Erolfa

II spent my 10th Anniversary Trip with my wife in San Diego and had a list of scents I wanted to refresh my mind about. Erolfa was last on the list, but after smelling it on the card, I was incredibly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I kept the card with me as we continued to shop and loved the mid almost as much as the opening, so I went back and sprayed it into the inside of my elbow... A week later I purchased a bottle from a verified discounter (not that I don't think this is worth the price tag, it's just Creed prices and the grey market exists for a reason). The Batch Code is 20B01N and I've worn it 4 or 5 times since getting my bottle and while the opening is incredible, the mid on this batch isn't quite as good as what I experienced in the store, but what I am noticing is that as time wears on, the performance and scent has grown as it has macerated. The opening is this bright, lime-bergamot-over-lemon punch which is so beautifully satisfying that it is hard to describe. That punch is subtly punctuated by a sharp tone which is definitely the caraway, which provides a nice sort of "end" to the opening as it makes its jaunt through your olfactory system. While it's common to rag on Creed for any number of reasons, this scent is a perfect example of how great the house is at exquisitely layering the notes within their fragrances. The mid BEGINS with that caraway punctuation and then moves into notes (in this batch at least) of gingery nutmeg and pepper that transitions smoothly into a brief hint of jasmine if it were rubbed onto an ambergris stone in the base. This batch in particular goes very heavy on the muskiness of the ambergris, it's almost as if the ambergris they used for this batch was of the more "pungent" variety as you get A LOT of ambergris and musk. That muskiness eventually fades into a pleasant but too faint for my liking, bit of cedar. My only complaint about my batch (SO FAR -- and I will update this review if things change) is that despite being wonderfully layered, the scent moves through its layers VERY quickly, with the opening fading away around the 1-2 hour mark before blitzing through the mid to that very pungent and musky ambergris base, which is what lingers for hours 3-6. I'm getting about 7-8 hours of longevity out of it, and what I have noticed is that heat REALLY impacts the performance of this scent. While it's a great office/signature scent for the warmer months, the fragrance certainly can "revive" itself if you start sweating in the sun, which is something to keep in mind if you plan to be outdoors with it all day. You won't need as many sprays. For me it's a damn good, near perfect summer fragrance, but does not knock Millesime Imperial off of its perch, namely because of how much more citrusy the opening is, making it similar but still not quite comparable.

I had worn a sample of Erolfa previously and received some compliments from both men and women. I really enjoyed the freshness of it and the woody ambergris base that is prevalent in other fragrances from Creed like GIT, so I bought a 100ml for spring/summer. After the weather warmed up this past week, I decided to try this on. Here’s a few anecdotes and notes.. - I knew longevity would be an issue. I bought it anyway. - I first sprayed it once on the top of my hand prior to bedtime. My wife immediately made the comment that it smelled ‘like toilet cleaner’. (Note: EVERY fresh fragrance with citrus notes smells like that with her. This is nothing new.) Upon waking the next day, I sniffed where I sprayed and there was nothing. Not a trace. This concerned me. Erolfa is not cheap. - The first day that I wore it, I applied six sprays twice. I could not detect any scent bubble around me after 3.5 hours. - I wore it to work over the week. One of my coworkers, a woman, who always comments on what I am wearing said nothing. I never asked her what she thought of it. Another female that I work with who enjoys fragrance said that she could smell it and, after mentioning my wife’s previous comment, said that while it smells like I got out of the shower and that she liked it, she could see why my wife made the toilet cleaner comment. This seemed to be a diplomatic answer. With all this aside I can say that, even with the longevity and the sillage deficiencies, I really enjoy this. I’m 54 years-old and, after being suckered into making multiple unisex fragrance purchases which lean more feminine to me, I want more masculine, less sweetened fragrances. I don’t want to be a walking popsicle. Leather-based and deep animalics, though I enjoy them, will cause arguments in my house, so I must stick to woody and fresh. I find myself leaning more toward vintage fragrances, because to me, this is what men used to smell like. Call me old school! - I like the musk of the melon! Citrusy too! -I love the ambergris accord in the drydown. It’s manly. - A wee hint of pissiness, but again this is manly. -Cumin is there. Not jumping out, but just a hint of funk. -Sandalwood/soft musk/ salty ambergris are reminiscent of Green Irish Tweed. -Day and warm afternoon fragrance. - Work/home/ out and about Epilogue- Work was finished yesterday, so I headed to the store for a quick shop. I sprayed on Erolfa in the car, shopped, and then headed home. As I was unlocking the door and stepping through the threshold, our little dachshund Ellie surprised me, excitedly dashing in behind me from the yard to welcome me home. My wife followed suit. My wife said that the dog could smell me from around the corner and knew that I was home. And then she said, “You smell great! What are you wearing?” ;)

