British Sterling

The more fragrances I collect, the more I confirm for myself my initial impression of British Sterling. It's fantastic! BS is the king of drugstore colognes, IMO. Every time I wear it, it's character changes. Sometimes it's a spicy amber, sometimes it's a soapy barbershop, at other times it's a mossy herbal fougere. It's cheap smelling, it's elegant, it's working class and it's smells's better than it's price. It's a friggin chameleon. There are merits to both the current formulation and the vintage. The current has been "freshened up". The "herbal stank" of the oakmoss has been cleared away, not by choice. The current one smells, well, more current. The vintage has more depth and more longevity; albeit in a more retro way. The one complaint I would have about the splash is that the aftershave and the cologne are both cologne aftershaves, basically the same longevity. However, I think they smell different. The aftershave is more herbal, the cologne is more spicy and sweet. Together, they make a complete scent. I have noticed the same quality in Brut. The aftershave has more base notes and the cologne has the heart and the top notes. ***IMPORTANT UPDATE: I don't know why fragrance houses do this, but the splash cologne and spray versions are VERY DIFFERENT. This is true with Royal Copenhagen, Stetson and British Sterling. BS cologne spray is far stronger than even the vintage Speidel formulation. It has much more depth and stronger top notes and has a helluva lot more longevity. I would advise all of you who wear Sterling to get a 2.5 oz spray from ebay. I have two bottles that lack the silver plastic shoulder piece. It's almost eau de parfum stength. GET IT!!!

Grandad!!! This was him, rest his soul. He was the king of the drug store scents, he had them all: Stetson, Brut, Canoe, Old Spice, Aspen, English Leather, Aqua Velva, Skin Bracer, hahaah...but this I remember more than any of them, and if I remember correctly, this was pretty much grandad's signature choice. I'm so glad I ran across this! Man, this one gets me so nostalgic! I took sellersburg 's advice and bought me a spray bottle of this old-school gem. It should be here in a couple of days, I can't wait to re-live the memories of being fourteen and sneaking a splash or two of this from grandad's medicine cabinet before church, or just to take it out and smell it when the urge hit me; British Sterling always had this really hip, classy, and fairly mellow feel to it; it's one of those more subtle yet highly pleasant aromatics that has 'Gentleman' written all over it. The last time I got a whiff of this magic was about 20 years ago, and I'm sure that, due to the inevitable reformulation every now and then, this juice I'm getting soon probably won't be nearly as good as I remember it, but I do have high hopes! If you're reading this, and you've never smelt British Sterling, I implore you to at least get a 2 ml spray sample from ebay and treat yourself. There are even sample decants of this from vintage bottles online for under $10 if you look for them. You may think it's dated, but it's certainly timeless. Heck, you might be the hip dude to bring it back in style, you never know!

I feel like many of my reviews start out with "So I was at Kmart, Wal-Mart, CVS and was sniffing the frags..." (Hey Big Spender!) Anyways, I was at Kmart sniffing the frags and nothing that I didn't already have was tickling my fancy (mostly dreadful celebu-scents). I came to the British Sterling and someone opened the packaging (wasn't me...). BS is one I've been wanting to check out. Sprayed some...this is the kind of scent I really like in masculine scents. It might not be a fashionable scent but there's a group of men's scents, usually fougeres that smell like smoothness to me (I know, it sounds weird but it's the only way I can describe that smell) - Pinaud's Clubman, Brut, and Habit Rouge have that smooth note (does anyone know what that is? Please let me know.) I think it's either coumarin/tonka bean or benzoin or some combination thereof. I just love that scent and British Sterling has it too. I got a great big jug of it for like 10.00 with coupons. Longevity is very good. The teenaged check-out clerk (a boy) said I smelled terrific and I said - "that's the British Sterling, isn't it delicious?" He said he'd have to go get himself a bottle too! P.S. In case you haven't noticed Gents, the reviews from the Ladies are very positive - take heed!

