Rocabar

Every time I wear this fragrance I feel deep emotions. So I suspect, I believe to be in front of an immense artwork. Then forgive me. I usually hate reading long reviews, but this wonderful creature, perhaps not fully understood by everyone, deserves that. I believe that sometimes, where you are in front to The Perfection, you are not able to recognize it, and you maybe give to it a medium, or at least medium-hight, opinion about. It's like to watch one of those great actors who plays so naturally that you've the impression to see talking your house's neighbor, while you’re probably waiting monstrous facial expressions or big dramatic voices, and you don't understand how is difficult to be so smooth in front of a camera or on the stage, and that you don’t have to exaggerate anything to be a perfect performer. Now translate it in Perfumology. I do not feel like saying that we are facing a classic, also because to be sincere when we say classic in a variable part (+ -) we are saying the scent has some aspect vintage, daddy, or dated. Even though in some ways Rocabar do remember a classic, but in the sense of an eternal presence of men without temporal demarcations. A calm, sweet but firm peaceful masculinity, the essence of a wise young man, yes I see more a young man wearing this scent, facing the adult side of his life for the first time with a wise soul inside. I find Rocabar subtly original, without be totally outside the box (we could perhaps say this fragrance has been created from one of those niche houses that want to afford a classic composition giving obviously a distinguish side), a bit unusual and at the same time: familiar. Extremely Natural (practically bio) and embracing. Yes, wearing this fragrance gives you the impression to be constantly protected with the embrace of an older brother. Like many others say, this is a masterpiece in balance and is masterly blended. It’s fire & ice, without screams, conflicts, extremities. It is a candlefire & a glass of fresh water. A fragrance that never fails. Sometimes if I put a perfume in the morning then after the evening shower, I do not feel to wear the same perfume to go out because I had enough, but this is not happen to me with Rocabar. I do not think you can classify as balsamic fragrance or forest, personally, and like other opinions below show, you hear no pine or cypress in its raw form. It seems that these conifers have been sealed in the benzoin like a fly into prehistoric amber stone, and then become inseparable. Indeed, if I had to describe jus without knowing the notes that compose it I speak of oily nuts, delicate fruits and leaves of citrus, mostly oranges, and perhaps a pinch of fresh mint, mixed in a glass of warm milk. I bought in its date of birth, 1998, after have tested a free sample, and bought a second time, now is my third time after a pause of more than 6 year, I did not realize what I was missing, and what was great, this fragrance until I got back in my hands and on my skin! Well, I suppose I need to admit: I'm in love again with Rocabar, and now even in a strongest way, maybe I feel guilty for the long separation caused by me, as it was always waiting for me somewhere. So perhaps the words above are a bit influenced, but.. I hope to keep some sense. Ok, I think I have told you everything. for the rest I totally agree with Cassiano (below) that summarizes so well this Hermes’s creation. NOTE: As mentioned, I "reappropriated" of this fragrance, and only wearing it I realized how much I had missed, even with waves of emotion. I do not connect Rocabar to a particularly happy period of my life, so I do not know why. perhaps really a fragrance, talk of us a to us through a silent language more than the clothes we wear. The feeling is more like to a beautiful instrumental music that without words can make you cry. This fragrance makes me feel in my cocoon, comfortable, warm and protected, but osmotic, which totally does not create a separation from the outside world, as other perfumes does. As the blanket that surrounds the fragrance. Really. I found the vintage original bottle, and again: Open the box and find a bottle of perfume wrapped by somebody in a soft colored cloth, secured with a cord of blue colored pure leather, knotted at only one of its extremity, is something that really creates smile and amazement, pure love, pure poetry, pure luxury, not opulence, vulgarity and ostentation. Just with the respect that deserve some things of value, and I do not think exaggerating with these words. it's like to say: if I live this world, I want the things I do to be beautiful and accurate in all the aspects. That was the class, kindness, and love for the little things that only the great fashion houses of the past knew how to give you, making you feel like at your home, and not into a cold temple of fashion.