In a community full of people that act like pantomimes; trying to chase of what's the new "in" or "hot" thing right now, debating on what's the best oud & rose combo release of the month, or of them trying to excuse themselves of why they pay premium price tags ($300+) for "niche artisanal scents with luxurious raw materials" for products of the likes Anomalia, Le Labo or MARC ANTOINE BARROIS that mostly consists harsh aromachemicals, fantasy notes or basically 3-4 synthetic notes and promoting their product as "minimalist approach"; classic scent profiles such as Erolfa are basically fighting the establishment, and they are there to remind you that in the end of the day.. less is more, and that luxury is quiet. Erolfa is genius made by one. Pierre Bourdon tried to fuse his mastery of his revolutionary for the time aquatic style, with the dirty edge signature of his predecessor and master E. Roudnitska. The reference to Eau D'Hermès in this is clear but subtle, no wonder since Bourdon wanted to create an honorable homage to it since his first steps into being in Grasse's perfumery school. Before I say what I think about the scent I want to disclaim that yes; I am a bit biased and the reason is that Bourdon is my favorite perfumer. I've been collecting for more than 20 years.. way before the youtube/tiktok craze was even about to start.. I always remember that I never liked aquatics or marines.. looking back at my collection I may find 2 or 3 of them at best.. I always hated this specific scent profile with passion, and the reason is that I found them dull, repetitive & uninspired.. ADG, Miyake's L’eau d’Issey, CK one.. you name it.. in my mind I was better off not spraying anything on me than spraying something like that. The paradox of the matter is that since I bought Erolfa it's been my signature scent for 3 years now.. if anybody would have told me that I'd wear an aquatic as my signature I'd tell him that he's a mad man.. well here we are. The scent is alluring, spiking, nose tickling, aquatic, fresh & complex.. it grabs you from the nose and it makes you chase it.. it's one of those that you need a bottle for you to appreciate, because 2ml samples wont make you understand the greatness in this.. you need to live with it to truly understand it. misc info: since I liked it so much, I tried to get my hands on an old bottle (blue plastic cap, clear bottle), well the "big" difference is the ambergris.. but that's about it.. I can definitely say that the current formulation is great, and it doesn't have many things to be jealous of the old one.

Erolfa is one of the brand’s more iconic releases, overshadowed by more popular scents from this house that came out a couple of years later and took direct inspiration from this composition. The past is Green Irish Tweed, and future releases inspired by this fragrance include Silver Mountain Water and Millésime Impérial. There’s no way around it, so it wouldn’t be fair to place this composition anywhere besides in my Holy Grail section. TOP NOTES The opening is full of bright citruses such as lime, orange, and mandarin, including mild watermelon accord and herbal touches of rosemary and ozonic violet. These herbal aromas add a unique twist to the citrusy top notes, creating a refreshing and complex fragrance that cannot be said for many other scents from this house. HEART NOTES The transition to the middle stage becomes a semi-soapy and salty vibe with a more nuanced and aromatic experience. However, the heart notes state that there are many different variations of floral ingredients here. Honestly, I don’t detect them at all, which is weird. What I do detect when the initial burst starts to settle down is this aquatic/barbershop mix of ambergris, ginger, clean oakmoss, and a pinch of spicy black pepper. BASE NOTES A good dose of ambergris, creamy sandalwood, pencil-shaving cedar, and oakmoss stand out in the base. They anchor the scent’s brightness, allowing the fragrance to evolve from a breezy, aquatic citrus to a more grounded yet airy scent. White musk is an essential component in this context, serving as a fixative that binds all the other elements together. OVERALL This unexpected masterpiece from Creed proves the brand has more to offer than its most popular fragrances. The fact that I got it via swap for another fragrance(why I don’t have the box) doesn’t change my mind about it being one of the most refreshing experiences in recent years. Read the full review at scentgrail (.) com