Epic Journey Into the Bottled Yonder, 065 ------------------------------------------------------- Purchased July 2017 Amazing stuff. Don't know how something that smells like a cross between Fragonard Zizanie, Bogart, and Quorum/Polo yet actually is a cheap scent. You gotta get this smooth, creamy, lemonade/spicy green beast. Careful with the glass, it's fragile and I only know because my first attempted shipment of this was destroyed before it reached me. The bubble wrapping was good except for the bottle and to this day I still don't know how the hell that happened, was a reputable shop too. British Sterling is very much leather and earth. Edit: After 4 or 5 sprays the mids and/or bottom becomes cloying of oakmoss. Not necessarily "cheap" but very overpowering and just too much. Like the worst of the old days. Not everything was perfect back then but I think I've recently realised oakmoss isn't such a favourite as I thought, though perhaps I'm finally learning and maturing/refining my sense of smell as I go on with this brutally expensive hobby. Takes a whole lotta cash to make steps and leaps.

Here's a chestnut for Thanksgiving: good ole British Sterling, born in England and raised in...Rhode Island? Yep, this was actually produced for much of its life in Providence, RI by Speidel, and it graced the dresser (or bureau, as we say in New England) of many a working-class man. Sensible, delightful, British Sterling is simple and effective by design, front-loaded with citrus, spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon, and anchored with a mossy, ambery base. My Dad, a guitarist who played in traditional Irish folk groups all through my childhood, would often smell like this before he'd head out for a gig (he too had it as part of his repertoire). I get flashbacks of his Peavey amp, his cable knit sweaters, and his rollicking rendition of "Whiskey in the Jar." Whack fall the daddy-o, whack fall the daddy-o! Herein lies another example of the power of scent to transport us through time and connect us with the memories and the people dear to us.

Today I am wearing VINTAGE Speidel British Sterling. If you have forgotten how great this smells, let me remind you. I am old enough to remember when all the boys wore this scent and it was my introduction into men's colognes. It was practically mandatory for guys to have a bottle and everyone wore it. Because it was sooooooo goooood! No one cared that everyone smelled the same because we loved the fragrance and it was what we wanted to smell - just like we all wanted to drive Mustangs with the top down! Recently I sampled a bottle I saw in a store, and it is so different as to not be British Sterling. Disappointed, I then bought a vintage bottle on Ebay by the company that made it originally. It turned the radio back up in the convertible!

I bought a mini bottle last year as part of a Dana gift set for my fiancé. I have also "borrowed" British Sterling from him on occasion. This is indeed a "spicy, bitter citrus" type fragrance, with that "smooth" barbershop undertone that I find very appealing in men's fragrances. There is just a hint of leather and musk towards the drydown. I would describe this scent as rather sophisticated. British Sterling is not a powerhouse men's cologne, hence it is suitable for work when applied lightly, but is also good for evening with a heavier application. Longevity and sillage are on the low end of moderate.

I bought this on a lark when K-Mart was closing up their local store. The bottle was literally dusty and quite a bargain. This is a fragrance whose drydown will amaze you because it is nothing like the top notes. At first, it smells green and perfumey and old school. But, the drydown is warm and cinnamony and timeless in my opinion. It is also powdery as most classic fragrances tend to be, but I like powdery. I wonder how many guys have scrubbed this off within the first ten minutes without ever smelling its full development.

I'd say in the day when British Sterling was more popular it's other contenders (in price range) were Aspen and Iron by Coty.For people who wanted more dimension to their scent and just couldn't adapt to English Leather.Very woodsy in my opinion though don't confuse that perspective with juniper used for gin or pine-sol.Seems to be a blend of leather and musk behind while the spice trails in and out.Just my opinion but I'd rather be gifted with a bottle of British Sterling than Drakkar Noir.

I have bottles of the AS and EdT and use them both all year. I prefer the AS a little more because it is brighter and has an edge that the EdT doesn't have, also I have noticed that the AS has just as much if not a little more longevity than the EdT. I think both smell great and are worth having in your collection.

British Sterling A fragrance for the upscale man who still hordes cases of the cheapest grocery store beer and yells at the TV after knocking back 12 cans. He's got a good wife, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to steal a kiss from the lady in his office. He's a British Sterling man.

Very classy. I realized this reminds me VERY much of Dior's Eau Sauvage parfum, the dark green liquid. Very masculine with the spicy bitter citrus. There is a distinct cinnamon note that blends very well, in a spicy harmony.

