Brioni Eau de Parfum Intense

Today's fragrance marks my formal introduction to the House of Brioni with their Eau de Parfum Intense, released in 2021. This fragrance has rapidly ascended in status, frequently cited as one of the most hyped and sought-after releases in the Brioni catalog. However, that reputation is paired with a growing sense of urgency; the fragrance has been discontinued, making it increasingly difficult to track down for those who didn't secure a bottle early. If the original EDP was the olfactory equivalent of a perfectly tailored grey suit for the office, the Intense version is the black tuxedo intended for the gala. It aims to maintain the house's reputation for understated elegance while introducing a more mysterious, nocturnal edge. The composition swaps the ozonic violet of the original for a richer, more textural landscape of Oud, Saffron, and Vanilla. It will be interesting to see if this iteration can provide the technical performance and "grit" that often eludes lighter Italian compositions. Let’s see if this formal departure has the substance to claim a permanent spot in my rotation, or if it remains a beautiful but fleeting accessory. Opening: The opening is fruity, citrusy, and woody. The primary notes I get are green apple, Italian tangerine, oud, and vanilla, with the green apple and tangerine leading the composition. The green apple is the first note to hit the nose, presenting as a juicy, sweet, and tart accord that walks a fine line between natural and synthetic. While it doesn't quite reach a photo-realistic level, it also avoids the pitfalls of smelling like candy or artificial flavoring. The Italian tangerine joins in shortly after, amplifying the juicy fruitiness while shifting the emphasis toward brightness and tartness. When blended with the green apple, these two notes create an almost mouth-puckering fruity accord that feels refreshing and illuminating. Underneath this bright introduction, the oud manifests as an earthy, dusty, and dark woodiness. It avoids any animalic or challenging facets, remaining a westernized and broadly appealing take on the note, reminiscent of the oud in Tom Ford’s Oud Wood but even safer. Lastly, the vanilla rounds out the opening with a gentle layer of sweet creaminess in the background, accompanied by whispers of soft, warm saffron spice that remains a subtle afterthought compared to the dominant fruit and wood. Dry Down: The dry down is woody, earthy, and spicy. The primary notes I get are oud, patchouli, saffron, and green apple, with the oud and patchouli leading the composition. The oud has taken the lead in the dry down with a larger dose of the dark, earthy woodiness. At this stage, it is much closer to the oud from Oud Wood, mirroring that dark and moody yet still broadly appealing accord. Meanwhile, the patchouli has emerged to join the oud, imparting more earthiness but with a damp and slightly green undertone to set it apart. The saffron has also gained in strength to provide a noticeably stronger warm spiciness that I only caught hints of in the opening. Lastly, the green apple has moved into the background. It is still there, and I can still pick out the sweet and tart fruitiness of it, but it is buried underneath the oud, patchouli, and saffron. Likewise, the vanilla is also still present, but it too has taken a step back in intensity from where it was in the opening. The result is a dry down that feels sophisticated and masculine, trading the initial radiance for a grounded, tailored depth. Performance: The initial projection within the first hour is strong, reaching out at least six feet with a powerful sillage that leaves a bright but dense scent trail in your wake. This commanding presence remains remarkably consistent for the first three to four hours, maintaining its volume without any noticeable drop off. While the scent trail begins to lighten slightly during this mid phase, it remains easily noticeable to those around you. As the fragrance reaches the seven to eight hour mark, the projection finally settles down to about arm's length, with the scent trail holding on faintly before the fragrance fully transitions into a skin scent around the same time. This marks a solid and reliable performance for a formal designer composition, especially one with such a refined profile. When to Wear: Brioni EDP Intense is a quintessential fall and winter fragrance that transitions with remarkable ease between daytime and evening wear. The bright and illuminating opening of green apple and tangerine provides enough lift to make it appropriate for a crisp afternoon, whereas the transition into the dark and woody dry down makes it a perfect choice for evening environments. It carries the necessary weight and presence for special occasions like date nights and anniversaries, yet it remains sophisticated and buttoned up enough to excel in formal settings. However, the fragrance feels far too intentional and atmospheric