This was the first Creed fragrance I fell in love with when trying Creeds out in a high end store in 2019. It was genuine love at first “sight”. I tried all the popular Creed:s but they didn’t scratch the itch like this one did. I bought three 100ml bottles immediately that day since the pricing was right ($260/bottle) and I’ve been wearing this wonderful fragrance regularly since and I’m half way through my 3rd bottle as of right now. In my current batch (19R01) the basil & bergamot are both extremely obvious in the very opening. While the lime comes a little later. I am loving the ambegris, gingery and bergamot pleasing dry down a lot. This batch lasts me a confident and comfortable 3 hours of good projection until it becomes a skin scent - the last two hours. 5h tot. I am however investing in a 120ml bottle from my birth year (2003) very soon. I have heard older batches are a lot greater in terms of both longevity and sillage. 10/10 summer fragrance and EASILY my favorite Creed. Absolutely gorgeous scent overall. A very much fitting outfit for Erolfa would be a long sleeve navy blue linen shirt, over a plain white t-shirt. Roll up your sleeves to just under your inner elbows. A nice watch - Omega Sea-Master (blue) or a Tudor BB58 (blue). A well fitting pair of beige chino shorts, a brown leather belt and a pair of brown leather loafers/navy blue trainers. (No show socks of course). No headwear or a beige fedora with a navy blue or white band - no in between. Eye wear - choose as you please. Definitely not a safe blind buy but you can definitely learn to enjoy this (like I did with Aventus. I literally gagged when I first smelled Aventus and now I find it wonderful).

Wow. This smells beautiful. Scents like this are what built Creed. I wish they would make more like this again. On one hand, it's a basic albeit well blended fragrance reminiscent of a high end soap, like Parfums de Marly Sedley. I am surprised I do not see tea leaves and eucalyptus in the note breakdown. There is that same tea note from imagination present here. On the other hand, to me, this is a masterpiece of olfactory art. Immediately, I have to say that Creed Erolfa smells to me like what I can only describe as "the uniquely-human bonds formed through shared experience and common ground, a sense of kinship and brotherhood, and love for the fellow human (in the John Lennon sort of way)" it just lends itself to projecting happy memories of those you love and of what is truly important in life onto it. It's so easy to wear too. Not challenging at all. It just smells good to almost everyone, even those who are not as artistically minded or those who do not understand the medium of perfumery as an outlet for artistic expression. Like I said, it really does objectively kind of just smell like a high end soap... But at least to me it is so much more than that It's very rare that I give a fragrance a perfect 10. I am going to give this a perfect 10, for me. YSL Y is a manufactured pop/r&b song on the top 50 hits list, then this is a soulful ballad written and sang by a singer songwriter that was created through pure passion, then eventually released. The kind that they may miss some lyrics with when performing live because of all of the emotion it brings up. This speaks to my soul in a way that only one other fragrance has, which would be Amouage Beach Hut Man.