As a young girl in my debutante days, I worked on what must have been one of the first department store ‘Men’s Counters’ ever created. It was a counter on the fringe of the women’s cosmetic department, and was supposed to appeal to men. We sold leather encased manicure sets, shoe polishing kits, and half a dozen men’s colognes, along with shave cremes and other cremes guaranteed to grow, or at least thicken hair. British Sterling was one of the ones that had been elevated to the counter from the pharmacy department. The stock consisted of British Sterling, Hermes’ Equipage, Canoe, Brut, Royal Copenhagen, and the just arriving and top selling Aramis. Old Spice, Hai Karate, and English Leather were left behind in the drug department (where they deservedly remain till this day). The next big splash in men’s cologne was Polo by Ralph Lauren. Men didn’t darken the counter and we sold all of our wares to their wives, sisters, mothers or girlfriends for every special occasion under the sun. At Christmas time I sold enough Brut to fill a swimming pool! Even as men’s cologne found it’s footing, I could never have imagined more than 100 versions of cologne in the entire world. It would have boggled my mind. I took the money from that job, went to university, and found a job that would keep me in every and any type of EDT and perfume I could possibly imagine for the rest of my life.

For years in stores I would spray some on myself thinking that it was classy somehow (I was subject to the marketing from my youth: "So fine a gift it's even sold in jewelry stores") and my wife would report, "I like it. It's okay." But no Mmmmmmmmmmmm from her like I got with Antaeus, Santos, Bel Ami or Tuscan Leather. So last year I got myself a little bottle of it at a colossal discount store in North Carolina off I-95; I may have paid $3! I'm wearing it today, as it turns out. karlovonamesti nails it: "A cheap, hollow forgettable fougere." Yeah, that's my opinion, too. I don't like it and I don't dislike it. Just sort of "meh." I have moved on. I suppose I might say that it represents a sort of absolute minimum of acceptability for a men's fragrance. Any lower than shalt I not go. (Actually - I can't see myself ever wearing this ever again. There are far too many better scents out there.)

Decanted my 17 ml EDC sample from 2016 into a spray bottle. I was genuinely surprised at how smooth and pleasant this scent is. Given the price point and inevitable reformulations, I had zero expectations. Color me impressed. Longevity is only a few hours. I think that is reasonable given the cost. The quality of the scent, already well described by prior reviewers, belies its price. This is barbershop, but to my nose it's not the dry and powdery-vanilla Canoe/Brut kind. It's "dry citrus" with a hint of tobacco-ey leather and spices; at once refreshing, masculine, and an antithesis to the ambroxan bombs currently in vogue. Sillage is moderate-plus while it lasts, important to be aware of with an assertive scent such as this. British Sterling is more than worth a try, whether someone is on a budget or not. It may be from the 60s, but has a lot more than just nostalgia going for it.

Sweet, green, spicy and aggressive, this has a lot of the old clean-cut professional-smelling aftershave air about it, which appealed to me for a while. I guess this is how straight-shooting businessmen were meant to smell around the office in simpler days gone by, and I'm sure many actually did. I could live without the anisy note in this stuff, as well as whatever is pepperminty; these together stopped me from fully liking BS in the end. The main caveat with this one is that it has a tiny nagging sour note that occasionally pokes its head out. I had a plastic bottle of BS once, and it got very sour over time from this, which probably wouldn't have happened with the 2nd (glass) bottle, but I always felt like it was on the verge of starting up again. It really doesn't need to be so darkly colored either, but at least it doesn't stain like Old Spice.

The original formula of British Sterling was subtle, classy, yet not overly formal, and it sill holds up today. I can't speak for any of the reformulations, but the original had a fresh lavender/citrus opening that included some floral notes (lilac?), transitioning into a spicy middle that undoubtedly includes carnation as well as clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. It is a sweet-spicy oriental in the mode of Zizanie, Old Spice or Evyan's The Baron (though I'll take British Sterling over the Baron any time!) Originally distributed by Speidel, the watchband maker, it was touted as "so fine a gift, it's sold in jewelry stores," and one could get a set of initials engraved onto the metal top of the bottle. It wasn't until years later that it was downmarketed to turn up in drugstores.