to work as a casual reach, and I would still avoid picking it for office wear. Despite the oud being a mild and westernized version of the note, it remains the central pillar of the composition, providing a level of gravity and depth that feels better suited for a private evening or a formal event than a shared workspace. Blind Buy: Sampling is always the safest bet, especially with a fragrance that has been discontinued and is becoming harder to secure. That being said, if you have an affinity for refined, woody compositions in the style of Oud Wood or the spicy fruitiness of Habdan by Parfums de Marly, Brioni EDP Intense could be a safe blind buy for you. It essentially takes that sophisticated niche DNA and translates it into a more designer oriented and mass appealing profile. While the presence of oud might give some pause, the implementation here is so smooth and westernized that it avoids the polarizing or animalic qualities often found in the genre. If you are comfortable with a fragrance that trades typical blue freshness for a darker, fruity, and resinous depth, this represents a relatively low risk entry into a more elevated style of perfumery. It is a rare case where the "intense" moniker actually delivers on a more interesting and high quality experience without sacrificing the wearability that makes a blind buy successful. Final Verdict: Brioni Eau de Parfum Intense was not quite what I expected it to be, and that ultimately ended up being a significant positive. The transformation from a bright and illuminating fruity opening into a dark and grounded woody dry down provides a surprisingly dynamic journey that keeps the wearer engaged as the scent matures on the skin. While the general profile is one I have encountered before, the execution here feels notably more polished and complete than many of its contemporaries. In fact, I found myself preferring this composition over Oud Wood, as the Brioni manages to resolve the subpar performance issues that frequently plague that particular scent. It offers a very similar level of olfactory sophistication but delivers a more interesting opening and significantly improved technical performance, making it feel like a more substantial value despite the price point. While it may not reach the "nuclear" levels of a specialized gourmand, it provides exactly the kind of reliable and refined presence one expects from a high end house. I can easily see myself adding this to my personal collection, both as a prized collector piece now that it is discontinued and as a highly effective fragrance that I can reach for whenever an occasion demands a touch of tailored mystery. Scent: 9/10 Longevity: 7/10 Sillage: 9/10 Versatility: Average Compliment Factor: Average Gender: Masculine Value: Good

Cool. With a capital "C". This is a review I've been wanting to write for a while because Brioni EDP Intense is one of my top five ever. Big words from a guy who has a collection of close to 100 bottles with another 150+ samples in a box and is as hopelessly in love with fragrance as I am. Sometimes when you write effuse, slightly hyperbolic reviews, people switch off as it seems over the top and a bit hysterical. So I hope you'll bear with me while I explain why I rate this fragrance to such an exalted level. It is just Cool. With a capital "C". Italian formalwear designer Brioni are the sort of house you wear when you have serious money but don't need everyone to know it. They do timeless Italian tailored style across the smart/casual bracket just effortlessly. If you have EUR1,000 to spend on a polo shirt, or EUR15,000 to spend on an off the peg suit you can't/won't wear to work, Brioni are the guys and girls to go see. Think suede jackets with smart polos and fitted chino trousers and very fine jackets and shirts to wear with dark fitted jeans and loafers. Fashion that isn't slaved to transient trends, clutching close like a talisman the belief that true style never goes out of fashion. Peerless refinement. Cool. With a capital "C". Brioni's trademark style is very specific and so any perfumery designed to complement it needs to fit the same bill. It needs to be extremely high quality. It needs to speak with authority without crass shouting. It needs to embrace its hyper-stylish Italian roots but be accessible. It needs have enough niche complexity to be interesting but not so much that it becomes complicated and distracting to wear. It needs to have really solid performance. Above all, it needs to not be mass market, but be something pretty much everyone loves. Cool. With a capital "C". If you are a perfumer, this isn't an easy brief at all. Think of how crowded the high end designer space is, and the heavyweights that dominate there. It is a tough sector to do well in. So.. Michel Almairac and the wonderful Karine Vinchon Spehner collaborated with Lalique to bring us a series of five quite understated-looking bottles that are, in my opinion (and I