J'adore Rocabar. A warm, buttery, resinous, cedary benzoin fragrance with a hint of vanilla and a camphoraceous juniper and cypress. Rocabar reminds me of honey and in my mind I’ve always imagined there to be honey or beeswax in here. To my mind it’s really more of an amber than a “woody spicy” fragrance. The first bottle I ever had came wrapped in a little blanket - the eponymous “roc à barres” (striped horse blanket) in a nod to Hermès origins as a saddlery, in the mid 19th century. Just like the first edition's “roc à barres”, Rocabar is like snuggling into a warm blanket on a cold day - a resinous, woody embrace like a security blanket, an aura of comfort and safety. If you’ve ever smelled cedar resin, this note, integral to Rocabar, will be familiar. Cedar resin is a soft, pliable resin with a remarkably rich cedar note - totally different to the essential oil made from cedar wood, bark or leaf - it’s a like a buttery, creamy, resinous version of cedar, and it’s an integral component of Rocabar. It is heavenly. In addition to cedar resin, there's benzoin, balsam and a hint of vanilla. Like Bel Ami and Equipage before it, Rocabar smells amazing, classy and elegant but does NOT smell like “perfume”. The effect created by Rocabar is "soigné", or "well-groomed". It is subdued, elegant and intoxicating in its beauty - it could easily be worn by women as well as men. Although a delight to wear, performance isn't exactly stellar and it sits close to the skin after the first hour. I’ve owned a few versions over the years, and I don’t think there’s all that much difference apart from the oakmoss content, although I usually wear the original. Not just any designer - Hermès is like “appelation contrôlée” for well-crafted luxury goods and, like all Hermès products, their fragrances are always of superlative quality and a consistently high standard. Rocabar is understated, classy and redolent of dignity, quite unlike anything else, and a symbol of the heritage and history of Hermès Striped blanket by name, striped blanket by nature [that sounded better in my head]: an aura of dignitas, comfort and sublime beauty. This is the fragrance of a "soigné" gentleman of style and taste, who appreciates the finer things in life. Edit: Back in the day Hermès had a reputation for using mainly natural components in their fragrances, like Creed, an upmarket niche perfumery, and if I'm not mistaken that was actually one of the claims made about Rocabar (and Eau d'Orange Vert) - although if such a policy was ever in force it was presumably discontinued by the time of the release of Terre d'Hermès with its generous helping of Iso E Super.

Many years ago now I started my journey into the world of perfume and the original Rocabar was the fragrance which started it all. The reformulation was lovely too, but it was an echo of the original. Rocabar is a lovely, warm, sophisticated scent. Strangely, for what is undoubtedly a classic, it is a grower. It's only years later, revisiting it on a whim, that I realised quite what I had missed. I was in my early 20s when I started wearing Rocabar and that was a very brave call for a young man. There are moments of bergamot and violet, an underlying vanilla, a lovely subtle oakmoss all there, but for me it's the resin mixed with the cedar and cypress and pine that is the smell of Rocabar. It lasts. Boy, does it last on your skin. One of the glories of Rocabar is its flourish the next morning in the shower when you get a departing farewell as you wash it away. It sticks to your skin and to your clothes so you can enjoy it the next day underneath your jumper. It's more of an autumn and winter scent or a cooler evening. If Rocabar were a piece of clothing I would say it is a beautiful cashmere coat in a dark colour: subtle, refined, sophisticated, warm. If Rocabar were a person it would be calm, warm, authoritative and successful. It would be strong and kind - the type that opens a door for others without a hint of being subservient. When my bottles finally run out and Rocabar is no more, it will be a very sad day indeed. Edit: The reformulation is on the Hermes website once more but it is a pain to get in shops; even the concession stands in top department stores never have it in without you having to order it. It is £80 on the UK site for 100 ml. I suppose it is better to have an echo of something beautiful than no sound at all ... Edit 2: I can no longer find it on the UK Hermes site. I have sent an email asking if Rocabar is still for sale. Edit 3: Hermes talk about occasionally "resting" their perfumes. Sometimes this is a euphemism for discontinuation, but in the case of Rocabar it is true. It has been "rested" a couple of times for a brief period before returning to the shops. Nevertheless, I am glad that I am very well stocked up on this one with three 100ml bottles!