I've been waiting a long while to review this fragrance. I went to Creed in Paris and dragged my family along. It is a chichi store where I certainly felt a little out of place. I was there to sample and potentially buy Aventus as I had never tried it before. The lady kindly walked me through the paces of trying nearly every Creed cologne available. I started with the ones everyone knows... Aventus, Green Irish Tweed, Silver Mountain Water, Milliseme, etc. I liked them, but I wasn't wowed by them. Finally, I tried Erolfa. It was very different than anything else. It was very much like a Mediterranean Trip through some ancient Roman port with shops lining the city. Citrus with the smell of the sea in the air. I loved it immediately. My daughter agreed and I purchased it. Erolfa performs better in the heat for sure. In the Spring air, it doesn't project at all. Turn up the temp to 85+ and all of a sudden you'll notice it. It is now my go to for warm days that are special. I think it was $225 Euros, but we got a percent back for tax, so that was substantially better than the $345 they charge in the US. On my skin it projects for about 2 hours and then is a skin scent. It last for about 6 hours on my skin. The clerk gave me 10 samples altogether so I felt like I got some value out of it. The one sample I didn't try in the store that I would consider purchasing was Vetiver Geranium. So different than anything out there. Erolfa is a blue scent, but has a little more character than most. Smell 5/5 Sillage 4/5 Longevity 3.5/5

Just a classy, clean and feel good scent made for the warmer days but, one can wear this year round as a signature scent without a single issue. Yes, it's ridiculously overpriced for a scent that stays close to the skin within 45 mins to an hour after spraying. But, the creation of this juice with the quality ingredients used in the melding of those natural components is simply superb. It's a scent/fragrance that one wears to please yourself and loved ones that get close to you. The ambergris, musks, citrus and soft woods coupled with the aquatic marine green notes provides a delicious and delicate scent journey that I've caught myself at times stopping and quickly turning around to breath in that wonderful trailing sweetness and light woods. If you like scents that scream or jump off of your skin announcing to the public around you that your here and presently accounted for, stop right here because EROLFA is definitely not for you. There are thousands upon thousands of fragrance attention grabbers available that will fill that need to be noticed and ultimately acknowledged for practically all of eternity. And if that's your thing, by all means go for it. Creed EROLFA is a genuine superb creation that exemplifies clean, understated yet confident and serene masculinity in every drop. It's majestic in how it translates sophistication and simplicity in one fell swoop. If heavily discounted my fellow frag heads, don't hesitate in acquiring this elixir. Supremely underrated fragrance from the house of Creed......

This is simply a masterpiece of a fragrance. Forget Millésime Imperial and try this stuff! It's the most beautiful fruity sea breeze i know! The first time i sprayed this scent, i was shocked as it smells a bit off-putting in the opening. I cannot name the off-putting note but it reminded me of a busy public restroom in an okay-ish way. However, after 20 minutes the fragrance evolves towards this elegant, somewhat fruity and slightly spicy Chypre. It makes you dream of chill day on a yacht wearing a funky shirt, sipping on some champagne. Unfortunately, the major downside is its longevity, which for me can't make it past the 3 hours mark. If you're just looking to discover new scents, i highly recommend to sample Erolfa, as everything is perfectly blended together! Personally, due to its weak performance and moderate sillage, a full bottle is not worth! I think every man from 25 up can wear this. It will provide a great confidence boost for the younger people and transform the more mature ones into rich and fun men. The scent works best during high heat, as i found it to project a lot more. In four words: "yacht, sea-breeze, fruity, salty"

This is a safe scent, very mild in a good way. I absolutely see the similarities with Millesime Imperial. At face value you wouldn't think of them being so similar but if you test them at the same time you'll notice their bases are nearly identical. MI has alot of fruity sweetness going on that you hardly notice this shared base, where as EROLFA has an initial burst of citrus that gives way to a very salty marine. MI also as some of that salty marine thing going on (another huge similarity) but it's downplayed in MI where as its the star of EROLFA. In fact it's pretty much what EROLFA is, it's very very prominent. MI and EROLFA are so obviously made by the same hand, though not twins they are brothers. And I can see how people don't like this one. Many oceanic/marine scents are to clean, synthetically so. The accord in EROLFA is a more realistic ocean essence, reminiscent of slightly dirty tidewater brine. Personally I find it extremely comforting. It's in my top 6 favorite Creeds and still more wearable than the strong majority of what's out there. As with all expensive fragrances sample first for safety. 8.2/10

