall, and I'm not even a "Performance Bro". I kept refreshing my sprays to keep that opening melange active. The florals are actually quite subdued. I read the Fragrantica article that included Moss Cologne, and it mentioned the "overripe" fruits (citrus). I have a bottle of the vintage Dior Diorella, which is often characterized as having an overripe fruity accord, so I sprayed it on blotter to compare. I noticed the similarity in those "overripe" fruits, and mossy accords, although the two scents diverge significantly. I have a clone of Tom Ford Moss Breches and so know something of its scent profile, and can say it is not similar to Moss Cologne at all. Breches is much less wearable, more abstract and artistic, with its honey and moss accords. I don't have a Bortnikoff full bottle, but Moss Cologne is worthy, although imperfect. And the bottle design of Bortnikoff is beautiful. Of the Bortnikoff's I've tried, this one and Amber Cologne are worthy. The other few I've tried were not executed very well imo, so maybe there is something to the above review about the perfumer "trying to hard" and compositions being "unbalanced". I believe the perfumer is not formally trained, correct? Update: I have a full bottle now. But wearing it after about 15 sprays, the performance is barely a whisper. Also, an old vintage Avon fragrance released in 1950, and worn by my Grandmother, reminds me of Moss Cologne: To a Wild Rose. Update: I wear Moss Cologne and Avon To a Wild Rose (released in 1950) as a combo now. And both have grown on me even more. They are both now in my "Favorites Collection" as a pair, a collection of the top 50 frags in my overall Collection of 400+ fragrances.

The opening is a gorgeous combination of citrus and woody oakmoss that has some floral notes peeking out, too. As others have stated, this falls off in 15-30 minutes and you're left with a linear mossy scent. So, how much you love this will be directly proportional to how much you love old school moss notes in scent. I tried this one and Rogue's Mousse Illuminee side-by-side as I (in my mind) sort of lumped them together. They, I guess, share a genre but are pretty different. Moss Cologne has a dated but much lighter and more moss-oriented body. Green, smooth, classy. I actually find it really well-blended and perfect for older men who want a scent that harkens back to days of past but with a slightly modern (smoother, less screechy, and better blended) technique. Longevity and projection are average on my skin: 4-6 hours. Probably good enough for much of a day at the office, whenever those might be again, with the ability to apply something else for the bar/date night after work if you gotta. I'd say it's definitely NOT a compliment getter for most men. My wife thought it smelled animalic and like a bathroom. If you've smelled the urine note in vintage Kouros, you can imagine a bit of that here, too. 7.75/10 for me. Just barely misses the 8.0 that I tend to draw as the "buy a bottle" line in the sand.

This is a gorgeous citrus oak moss and floral fragrance. I find it leans male. So the sample that my kind friend gave me is going to my husband. But it will be wonderful on him. The oak Moss here is of the highest quality. I'm surprised they got it past IFRA quite frankly. This fragrance smells Very natural. The floral notes are quite tame here You get a little bit of the champaca a little bit of the violet leaf a little bit of the Jasmine. I love the nutmeg in here It adds a nice spicy warmth. Very natural high quality materials here. I'm very impressed. Just upgraded it to a love. But it means male in my opinion. If you miss oak Moss this is a really good oak moss fragrance. This reminds me of like a masculine Mitsuko. But it's less earthy. And of course it lacks the dominant peach note. Personally I think this would be a good masculine counterpart to Hiram Greens Shangri-La.

A wonderful and unique chypre. It opens up with a beautiful citrus combination supported by floral notes that give the opening a slight bubblegum nuance.The opening is absolutely stunning overall and sets things up for the remainder of the journey. Almost immediately the earthy oakmoss becomes apparent and it is the oakmoss the remains the central theme of the fragrance as the top notes start to taper off.The drydown is slightly sweet with added woody elements and again the oakmoss shines through. Masterfully blended with good longevity and moderate projection, this one will be a hit.

To me this feels like a better version of Chypre du Nord, which feels too heavy handed and cloying. This one is just delightful. I think it's the only Bortnikoff I've smelled with a violet leaf note and it's a wonderful rendition of that note. It swirls between champaca and violet leaf, with the creamy oakmoss grounding it and the nutmeg giving it some warmth. The citruses in the opening are the usual grand Bortnikoff glittery fanfare, goes without saying really.

Opening is very nice but as the other reviewers have said, it’s all oak moss after that. Very flat. I regret buying a bottle. And it wasn’t cheap. I guess if u love oak moss, you’ll love this one. It’s not a love for me just a like. 6/10 Update: I let my bottle sit for a few years and it has gotten a bit better. More full bodied and stronger . I actually like it more now . Great for layering too.

I bought a sample of this from the Bortnikoff website. This makes it the 4th scent from the house I've tried - and this is my ranking thus far: 1. Chypre Du Nord 2. Musk Khabib 3. Moss Cologne 4. Musk Cologne It's great, but it feels like a milder version of Chypre Du Nord. It's not unique or different enough (like "Musk Khabib", which is more fruity and tropical). It's just an overall great Chypre, but Chypre Du Nord simply takes the moss and woods and dials them up. It's much less animalic than Musk Cologne, but the complete lack of musk also makes this more standard. There is something very soothing and calming about the moss + floral combination, evoking images in my mind of like an old Japanese hot spring - before a meditation or massage session. Despite sharing the Bortnikoff DNA - it feels very naturalistic - and doesn't have that opulent baroque western-castle or theater essence that Musk Khabib (or something like Diaghilev or Nuit No. 3 ) have. Extremely pleasant but not as intoxicating as Chypre Du Nord or Musk Khabib.