Light, bright, spicy, but I'm not sure when I'd wear it. It's not that it's bad, it certainly isn't, and as much as Giorgio For Men resembles it (since that classic arrived over 10 years later) there's something about British Sterling which, for me, just doesn't fit. I can only guess it's all the nutmeg. Btw, it layers very interestingly with Giorgio. It makes both mutate into something completely different from either alone, boosting the citruses, ambers, and the patchouli. EDIT: the above was in reference to recent British Sterling. Just obtained a sealed bottle of Speidel's version, and it is better.

British Stirling... ...it is one of those 60s colognes like Brut that are still around today....and for a good reason. They are genuinely good. They are no frills fragrances that don't offend anyone. After applying you notice a brief black licorice accord which is very pleasant ( if you like licorice that is) and no citrus at all. The scent turns into a warm, cozy and slightly soft powdery and spicy scent. It is very pleasant. It lasts for what can be expected from a cologne. If you splash some in your hand, rub them together and glide through your hair. That way the scent lasts longer.

I have recently gotten into colognes and dug up a bottle of this what I've had in the cabinet for probably 20+ years. Of all the nostalgia scents, this one is still fairly wearable. It starts with a light citrus, but, quickly melds into a spiced cedar and light leather and finally ends up with amber, oakmoss and spicy cinnamon. This certainly isn't for everyone and I understand the reformulation from Dana is quite cheap and horrible; however, the version I have is still quite decent. Yes, it is a fougere...but, that's what you'd expect from the era this came from.

It’s been years since I’ve smelled it but I still remember it. In ‘75 I was 5 years old in Phoenix, AZ. My uncle had just returned from one of his many and frequent trips to Mexico. He was wearing a white, wide collared polyester suit, big mutton chop sideburns, a sombrero with the dangly balls around the rim and British Sterling. I didn’t know the name at the time but many years later I smelled it on a stranger and had to ask. What does it smell like to me? The coolest GD uncle in the universe.

I always liked British Sterling but recently bought a splash bottle 'made in China' and surely watered down after 1 hour it's all gone even when I splash my face in large quantities.

barbershop, strong nutmeg, amber and oakmoss. not getting the lemon, and not much of the leather. kinda mid, older formulation was probably better 2019 splash bottle

Tested side by side, this shares a few characteristics of Bois du Portugal by Creed, though more aromatic whereas BdP leans oriental.

A little goes a long way. Man this stuff is still a powerful beast. It would fill a room if you splash too much on.

What can I say? It's a complete and utter gag fest. Cheap as hell too. Glad I smelled it first. Blehhhhhhhhh

As many of you probably have done, I've passed this scent in supermarket deodorant aisles and never gave it a second thought. Nobody I knew wore it, and I assumed it was some simplistic and harsh citrus/woody nasal irritant. The notes (which I didn't look up until very recently) suggest it is like Canoe, but I obtained some vintage Canoe perhaps a year ago, and while I thought it was natural smelling and of reasonable construction, it was simple and I thought I'd prefer others to it when I was in the mood for that sort of thing. Therefore, I assumed that British Sterling was worse than Canoe, not that I was going to seek out a sample of it in any case. A couple of weeks ago, I obtained a mini bottle of British Sterling as a "throw in." I think it's several years old but not what one might call "true vintage" (it's a Dana formulation). It's reasonably natural smelling but simple, with mediocre longevity at best. I read some reviews of it, however, and kept my eyes open for a reasonable price on a vintage formulation, which wasn't difficult to obtain at non-crazy prices (Speidel formulation). It was actually a Cologne and Aftershave set (I haven't tried the A/S yet). This formulation is rich in spices and possesses an ambery vanilla, with musk, light woods/leather, and a hint of citrus. For whatever reason, it has enough dynamism (unlike Canoe) to keep things enjoyable for hours! Longevity is also much better (than the Dana formulation). It's not too sweet and never goes into a "syrupy" direction, but instead it's a bit dry, though some might call it somewhat powdery (I wouldn't). If you want an idea of what it's like, I'd say Jaipur Homme is worth considering (I've only tried the EdP of that one). It may have been the "blueprint" for JH type scents, for all I know. For me the difference is that JH has a wood note/molecule that gets irritating after a while, whereas British Sterling has no "rough edges." Note that I do not consider this a fougere, as a few others apparently do; if there is a fougere accord it is very mild, but I don't think there is coumarin in here - if so it must be in tiny amounts. And if there is lavender present it is being overshadowed by the dominant notes. While I don't think much of the "drugstore cheapos," though some aren't terrible, this one (in vintage form) is really something special. However, it is certainly "mature" and some might even call it "grandpa." I'm only interested in the olfactory experience, and the combination of notes and/or construction here is great !