believe others may agree) amongst the very finest and most underrated designers ever released. Brioni EDP Intense is perhaps the best of this group and is pretty much flawless. If we believe that fine perfumery should measure to the brief, appeal to us at least as much as those around us, have enough to keep our interest when we wear it, be true to our own stylistic idea but also have this X factor, a je n'est ce quois, that you cannot describe, Brioni EDP Intense delivers. It is a modern classic, Italian style cologne in that timeless style that echoes the Brioni aesthetic but in a strong, contemporary EDP concentration that has serious performance. The opening is a very finely blended mix of mandarin and bergamot with some pink pepper for added complexity. It is done in such a way that no specific accord dominates and they all work very precisely together. The apple in the heart is lovely and fresh and blended so well with the saffron and rich patchouli, again so that no one accord juts out. The base feels like sandalwood but I was surprised to see oud in this. Once again we see the power and sour of the oud tempered and sweetened by some vanilla and polished like a gemstone with one of the best-judged uses of Ambroxin I've ever seen. All together it is quite magnificently well done. It is cut like a Brioni jacket. It smells **incredible**. I love how this smells on me. I can't stop smelling myself, it is so addictive. The opening is masculine, confident and refined. The drydown is just, for want of a better adjective, cool. With a capital "C". This retails around US$100/bottle but I'd buy without a second's hesitation even it if it was Louis Vuitton kind of money. It absolutely is that level of quality. When you wear this it has this wonderful feel to it. I've always thought the best kind of perfumery is more about how it feels than how it smells and that is so true in this case. All my favourite fragrances do that for me. They make me feel something, or feel something about myself. There is the most delicious kind of (very unfamiliar and uncharacteristic) arrogance about wearing Brioni EDP Intense that I also enjoy (differently) in Ombre Nomade and Oud Excelsa by Caron. The surety of oneself; knowing beyond any doubt whatsoever that I am the best smelling person in the room and not caring in the slightest at the same time. For someone who has struggled with weight, depression and self worth issues his whole life, who walks into a room convinced everyone despises him just as much as he despises himself and that he deserves nothing good from his life no matter how hard he works or how much he gives, fine fragrance has been transformational for me. Most fragrances I own are just smells I like that I enjoy wearing. A treasured few go way beyond that. I've touched on this few times in my reviews of fragrances that are most dear to me. But very few have affected me to the level this one does. One of my favourite ever movie quotes is from a movie I very much enjoyed from the 90s starring the incomparable Jack Nicholson, called As Good As It Gets. His character tells Helen Hunt's character: "You make me want to be a better man." Cheesy though this may sound, Brioni EDP Intense makes me want to be a better man. And it makes me believe that I can be. Three Word Summary: Bottled Italian Perfection Scent - 10/10 Sillage - 8/10 Drydown - 8/10 Bottle/packaging - 7/10 Performance - 8/10 41/50

This is really good, really unique, and stands out from the massive amount of fragrances out there. I haven't written a review in a while, and this fragrance is that good that I decided to log in and write one. I liked the OG Brioni EDP, but it was just a nice violet frag that didn't last very long or project too much. This is a whole different fragrance than the OG. The apple and oud mix in this is so appealing and unique to me. It reads like a designer but smells niche for sure, I can definitely see where the guy who said this is like a Parfums de Marly fragrance is coming from in a review written before mine. I couldn't see this sitting out as a tester at Macy's or Sephora for general public consumption, but it is absolutely mass appealing and I think that most people would think you smelled good if you wore this fragrance. The apple note is so nice, its so fresh, sweet, and tart- it smells so fantastic upon first spray, its like a fresh burst of green, crisp apple upon the opening with the citruses. It's not a juvenile apple shampoo kind of apple, it just.. works here. It's hard to explain, you would need to smell it. Brioni EDP Intense doesn't have any challenging notes, even with the inclusion of oud. I think oud has become a catchall term for an "exotic wood smell" (quoted from my friend Mark) and I do believe he is right. The modern/Western "cologne oud" is an accord that shows up in most designer oud fragrances and it basically smells the same every time it comes up. It is not "skanky" as oud can be in some