Carlo Corinto Rouge

For all those people that are looking for a Davidoff Cool Water vintage replacement, look no further. Carlo Corinto Rouge is the answer that you have been seeking. As someone who has been wearing Davidoff Cool Water from the year that it came out way back in 1988, I can tell you that Carlo Corinto Rouge has almost exactly the same mid and base note aroma as vintage Cool Water. The top notes are not as close because Rouge is spicier than Cool Water. Some people may actually prefer the spiciness of the top notes though because they are fantastic. Hopefully this review will help someone that is searching for a vintage Cool Water replacement and wants the scent that they remember from the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s. Let me state that I personally don't have as big of problem with the reformulations of Davidoff Cool Water as most people seem to have. Yes, it is a little watered down, not quite as crisp as the vintage editions, doesn't project as much or last as long as the versions from 10 years or more ago. However, Cool Water still smells great after all these years and I have owned and used up at least 25 bottles since 1988. Davidoff Cool Water will always have a place on my cologne shelf because it brings back such excellent memories from my younger formative years.

I have more than 80 colognes, Ford, PDM, Roja,Chanel, Guerlain, Dior, Creed, Versace, Dolce, Armani, Calvin Klein,etc,etc, but none of them give me more compliments than this one, is fresh and delicious and for the price anybody should give it a try.

I used to wear this a lot in the early nineties. It is fresh masculine scent that used to get me a lot of compliments. Looking for a bottle now but cannot seem to find it.

I think this was launched before 1997. I used to wear it in the early nineties. My then girlfriend(now wife) used to love it on me. Need to find this again.😊

And it was not launched in 1997, I bought my first Carlo Corinto Rouge in 1992 so...

My bottle, apparently a newer edition, starts out with a literal stink--a word I use very rarely--like vegetation and a Styrofoam cup burning together in a fire. A few minutes later, it dies back to the bitterest, most noxious fresh cut foliage smell I've ever encountered. Listen, I like deep green-woody, frags, even bitterish ones, as long as something else is there to balance it out. Not this, because there is nothing else here. BHPC Rogue (green Polo knockoff) is better than thus. Yeah, I know. Perhaps this bottle spent years in someone's glove box and has gone bad, I'll never know but there's no way it was meant to smell so profoundly unfriendly. I refuse to believe that. Pee-yew.

Some time in the last year or two, I checked their website to see if this was still available to compare notes and found grapefruit to be the citrus listed. I found that odd since I don't recall grapefruit in the OG but also never really understood how Green Apple wound up listed in the scent profile. Bought a bottle in April 2025 from Amazon and wasn't impressed -- Grapefruit IS used in the clearly reformulated, more recent release (list from another site): Top Notes: Cypress Galbanum Grapefruit Heart Notes: Geranium Chamomile Cinnamon Base Notes: Musk Oakmoss Sandalwood Figured I'd let it sit for a while and come back to it, having worn it a few times around the house since I bought it, and wasn't all that impressed; Broke it out again last night (and again this morning) since it's pretty hot right now -- all I get is a slightly cloying, grapefruit heavy cleaning solution, a stark contrast from it's former self. ZERO improvement over the last year and the very definition of "meh". Despite the storied Italian heritage, this newer version is reminiscent of many of the ME frags I've bought, regretted and tend to avoid for similar reasons. Maybe that's just the nature of synthetic molecules in general and the nose working on it giving up before it's done/right -- At the end of the day, just another half-hearted clone. The newer formulation MIGHT be a subjectively better experience in cooler temps (currently high 80s-mid 90s), though I've worn it in cooler temps and kinda doubt-it -- If you're walking into this particular bottle blind, with no expectations, MAYBE you'll enjoy it... If you find an older formulation, by all means, buy it, it was and is pretty decent; Miles better than what it is today (likely why it's been removed from their site entirely): a vague, very out-of-focus representation of it's former self; Nothing more than the shape of a dark figure swimming in the heat of a mirage on the horizon. If you're wanting/expecting a hit of nostalgia and planning to pick up a [new] bottle, consider this a warning, the newer formulation should absolutely be avoided. It's just not there... Not even a little.

I bought this as a newbie and sold it off when I became super-sensitive to strong lavender notes. Now that my sensitivity is low and I saw a bottle at a good price, I thought I'd try it again. At first, you get some of the Cool Water characteristics: it's a bit sweet, the lavender is obvious, and there's some dihydromyrcenol (perhaps with other aroma chemicals used in CW that I don't know about). It gets a little powdery/musky but many of the notes are not obvious, as it is a tight blend, though I wouldn't call it a "blob," nor "sticky." I get a touch of apple, but where is the nutmeg and pepper? Actually, it has more of a rose-like quality than a spicy one! And don't expect any clear cedar or vanilla note either. If you find CW to be a muddled composition with irritating note clashes, but think you might like it if it were more focused and simpler, this might be one to try. Molto Smalto is in the same arena as this, but it's got a very noticeable sandalwood note (and is sweeter). Here, however, I don't get any strong note or accord beyond what you encounter initially. When it was around $10 per 100 ml it was certainly a good deal for those who want this sort of thing, but at current prices I'm not sure you can't do better with one of the many scents that might remind you of Cool Water. UPDATE: Second regular wearing and now I'm able to detect some cedar, which gives a slight tobacco impression (presumably due to the combination). This is why I think it's important to wear a scent a few times in the usual way if you think there is anything that you might like about it. Because of this cedar/tobacco quality, it's enjoyable to me, whereas Cool Water for men is not (that one has more of a generic, "woody/amber" element in the base. Note that the box I have has a list of ingredients that includes tree moss and oakmoss.

According to Carlo Corinto website the notes breakdown shown here on Fragrantica are wrong. Top notes are instead: grapefruit and cypress; middle notes are geranium, chamomile and cinnamon; base notes are sandalwood, oakmoss and musk.

Definitely getting Green irish tweed/ aspen vibes here

killer old school fresh fragrance!