To not have "marine" or "oceanic" listed as accords for EROLFA is an unpardonable sin. It's as if whoever put this accord list at the top of this Fragrantica page completely misinterpreted this scent. And the AI-generated "con": "Misinterpreted as a marine or aquatic fragrance by some", is just complete nonsense! Just go over to the Creed boutique site and read their description of EROLFA. By comparison, Millesime Imperial is similar to EROLFA, but with much less salty sea accord than EROLFA, and has "marine" and "salty" listed as the top two accords. And the "fresh" accord 3rd from the bottom? Nope. Would you say "powdery" is a more prominent accord than "fresh" in EROLFA? Of course not. The dominant and persistent accord, which according to one source is constructed with helional, lyral, hedione, dihydromercinol, and ambergris tincture 5%, does indeed conjure up sea spray from "sailing the open sea on a vintage wooden ship". The best marine/oceanic fragrance ever. This is not a chypre, even in structure. And performance for me is much better than the reviews suggest on here. But I spray on clothes.

This is my all time favourite fragrance. No doubt! And if you are a classic conservative/right-wing oriented masculine type of guy, you must give it a try. This is a super masculine scent, most it can be, but its also fresh, aquatic-ish and versatile. It opens very green with a aquatic twist - somehow, reminds me the feeling of laying in the grass. As the time goes by, Erolfa becomes less aquatic and turns into green/woodsy/floral. To my nose, green/herbal and oakmoss are the most evident notes, but i can also pick the lime, pine tree, ambergris and a floral twist (not sure which flowers). Absurd versatility. I wear Erolfa in the 40o celsius brazilian savanna dry weather, and also in cool humid 15o celsius. It never let me down. Living in Brazil, i can wear it all year around, but i'm not sure how it goes in the real european autumn and winter. Also, i don't like to wear it at night. As my favourite fragrance, i can't put it on a scale of 1 to 10. Its simply my all time favourite.

This is my favourite Creed along with Green Irish Tweed and fortunately it happens to be the only one I can buy samples of here in Italy for cheap along with Silver Mountain Water. I quite like Creed. It's not Amouage or Dior. It's not over the top, it's subtle. That's the point. I just read a negative review about Viking and I was like yeah all Creeds are kinda like that. If you don't get it you don't. I might prefer Amouage to Creed... maybe... But I definitely prefer Creed to stuff like Tom Ford. And Creed seems less overpriced to me than Tom Ford. This is the only creed that has pepper. So for me that's really cool. And I like that it's not very popular, it makes it unique. I would say this is Creed's version of a simple classic male cologne. Bergamot + pepper you know. It smells like creed more than anything so one can't really distinguish the scents and the Creed signature base notes stand out the most I would say.

I really like this one personally. I have fair complexion and the fresh and light scents tend to wear best on me. For casual summer outings or the office, its a safe marine scent. Part of the attraction could have been a familiarity I found in the scent that I didnt immediately place, but it hit me when I put it on the other day. This is Millisime Imperial without the fruity notes. Its as if Creed had Erolfa, added some watermelon and fruity elements, put it in a gold bottle rather than a clear bottle and rebranded it. Still like them both but the realization has diminished my love for Erolfa a bit as its lost some if its uniqueness. Be warned, this is NOT complex or challenging or anything revolutionary. It really is a linear and lacks depth, but sometimes the simple scents are the ones that stick. Smells calm, comfortable, like a lazy day strolling the marina.

