Viking

Who tf is still saying it smells like old spice?? Old spice is an entirely different animal it’s sharp it’s spicy and a very classic fougere that though doesn’t necessarily smell expensive but holds its own place as one of the all time masculine classics which was surely used by grandfathers of many individuals reading this to pull women back in the day. Now coming to the review which ya’ll started reading for in the first place: the rather wrongly named Creed Viking. There’s nothing Viking about it by the way, nothing macho, none of that alpha male crap aventus got popular for(aventus ain’t bad but its popularity and reformulations ruined the magic). This one’s not a fougere either from what I could understand by my experience with countless fragrances including countless fougeres(one of my favourite genres is fougere btw). This is a rose perfume. One of the very few fragrances men can wear without smelling like they borrowed their whatever partner or sister or mom’s rose perfume or someone who bought a rose fragrance cuz they heard “perfumes are unisex”. This one genuinely smells like a masculine rose. The foundation is rose, and it uses just enough warm spices and citruses to make it feel deep, elegant manly, yet keep it a rose-first fragrance. The warm spices and citrus notes are borrowed from the idea of a fougere hence it’s completely understandable for many people to think it’s a fougere. All that “aristocratic” association maybe yeah it can be considered that way cuz it’s a good quality, well blended understated fragrance with depth and it doesn’t perform aggressively either which is actually good for such kinda compositions cuz otherwise they’d be headache inducing, for peak elegance any oud or incense or leather perfume may smell good if it performs aggressively, but when it comes to understated scent profiles such as this, a bit of softer performance is appreciated imho, and despite me almost always being disappointed with most creeds cuz they’re often a bit too weak, this one still performs decent (though not too strong, but still better than other Creed freshies/aromatics) which actually suits it. I can’t see myself liking this if this were beast mode or whatever. Also just a thought, for any oud-rose lover who specifically likes the rose sweetness paired with the oud providing depth which can at times be associated with masculine appeal, for example someone who loves LV ombre nomade, for such individuals Viking can be used as another rose fragrance if they want something lighter and easygoing. This thing works in all seasons, it’s light enough to be used in peak heat (where I’m from, the temperature here gets hot enough to let you fry an egg if you keep a pan in the open for a little while, I know many of you guys from all over the world who live in warmer regions might understand). Masculine leaning fragrance but can also be easily used by women for upscale occasions for a darker aura. It’s excellent, not a must have unless you’re a rose lover or collector with 30-40 or more fragrances. Blind buying not recommended, cuz even I blind bought this expecting something fougere but it turned out to be something very different though still decent. Test this first, both on skin and clothing, the development might be a bit different on both, sometimes the citrusy facets are a bit more prominent on skin. Edit: can’t believe how well it grew on me, it’s super versatile and words can’t explain how gorgeous it smells in the air, it’s inoffensive in the classiest and the poshest way possible. I’m genuinely delighted to have this. Ordered 2 more bottles considering how much i think i can see myself using this. Nothing too extraordinary or dramatic but the “ease of use” is genuinely impressive and this level of simplicity is honestly hard to achieve. Good job Creed. God bless

This one is more for the connoisseurs I think. A scent that I find exquisitely refined but with perhaps just enough of a touch for the everyday fella! Anyone who thinks this is generic or cheap smelling also thinks McDonald's is top grade cuisine and reality TV is the height of sophistication. 😳 It's all the things listed, Fragantica got this one right! There's elements of citrus freshness, aromatic spices, green notes and florals with a base of musky, woody lavender on my skin, and vetiver of course. One of the best ingredients when it has that slight astringent smokiness that delicately caresses your nose. 😆 The contrasting notes are just blended so masterfully, as you'd expect from any brand at this price point but especially Creed, no worries in that department! Although initially it's fresh spice and mint come on strong it eventually settles to not only those notes but a deeper mixture containing all the other essences and nuances. Once you know the Viking profile you'll always be instantly alerted to it's presence, for me there isn't another perfume that's close enough as yet, no matter how many have tried. There is no substitute for this one! Initially, on application it'll smoke out a room but in minutes it sits back and stays a little over my preferred arms length for 5-7 hours, gradually becoming intimate towards the latter stages. General opinion seems to agree this is a masculine scent, absolutely spot on I think but wear what you want. No one cares and if they do then that's their problem. Do what makes you happy 😊 and comfortable. Definitely for the older man in my minds eye, probably 30+ and with discerning taste. Having said that, if your relatively new to fragrance and just want one high quality scent that does it all, here you go! Certainly an all year scent, pepper, cloves, all spice, absinthe and more to cut through the chillier days while the citruses, rose and of course mint come alive in the heat. Cleverly done and just so effective. It's a classic for a reason! Wear this anywhere you like. It's got so much style and panache that it can't fail to get positive attention for all the right reasons. If anything it's too good to wear for menial chores or office duties! Enough performance for a full day or night.....just, but not both without a further top up. Viking creates an inviting, elegant personal hue with a stunning sillage that'll leave a trail of envy and admiration in your wake. As with most Creeds (definitely not Oud Zarian, and to a lesser extent Centaurus and Delphinus) it could always do with a bit more longevity and perhaps 5-10% more oomph. Especially for the price! But it's acceptable and nothing more. It's saving grace is quite simply it's beautiful, distinctive and easily recognisable high quality aroma. As it should be for any high end perfumery. I've owned this for several months but held back my review as I wanted to see if the rumours of maturation with Creed were true. I can confirm that this is the case for sure. Not massive improvement but still noticeable, not only all round performance but it feels less muddled than it was when purchased, smoother even. As always, money is an important consideration. Especially when it comes to luxury purchases. If you can comfortably afford Viking then I think the value is reasonable but only when discounted, never pay the RRP! However, if things are not quite that easy right now it's not that important. I'd wait until things are better and cash is a little more abundant. It'll still be around and isn't going anywhere. Truly wonderful as part of any collection and a brilliant fragrance for the man that wants a one and done. I think this fragrance is legendary.