I have a newer, reformulated version by Dana from the early 2000's that takes the citrus out of the top and leaves it more reliant on the nutmeg, cinnamon and leather accords in the heart that vintage formulas transitioned into a bit later in the wear. You get an alcohol blast on the top that dissipates into a soft cedar with stronger doses of cinnamon and nutmeg with flashes of well-done leather. This stuff is warm spicy in a wintery way and a little creamy thanks to the nutmeg and amber. Projection is dramatically reduced and instead of getting a more interesting three-tiered evolution, here after a couple hours British Sterling develops into an oakmoss and ambery light musk dry-down with leftover reside of the cinnamon, nutmeg and hints of leather that hold until the end. Newer bottles are more synthetic than the vintage formula I sniffed from my grandfather's medicine cabinet. Something in the reformulation is missing (citrus and a deeper, more resounding leather accord) and projection here is very subdued even with two generous sprays. Karlovo is correct in his assertion the reformulation is "a cheap, hollow, forgettable fougere". There really is nothing interesting in the reformulation that warrants a wear beyond curiosity and nostalgia. It's nothing awful, but it's also not very inspiring and there are simply too many more interesting aromatic fougere scents on the market that warrant more attention. Longevity on my skin was 5-7 hours with moderate projection the first hour before dropping into a softer, skin scent. Very versatile as far as seasons and occasion, this one could easily be thrown on in fall, winter, spring and summer evenings though it isn't intriguing enough for formal or date wear. Best left for a rotation when nostalgia for the days of Liverpool/Manchester beat rock, the blues rock of the Stones, the Who and the folk rock of the Kinks, Dylan and the Byrds floats into the subconscious.

Forget the snobbery about Britush Sterling being s Dana fragrance. This is a lovely scent. I discovered British Sterling in my youth where it stood as my more sophisticated alternative to Brut which I believed at the time to be pretty hip and sexy. In a way it was kind of what Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme is for me today. British Sterling is the noble price of the classic drug store/barbershop fragrances. While retaining that classic, old school "barbershop" aroma this fragrance goes beyond that and serves up a very nice and complex olfactory experience offering a very pleasant mix of spice, leather, woods, lavender and sandalwood, some animalic notes and has a hint of citrus and musk. While not listed I detect lavender. The silliage is better than what I see reported above and the longevity is good. I haven't worn this in some time but it's nice while it won't be as much as a favorite as in the days of my youth I should be wearing it again it more regularly. An update: Since posting my review I aquired a bottle of "vintage" Speidel British Sterling. As is most often the case with many fragrances the vintage is vastly superior. While very similar in general the vintage is smoother and has a certain creaminess and depth to it. One also detects a more vivid citrus in the vintage fragrance which is both more gentle, lacking the very barbershopy harshness of the Dana but the Speidel is also stronger and has superior sillage. Still the Dana version is nice but is a step down from the vintage Speidel British Sterling.

Classic aftershave scent for a gentlemen used for generations by teen boys entering manhood and want to smell like dad. I can imagine the number of teen boys back in the 70's and 80's counting the few hairs on their chin while splashing on British Sterling. Ignore those claiming this classic manly juice smelling like an 'old man' or calling it 'dated.' In my opinion, it's timeless. Love it or hate it, British Sterling is forever embedded in the memories of men and women alike remembering dad splashing on this juice after a wet shave. Indeed, that's why these classic aftershaves still exist today despite being so-called dated. It's all about the memories. Nothing makes a scent more enjoyable than the memories they ignite. Every man should have in their fragrance collection British Sterling along with other legends Old Spice, Pierre Cardin, Brut, Tabac, Royal Copenhagen and Jovan Musk. These colognes have shared the lives of millions among us... and they all have a story to tell. Ahh, the memories.