Balsamic and warm, smoothly blended fragrance with some coniferous notes to add freshness. Not as polarizing as Terre d'Hermes (no borderline-funky mineral notes, but similar sweet woodiness), not as generic as La Nuit de l'Homme (but similar soft spiciness), not as soapy as Givenchy Gentlemen Only (actually, not soapy at all), but somewhere in between. Good candidate for a signature scent if you don't want your fragrance to "wear" you and prefer friendly and polite scents with a bit of character. Suitable for date nights, office setting, summer, winter, you name it. To be honest, the top notes are a bit cloying and "cologne-y". But the middle and base notes sit harmoniously together on the vanilla base without trying too hard -- almost like a scented body lotion or something of a similar kind. There are a few modern crowdpleasers that convey a similar effect, but Rocabar seems to have something extra. It manages to be pleasing without being too obvious. Performance-wise... your mileage may vary, but it's not a beast mode fragrance. At the same time, I received a compliment from a female colleague, while not perceiving the scent anymore myself. Maybe it's the overall pleasant smoothness of the composition inducing nose blindness, since there are really no distinctive "edges" -- instead, you have soft layers shifting and morphing. On skin, it develops quite a bit. *** BTW, this has been reformulated indeed. At first, I got a mini bottle in the small rug thing from eBay, which had a distinct coniferous green freshness and transparency, which I really liked. There was coolness alongside resinous vanilla warmth, like two different orchestrated layers. Then I bought a whole bottle with the new cap in a good faith, but the green notes were gone, carnation was dialed down to a more modern sensibility and it had more gourmandy spices (I get mainly cloves). Top notes are still very similar, but the drydown is different. It's about 70 % similar, but these missing 30% make it a different fragrance for me.

I do not understand what some people writing here:) What's smokey?What about dry?Let me tell you my story. I love yellow-green fragrances-lemon-lime-grapefruits, love light watery as well but with little spices like Issey Miyake or Echo. Once I was shopping for perfumes in Andorra-something more then 20years ago and I bought a lot of fragrances so lady gave me some samples-one was little touch spray 1 ml from Rocabar Hermes. I though it would be ugly as I didn't like any heavy or sweet perfumes and I never smell that one. I tried this on skin with doubt-first impression-first second it is far too strong. Then it went to my skin and I went crazy. I was losing my mind thinking about everything, about music, clubbing, love and flying, never before perfumes was such narcotic impact on me. I was feeling this fragrance makes people around you attract to this smell-no matter if it was a men or women. This fragrance was CRAZY! So strong, so woody, so spicy, so much juniper, no smoke-which I hate, only spices like from India, some something inside which makes you crazy and full of energy and happiness. I found heavy and rich fragrance which I felt in love with! ROCABAR IS AN INSTANT LOVE AND PASSION, PASSION OF LIFE, VIBRATIONS OF SEX, WORM OF BODY YOU WANNA BE WITH AND YOU WANNA HUG, it will become your friend! And I found it is enough to use just a little drop to make impression:) Then it become to be discontinued for some time, and now it is in different bottle -like others Gardens of..by Hermes and fragrance is not so strong like before. Before it was EDT but such strong like EDP, now it is only EDT so you need to spray like others to feel the full fragrance. But I still love it-and I can see it is not everywhere-even in airports it is rare-if you'll find ever a flat old bottle GO FOR IT! Forget-if you find ANY bottle of Rocabar GO FOR IT!