Open Road

Oh, how I long for the open road! Wayfarers on, the wind in my hair, and the sun just disappearing behind the horizon like it has somewhere else to be. What could be better than that? Oh yeah, smelling fantastic along the way! I don't know what's worse, a near perfect scent that only has the staying power of high school me, trying to make it around third base in the back seat of a Toyota Camry; or a perfectly mediocre scent that goes all day like some super-focused tantra guru trying to find enlightenment through what can only be described as aggressive self-loatheing. Coach Open Road flirts with both more often than the bad boy on whatever season of Big Brother you choose. One minute it’s all “hey babe, I'm not like all the others; hop in, let’s chase the sunset and reinvent ourselves” and the next it’s ghosting you harder than a college situationship who just “needed some space to focus on the band.” like you were the distraction! And listen, when Open Road is ON, it is eff'n on! That lemon/apple sparkle hits like the first sip of a gas‐station Sprite on a 103° Carolina afternoon. The sort of heat that makes walking across the street feel more like swimming through the air. Then the pepper jumps in like it’s trying to impress your dad. All "yes, sir" and "no, sir" and "of course I'll have her home by curfew, sir." You know the type. In comes the lavender and sage doing that whole “I’m clean but not boring, I promise” routine. And the woods in the base? They whisper sweet nothings like they have absolutely no intention of texting you tomorrow. Because then... then it pulls its little disappearing act! One minute its whispering in your ear that it cant believe this is finally happening, then it takes off like it has unresolved commitment issues. One moment I’m a windswept protagonist in a coming‐of‐age drama, and the next I’m sniffing my wrist like a coked-up raccoon trying to remember where it buried its emotional support Snickers bar! It’s not gone, exactly; more like it’s standing behind me breathing softly, hoping I’ll notice it without making a scene. And I do notice. Because I love it. I really do. I just wish it loved me back for more than four hours at a time. Coach Open Road is that friend who shows up late, looks incredible, buys the first round and tells the funniest story you’ve ever heard... and then Irish‐goodbyes before the appetizers arrive like a social Houdini! And you forgive 'em EVERY SINGLE TIME because the highs are JUST that good. But you also keep a backup friend on speed dial. One who takes reliability more seriously, but just can't pull off the same level of personality. Totally friend-zoned. Still... when it’s there, it’s sunshine‐on‐chrome, baby! It’s freedom‐in‐a‐bottle. It is the open road itself. And honestly... I’ll take fleeting greatness over eternal mediocrity any day. So spray it on, enjoy the ride; but maybe bring a travel atomizer like the emotionally prepared adult you pretend to be. You'll thank me later.

Thankfully Herault aka 'Mr Aventus' is firing on all cylinders and delivers the best mainstream fresh offering of the last few years. Looking at the notes this could be interchangeable with a dozen other things but the magic here is how it's put together and the resulting smell. First things first, the performance is not nuclear. This is an EDT and performs like one, it's on the subtle side in terms of projection & won't be detectable for a whole day. Now for the good stuff - off the top you get a sharp citrus mingling with a sweet take on the 'blue' accord we've smelled a million times. Within 20 seconds there's more of a fruityness coming through - it's juicy, delicious and has a candy like quality. The dominant fruit you get here is apple, specifically a juicy, red, tangy sort of red apple. Sounding familiar yet? Anyone who knows Herault knows his skill at creating these fruity accords specifically involving apple. The mid is built around this apple note that is at once juicy, sweet & tangy. It settles further to a woody base that is equally as well executed - smooth, creamy with a slightly dark, peppery edge. So to summarize - juicy red apple over creamy woods that settles to a woody/fruity accord with a slight soapy finish. Fantastic smell transcending any materials which would lump it in the 'blue' fragrance category. Herault takes a common enough theme and gives his own twist, ironically takes us right back to something we've smelled before and nobody has been able to replicate. If the droves of Aventus clones are anything to go by, the secret sauce isn't just those captive molecules but Herault's masterful execution of fruity accords that delight the masses.

Coach Open Road New 2022 coach frag. Opens fruity cirtusy from the lemon and red apple but I get the woodiness immediately in it also. It has this D&g K vibe but it definitely smells better, more mass Appealing. Actually it's a very nice scent as it develops. It also gives off a class blue designer/niche vibe along the lines of Bdc/Roja Elysium etc and the heart notes here give me some Sauvage vibes mainly because I'm so used to the Sichuan pepper and lavender. The perfumer is Jean-Christophe Hérault. Best know for his collab with Erwin Creed for Adventus and he's also the Spice Bomb Extreme creator. As the scent develops I'm getting Vetiver and the woodiness still there. I think it's gonna be rather unrated since I've heard nothing much about Open Road since it's 2022 release. Verdict: a very nice underated class designer/niche frag for the men

Opening feels very musky, the lavender, sage and apple are very prominent and then settles to a clean and approachable scent most would appreciate with the peppers, vetiver, cedar and parchouli coming out very pleasantly. This might smell very generic to some, but it truly feels like they did something that needed to be done for a long time for office scents. Most give too much of a note or another-fighting for dominance, making it a mess. This feels balanced and well thought out. Unisex, but leaning more masculine-and in the best way. Wish it lasted longer, but for the price and what this does, it’s quite right. I’ll probably buy another bottle. Scent: 8/10 Sillage: 4/10 Longevity: 5/10 Quality: 8/10 Value: 7/10 Would definitely recommend for anyone that doesn’t want to be loud, wants to smell clean, grown and put together.

This stuff is pretty incredible. Very masculine, airy, and fresh. I would say coach knocked it out of the park on this one. It was designed to go straight to discounters and for what it is, it is superb. Pretty much all the perfume outlet stores will have a tester of this. I strongly recommend trying it out. The strong pepper may be causing people to go nose blind. It doesn’t have insane performance but for about 6 hours it will lift into the air off the skin. Perfect to wear during the day and then change fragrances for night. Really impressed by this, good job coach. Aroma: 10/10 Projection: 7/10 Longevity: 7/10 Value: 10/10