British Sterling cologne, - A name suggestive not only of empire and tradition, but also high standards of purity and quality in any context. British Sterling was originally developed by the American watch company, Speidel, but the fragrance was later sold to Dana in the 1990s. It is a scent of mossy wood and nutmeg-led spiciness, with musky, leathery animalism underneath. Of course it is a cologne, so any heavy notes are actually rendered rather lightly. That roughly warm nutmeg note is British Sterling's greatest distinction, as nutmeg is much less commonly given a leading role in perfumery compared with such associated spices as cinnamon or cloves. Overall a pleasantly traditional men's scent, certainly worthy of sampling and wear.

I talking about original British Sterling, I was sold on this from the original ads with the ocean and the horse. Yes, incurable romantic. I bought this for my ex-husband (when still married) but he would never even try it. I used to work for three surgeons and one of the pharmaceutical reps knew I loved it so he wore it when he called on our office. To torment me, he would rub the handset of my phone all over his face before he left. Since my ex would not even try it, I always kept a small bottle just for me. While it smelled nothing like the "Canoe" of my teen years, to me it had the same kind of nice smell on guys - just clean with an underlying note of sexy, like I always considered Canoe and Royall Lyme.

As a girl, I would wear this at home. It reminds me of Canoe which reminds me of Ambush for her. Next time I see a mini at the 99cent store I'm grabbing one. Tacky, sweet, but yummy. Update: I found a miniature and body lotion. The lotion smells like it has anise or licorice. This is Chamade for him. The cologne is super soapy and powdery with spices. This will be good to spray on a potpourri. I so get the Van Cleef and Arpels comparison. This has the soap factor though. New update: I don't get the Canoe comparison of my past comment. Maybe difference in weather? Anyway, I tried this again and now I think of a vintage Cabochard perfume I had years ago. Probably the unisex one.

British Sterling isn't a bad fragrance, but it's not too good either. I have a hard time believing the rave reviews that some people are giving it here. It just smells like a bland nutmeg-driven aftershave. The nutmeg note is fairly strong, but nothing else about it really grabs my attention. It smells like old, stale nutmeg on top of a bland amorphous blob of aftershave smell, and the scent doesn't really go anywhere. There are so many other inexpensive drugstore colognes that smell a lot better than this.

This is not a fougere, at least by the notes. Spicy Oriental, like classic Old Spice, is a much better classification for British Sterling. Just got the bottle in the mail. Splash not spray. Item description said spray, I made sure of that. Oh well, I'll decant and spray. First impression sniffing out of the bottle: halfway between Pinaud Clubman (or maybe even Pinaud Bay Rum) and classic Old Spice. Nice sweet spicy Oriental. Also similar to Tee Time by Anucci. I like it. Old school 60's cologne smell.

british sterling cologne found a old splash bottle from the 70's and i think its very 70's they would engrave the old bottles for you like your name on it . i can smell some wood notes oakmoss nutmeg . not that harsh reminds me a lil tiny bit of channel for men cologne the vintage one from the 60's 70's kinda in the same group as stetson or wild country

A cheap, hollow, forgettable fougere, saved only by a relatively decent citrus/nutmeg accord that dries into a bland woody musk. You could do worse for ten dollars, but with things like Cool Water, Aspen, and Grey Flannel around, you could do a hell of a lot better also.

Wow!the person below me Kajira Suzanne nailed this one.. Take paco rabanne pour homme.. Add a touch of citrus ( lime?) in the top. Smooth out the soap abd add some leather.. Its a nice frag . longevity is poor but im using the dollar store version

I'm afraid to sing it's praises because it's so cheap. Even the vintage bottles are dirt dirt cheap! It's similar to Georgio for men. If you like that you'll like this. Clean masculine old school slightly sweet

I tried this one on a lark and ended up really liking it. It's a green, mossy, "old school" fougere type, with prominent nutmeg to be sure. I find it classy, comforting, and pretty long-lasting, too.

I use this aftershave all the time. It is strong enough, and smell good enough to be a going to the store, going for a walk, or around the house scent. 7/10