A citrus flash, followed by a deep pile carpet of moss. It smells like those luxury hotel public toilets, the ones with a uniformed consierge that attends to your every 'need'. No, I mean hand towels, a spritz of toilet water and shoe shine. Discrete and close to the skin, almost like a Body Shop kale after-sun cream would smell. Its a bit meh for me, I wouldnt criticise it but neither would I rave. I think it would be nice to layer if you want moss to be part of an otherwise likeable but 'missing something' bottle in your collection

Very expensive poison!, perhaps that's a little unfair, but once the nice citrus and florals evaporate, one is left with what's described as Oakmoss. I've never smelt an Oakmoss like it before, but this so called Oakmoss reminds me of the sweet, sickly pungent, yellow urinal blocks in public toilets. It's the last scent I'll ever buy from this house, natural it may be, artisan quality ... perhaps. I appreciate there are other florals within champaca and perhaps a dirty Jasmine which destroy the Oakmoss. Wearable ... just about.

This one is dope. Reminds me of Pour Monsieur with a bit more elegance, refinement, playfulness, and while staying true to its mossy chypre structure. Very modern, and smells of royalty. The price however, is a bit of a stretch. I’d love to own it, but tough call considering this is a scent profile that’s recognizable without any stretch of the imagination. You could be wearing Moss Cologne and someone would probably think it’s Eau Sauvage. Still one cannot deny the quality of the materials used here. This is a real beauty.

Do I want this? Yes. Smells wonderful... actually resembles, to me, a softer version of Amouage Memoir Man. Potential FB purchase, but not a must have.

A nicely blended floral woody chypre highlighted by the use of fresh natural ingredients including an overdose of real oakmoss. The perfume in the traditional chypre style opens with a flurry of citruses and slowly moves to a mostly floral middle accentuated by jasmine, champaca, ylang and violet leaf. The perfume settles on a heavy mossy powdery bed of oakmoss surrounded by cedar, vanilla, slight ambergris and tonka bean. Masculine leaning and very pleasing the scent has moderate to strong projection and good longevity. Pleasant and versatile. Enjoy!

OMG the citrus just dies within half an hour... after the lively citrus dies down, it's mossmossmoss ALL the way, which is great if that's what you're into, but for me, it's a little flat. moss and deep, depressing oceanic vastness, which is most likely the ambergris and bits and pieces of nutmeg and violet leaf. an interesting mix, truth be told, but it's NOT blowing me away...

I was not sure i was gonna like this or not, because allthough the oakmoss is truly wonderful, the florals/vanilla combo made it give off a grandma aroma. But it did grow on me and now i have a bottle. The oakmoss is among one of, if not the best oakmoss i've ever smelt and im not sure because it's all natural or not, but if you like oakmoss, you gotta try this.

Honestly, I'm disappointed, it's a very boring fragrance. After the opening, it's just Oakmoss. Get Mousse Illuminee, it's miles better.

7th Bortnikoff i have tried and i like none. Imo, he tries too hard. It either smells bad or is unbalanced.

Wonderful oakmoss. It opens warm-fluffy, sweet and gourmandy, like something out of a Grimm fairytale. Some woodiness like a sunny autumn forest. It is very inviting. After 30 minutes the opening subsides and the oakmoss becomes the main player, with supporting violet and nutmeg. It reminds me of grandma in the best way. Oakmoss has a distinct 70s feel and reminds people of my generation of grandma's perfume. This one does as well, only it is an ode to that style of chypre, modern and classic combined. Easy to appreciate but hard to wear for someone my age, as passersby will likely associate this with elderly people. Maybe the next generation can wear chypres like this one again. I will cherish my sample. In my opinion a deeply emotional scent. Very well blended. I don't get the mustiness some others comment on. Recommended to sample first though!

Beautiful blend that morphs and evolves, switching between masculine and feminine inclinations*. I can see this working well in sweltering heat. I don't find this blend to be controversial but that does not take away from its beauty. Starts off spicy, mossy, green and fresh - this part leans masculine. After a short while, the florals really start to bloom, with the champaca, ylang ylang and jasmine shining through brightly - this part leans feminine. *Here I am referrring to what is traditionally considered masculine and feminine in perfume history. This is not prescriptive.

I really admire this perfumer, I own Amber Cologne and I like several others in the line up. That said, Moss Cologne did not work for me. After the lovely fresh opening, the drydown turned to mold on my skin. The smell is akin to leaving your clothes in the washer and forgetting to put them in the dryer. The only way to get rid of the smell is to redo the laundry in super hot water. I guess the trouble note is real oakmoss. I just ordered a sample of Rogue's Mousse Illuminee. I’m still curious about oakmoss but this one is a pass though I’m not giving it a thumbs down.

Total disappointment. After buying Sir Winston and I didn't like him, I decided to go to Moss Cologne. I am a true lover of the note of oak moss, in this perfume I expected a dry hyper masculine. However, I received something similar to Sir Winston. A perfume with a floral base and a very, very loose performance. I would like to continue buying bottles of this brand but with these two disappointments, I am going to think about it a lot. Are you looking for the ultimate fragrance of oak moss? Go to Etruscan Water.

Wood cap version - This is a beautiful homage to vintage perfumery, a REAL chypre! Big oakmoss. No cloying fruit accord or over-sweetened with vanilla like Mitsouko, Do you want something modern and as close to Coty's Chypre as possible? Here it is. Beautiful blend, nothing apart form the rich base sticks out, its got attitude

Tuberose, oakmoss, sweet incense, yerba mate, orange, pomelo and almost a fuzzy-textured peach note. Fantastic opening on this one but if I recall correctly the drydown is almost pure oakmoss. Perhaps this new batch is different!