My experience with this perfume was realizing how our big expectations and falling into hype can be a double-edged sword. I love how the blend is done expertly and how this composition successfully encapsulates the contrasts of a great workplace and night-out fragrance. It is one of those scents that should be sampled before buying since it does not possess compliment-getting qualities like Aventus. Since it is priced in the same way as better offerings from Creed, I realize why it became a lukewarm release and disappointed some fragrance enthusiasts. TOP NOTES The opening of this fragrance is just beautiful. This composition is classic and modern, ideal for more mature men. I adore this combination of citruses and powerful mint, which reminds me of that one in Acqua di Parma’s Club Colonia. It is a masculine blend that thankfully takes a step in another direction by ditching ambergris for something completely new, which was a bold move from the brand if we consider what came before it. HEART NOTES As soon as the heart notes start to kick in, the clove note starts to overtake the composition. I love cloves, which is evident in the fact that Frederic Malle’s Musc Ravageur is my favourite fragrance. Let this serve as a warning before you buy this product. It is not for everyone, and the clove blend here comes entirely naturally, just as if you were to open a new bag of this spice. For better or worse, the allspice mix gets even more intense in this stage, accompanied by the pepper in the opening. For me, this is great, but this is where Viking starts to remind me of Old Spice cologne, but it is on a much higher execution level. BASE NOTES Lavender dominates the base, along with white musk, woods, and residues of the more robust notes from the opening and middle stages. Even if I understand the inspiration behind this creation, including something like chocolate patchouli in a vein found in Jovoy’s Incident Diplomatique, it could have made this masterpiece. It just feels like something is missing in the base, and excluding ambergris from this composition was a great decision since it wouldn’t work here; there should have been more in the base. OVERALL THOUGHTS Does this one have the potential to become a classic in the future? Probably not in the broader aspect of things, and it is one of those products at risk of being discontinued in the future and getting a cult status in collectors circles. Nonetheless, it is good enough for me to keep it until I use the whole bottle, and it is a more exciting release than Original Santal. Read the full review at scentgrail.com

Once every blue moon, you encounter a fragrance that threatens to absolutely f**k up your entire collection. Creed Viking is one of those fragrances, and it has left much of the rest of my shelf collecting dust. If you like the modern barbershop fragrances such as Bvlgari Malakeos and Tom Ford Fougere d'Argent, but tire of their sharper synthetic accords and predictable convention, Viking may well be your next best discovery. Viking's top-note explosion of pink pepper and peppermint may sound like a screechy nightmare, but Creed executes it exquisitely here, eschewing the overt astringency that characterizes many a barbershop fragrance's opening. What follows is a fluffy, three-dimensional creaminess of lavender and iris, sweetened conservatively and accentuated with a well-calibrated assortment of spices -- certainly clove and allspice, and probably some star-anise too -- before drying down towards Creed's beautiful signature musky cedar base. Altogether, Viking's effect is that of an evolved, barbershop-adjacent masterpiece (I said it), sufficiently grounded in the fougere olfactory heritage to be intelligible, yet original enough to demand your sustained interest and appreciation. Yes, performance may leave a little more to be desired. I say that wearing two different batches from 2018, so aging doesn't necessarily fix the issue here. One way to compensate is by cutting against the grain and wearing this one in the summer heat. Viking's barbershop overtones obviously lend it well to spring and fall, but there's nothing screechy here that will undermine a heady and delightful summertime wear. Performance be damned, Viking earns a big love from me. I've had it for several weeks, and I still haven't been able to put it down. Until I can find another soft, fruit-forward batch of Spice and Wood, Viking stands as my favorite offering from Creed and a threat to dethrone one of my top-five favorites.

When I first smelled this, it legit smelled like spicy dirty water with a waxy floral film on top. Making it the second Creed fragrance that I strongly disliked. The first was Royal Oud (which I absolutely love now). Tried Viking again over a year later and it smelled amazing. This made me wonder if the bottle I sampled from had gone off. Or is this a case of batch variation. Because it did smell like rancid dirty wax water to me. But that has completely changed. I do get the Old Spice references but to call it a niche Old Spice is such an oversimplification. Viking is so much more complex, and high quality. With its own twist and turns giving it its overall distinct character and unique wearing experience. That citrus fresh, minty, spicy, floral, green, woodiness is just so good. And then the vetiver...yeah..I love it. Now that I think about it, it was probably the orris that I perceived as wax floating on dirty water. All super subjective, but in an odd way I think my initial impression of this fragrance as dirty waxy water actually fits the Viking name a lot more than how this fragrance is generally perceived. I still get hints of that but I have to search for it now, where as before it was just there immediately. Now it mainly smells to me, like a classic well put together man. In which case I believe (comparing my and others experiences) I've come to perceive it somewhat closer to how others do. In my experience I don't find Viking weak. Projection is good, I think appropriate for its profile and its pretty long lasting too. (Imo) It captures the classic gentleman vibe of yesteryear without feeling dated. As someone who appreciates that classic timeless aura I'm glad Viking exist. I think its a gem and it's risen high on my list.