Fragrance - Erolfa Creed Bottle from - 2015 He's got that yachting vibe going on. Erolfa is a bright,sparkling,aquatic,woody and fresh citrusy heaven with an astonishing touch of ambergris and melon enchanted with some kind of green magic. Longevity - 7/10(7+ hours) Silage/Projection - 8/10(moderate projection and silage for the first 2-3 hours,than sits closer to skin for the duration of the scent's evolution) Weather - best in spring,summer and early autumn. Versatility - 8/10 Age - 23+ Compliments - 7/10 Scent - 9/10 Main notes according to me - lime,ambergris,bergamot,melon,musk,pine,sandalwood,spices. The drydown is a sensual,woody,salty,musky and a bit spicy and I get some -ambergris,sandalwood,spices,cedar and musk. Emotions -yacht,calming,sailing,sea,deep,luxurious,ocean waves. Occasion -for more or less any ocasion. Try before you buy.

An absolutely stunning fragrance. I do enjoy and can somewhat understand the Creed Imperial comparison but it's only in the salty marine note. Erolfa to me is - along with Bois du Portugal and Green Irish Tweed - in my top three creeds and perhaps top five all time favourites. Longevity is decent, sillage less so. To me this is a fragrance you'd wear for yourself and only for yourself. It's not a compliment generator or room filling signature. It's just a perfectly blended and rather sadly underappreciated Creed. With that being said, the overall rating awarded to to this scent by my fellow fragrantica users show that this lesser known creed is of the highest quality. Luxurious masculine broiling sea scent. I can picture myself wearing this nautical masterpiece on the deck of my dayglow yellow pedalo as I expertly navigate the local pond.

The first thing I’ll say is if you don’t like ambergris you won’t like Erolfa. This is one of those mysterious fragrances that I’ve come to love because it’s just so complex and unusual. It smells like a salty ocean with a fresh fruitiness, but there’s another whole dimension to it that’s hard to put into words. I’ll admit that when I first smelled it I found it to be too strange and somewhat musty but there was something very enchanting about it that made me keep going back. Eventually I grew to love it and bought a full bottle with no regrets. It’s definitely not one to blind buy and requires a more experienced nose to appreciate, but well worth trying a sample of. With all that said, I do prefer Royal Water just slightly over Erolfa. The two definitely have some similarities.

Erolfa is one of the original “Aquatic” scents that is always passed the fuck over due to its dna profile that has been cloned to death since its release waaay the hell back in 92’! You get this clean fresh musky melony woody smell that is absolutely stunning. Nowadays this scent profile is in damn near everything you can think of: deodorants, body wash, clone fragrances, air fresheners, cleaning products etc. That being said, I personally love Erolfa and nothing comes even remotely close in terms of quality of smell, with the exception of its counter part, Millesime Imperial. If a comparison is to be made with M.I. and Erolfa, there are definitely similarities between the 2 but personally I feel Erolfa is the masculine version of M.I. Okay I’m done here bye bye now!

After wearing this for a few weeks here are my thoughts. The ambergris and lime mix really well together to create a somewhat creamier lime scent. I usually dislike citrus based fragrances because most citrus in perfumes smells a bit acrid to my nose, but the ambergris and citrus really blend well together on this one. This does smell somewhat animalic, but it's also sweet smelling and I find that it works really well for me in Texas summers, where everyone is already sweating already. As usual with Creed, the only complaints I have about this are the sillage and longevity. That being said, the more moderate sillage works better in hot Texas summers where you don't want to be smelling anything too strong except for fresh mint/green smells.

It’s a good summertime type scent. It’s a niche take on an expected smell. It won’t blow anyone away but you’ll smell presentable and non-offensive. I could see one wearing this year-round. It’s not evocative or polarizing. Simply smells good without being cheap. For me personally, it doesn’t have enough complexity or depth, and it’s just too much salt/marine for me, and I’d say that is my least favourite style of fragrance. Marines for me usually give me the sense that I want to sneeze or there is gravel going up my nose. Very pricey for poor performance as well. I’m sure for these two reasons alone you could find a cheaper alternative and dish out the money on Creed when it’s a ‘must have’. 5/10 from me.