fragrances. It is just a clean, woody, almost leathery oud. It's really wearable, but still very very unique because of this note, I would say. Patchouli combines with the oud to give this fragrance a distinctly masculine feel. I can't nail every note in this, but it's just a smooth, woody apple fragrance that has a fresh/fruit vibe paired with a masculine woody base. It's very very unique as I keep saying in this review. If I had to relate it to anything, I would say it initially reminded me of Guerlain L'homme Ideal Extreme, but as I've worn this more I realize that it stands on its own. It has the "vibe" of L'homme Ideal Extreme, with a sweet smooth masculine fragrance, but there is no tobacco in this and no almond, so it is different. This is just reminiscent of that fragrance to me, I guess because our brain is always trying seek out something to establish a sense of familiarity when presented with something unique, like Brioni EDP. Longevity isn't the best, projection isn't massive, but this is a super refined, niche quality scent at a somewhat affordable price, depending on who you are asking and what discounter you are looking at. It has a nice bottle, it looks sleek, and smells wonderful. If I had to choose an age range I would say 30 and up but its definitely mass appealing. Just don't know if the younger crowd would wanna smell like this. Fantastic scent from Brioni. Extremely well done all around. No complaints, not even with longevity, bring a decant because it doesn't get cloying. Its really well put together as a scent. More of a night time, cooler weather vibe. Night out/date night, but could work in spring. People will like how you smell, this is worth the money, but sample first.. always. EDIT: After wearing this more, I take it back- it has better longevity than I thought and can fill a room projection wise after application for an hour or two... after that it tones down. Maybe I go anosmic to it eventually, but this stuff lasts.

Wow. This fragrance release reminds me of the 80’s designer releases when design houses put huge resources and creative energy into a new fragrance. They were not trying to sell a million bottles of meh fragrance; they were putting thier creative brand into a bottle for the world to judge. That’s what Brioni EDP intense is all about...this is a designer masterpiece and it represents a premium design house. I agree with others that this feels like a PDM release; the bottle quality, the branding, the quality of the ingredients and the expert blending all line up as a PDM fragrance. A brioni merino sweaters sells for about 395.00 so they don’t need your money, they simply want their brand in a bottle. Bright, sharp and intense apple on the opening and a good blast of saffron to give it an earthy edge and then a heavenly dry down that rests on a base note of synthetic oud. I absolutely love this fragrance. Best designer release in many years. My new signature scent. Edit: i own 30 ish fragrances and I wear this one at least five days a week in any weather. It’s brighter and more balanced than you think for this profile. It was 85 and muggy here yesterday and I wore it all day without issue. In fact, five hours after I sprayed it on I went to pick up Mexican food and the woman at the counter said, “ok...I just have to say it...you smell incredible, like in the best possible way a man can smell.” I told her the name and she ordered for her boyfriend on the spot. This fragrance just works for me.

This perfume, I think for me, has been one of the biggest surprises of the year... Here's why First off I'm not a big fan of Oud - they veer a bit too much to middle eastern territory. I did try - a look at my perfume collection shows quite a few Ouds I own. I can appreciate the art of a well-crafted Oud fragrance but it's more been a discovery over time of Not-For-Me. Second, I'm not a big fan of the apple note. Nobile 1942's Shamal scarred me a bit on that and while I think Boss Bottled Intense EDP is nice, I personally was never moved by it. Then this comes along. And wow - it was so unexpectedly brilliant. The sweet tart green apple mixed with a not too dense vanilla adds a really nice fresh touch up top to the Oud and the Oud and vanilla in reverse adds such depth and slight smokiness to what could otherwise become a shallow fruity note. To be honest, it seems like all the other notes stick around this core and round everything out so nicely. The really cool part about this fragrance is that it's also so true to brand - if you're a designer, a consistent ethos would mean I can wear your fragrance while wearing your clothes. On the refined end of the spectrum, Brioni has probably done it in one of the best ways possible: you'd imagine a rich distinguished gentleman in a Brioni suit wearing this and inspire awe. This was love at first sniff - a designer fragrance that restores my faith that good perfumery still has a place on that side of the perfume world. 9/10