Encounter Fresh

They nailed "interesting daytime" at a mass market price point right. Billowy citrus (à la Dior Homme Sport) that dries down to oud. Not a thick or deep fragrance, but a find for those who want to stand apart but meet all types throughout the day.

Pros: -Light scent, great for an office environment -Very fresh and works great during the hot summer months -Scent is very close to a Mojito and rum -Relatively inexpensive when you can find it on sale -Perfect all day wear -Nearly impossible to over-apply -Younger-mature cologne Cons: -Never lasts all day, maybe 3 hours at best -Sillage is very poor -Due to poor longevity, re-application will be frequent -Scent isn't very bold and won't stand out next to other stronger colognes -Limited to daytime and warm weather I like this cologne but its downfall is that you would have to keep carrying it around all day and reapplying it to keep it alive. The longevity dies almost instantly and the sillage isn't very good. Most CK colognes suffer from this exact issue so it wasn't all that surprising that it wouldn't stand the test of time. However this is a decent cologne for what you pay for on sale. It does smell good and is quite reminiscent of a rum mojito. I won't be buying this again though only because of the issues I have already pointed out. If it was stronger and had better sillage I would get it again but until then, it won't be something terribly missed from my collection.

This one is my summer favourite. Hard to get hold of. VERY citrusy in the opening, first 3 minutes. Mojito and some dry wood (resin free), more like oak. Not much sweetness, more of the dry kind. Fresh, fresh, fresh. A hint of vanilla in the mid notes. Clean. Reversed ramp effect; smells A LOT first hour, smells perfect for 1.5-2.5 more hours, and gets rather weak after that. A pity, when the smell's so nice! Holding a jar of cardamom, sniffing, comparing and searching for cardamom in this edt results in nothing. There is NOT cardamom in this. Cardamom is mentioned everywhere in reviews but I don't get where that idea comes from? Can it be lazyness and maybe just reading the manufacturers scent notes and copying? Or am I immune? If your skin gets warm, Encounter Fresh relieves a lot more and warmer/deeper/sweeter scents. The vanilla reveal itself a lot more when warmed up (without taking the overall fragrance towards a "sweet" smell fortunately).

I have to say that I was completely jazzed when I heard this was going to be released, especially given the fact that I'm a fan of the original, minus it's lack of longevity.. This was supposed to have been released in June of 2013, but didn't start appearing until September on eBay at a substantial discount ( I got my 3.4oz bottle brand new boxed for $38). I'm quite fond of the bright citrus top notes because the fact of the matter is that you cannot go wrong with bergamot. After it starts to dry down, you will start to smell the similarities it has with the original Encounter, minus the oud notes obviously. Not 100% clear on how others can't smell the similarities. I haven't had this long enough to comment on longevity, but if you've been in the game for any time at all, you know that summer citrus based scents don't last at all, so brace yourself for that very real possibility.

I received this on for my birthday. I got a 1oz bottle for $9.98 at Burlington Coat Factory. I was very impressed with this one. At first spray I get a sour citrus which I like very much. It doesn't last long on my skin, maybe 3 hours tops, but if I spray it on my shirt then this scent will last all day. I think I will pick up another bottle of this when this run is used up.