John Varvatos Platinum Edition

Such a badass frag and turning into one of my favorites... Reminds me a lot of Tauer’s L’Air du Desert Marocain mixed with the dry vanilla, incense and sandalwood of This Is Him. In other words, the scent has a solid ambery woodsy backbone surrounded by strong herbs and spices. The opening is dry, sweet and somewhat zesty, with a prominent sage blends so incredibly well with the incense... there’s a creamy “bitter” orange that literally smells like a creamsicle or orange sorbet... but you have to look for it. A hefty dash of coriander and cinnamon to add some seasonal warmth that blends perfectly with the vetiver... also, the myrtle here is exceptionally well done, providing a nice herbal tinged earthiness, like that of fresh picked parsley from the garden and brilliantly blending the top notes into the heart and pairs perfectly with the bitter orange and zesty, tart, fresh squeezed bergamot (which really helps to liven it up). This all smells quite natural to me and is blended very well... I’m super impressed. All in all, the composition is slightly sweet and creamy, yet dark, resinous, and leathery, with a church-like incense and slightly piney woods, which also hints at Dark Rebel and Bottega Veneta Pour Homme Extreme... It’s super enjoyable and very alluring. I suppose performance could be better, it doesn’t appear to have a high percentage of oils, but it works just fine for me when I want to smell this killer fragrance for a while but maybe not the whole day... Perfect if I’m just kickin’ it around the house or meeting up with some friends for a while... I’m wearing it right now and have had no issue smelling it the past couple hours. In fact it’s performing quite well. This could also be a great date night frag, depending on the style of the person you’re hanging out with this could be very sexy to them. Would I buy it again? Yes, absolutely. I love this style scent and they work very well with my body chemistry and my style. This was a blind buy but after reading the notes and seeing it’s comparisons and knowing I’m a fan of the perfumer and considering what he’s done with other John Varvatos fragrances I knew this would be something right in my wheelhouse and you know what... I wasn’t wrong... this is damn near perfect for me. If you like scents like those I’ve mentioned, along with others such as the Avignon, Casbah, Dark Rebel, LDDM, This Is Him, Prada Amber Pour Homme Intense, Givenchy Gentleman EDP, even Bleu de Chanel, this is one to look into. Very, very cool release and one I’m happy to own.

In a word: YUM. Now THIS was intriguing, complex, and made me purr after I spritzed it on my sweetheart. At first, there was that sharp opening that made me take an instant step back to preserve my sense of smell (I tend to not take the first 2 minutes in to let the alcohols evaporate) so I left his side and came back 20 min later to see how the fragrance developed. Lo and behold, I was very sensually surprised and it became an instant like. It gave to mind as if old Gucci Nobile discovered a fountain of youth amid a humid forest (mmmf) and rejuvenated it as well as smoothed his edges. The level of sophistication in creating this was obvious to me. Oh happy day to this woman that has grown so weary of the overhyped "fashionable" scents of today and yearned for something much like this. *sighs* This oozes masculinity in a way that gave me a vision of a man in his prime. I've found this fragrance to be something that can be worn by those who can be dominant and tender in ways that can leave a woman reaching for her lace fan as she hides her giggly grin while trying her best not to squirm in her seat. I must say that yes, I write this with a noticeable rush of color in my cheeks and neck just remembering it. This fragrance has the sorely missed complexity and oomph of perfumes of the 80's (I'm looking at YOU Drakkar Noir) and 90's but without being overbearing. There is quite a list of notes in this that one imagines could pack a pretty harsh punch but let me just ease your mind with this. The woodsy notes are in harmony with leather and everything else in way that is just sumptuous and sexy imo. The sillage is buildable, 1 spritz for arm's length...layer twice for 4+ ft. The longevity depends on body chemistry but on my sweetheart it went on for a good 4 hours plus (lawd have merceh). It is quite picky though, so I wouldn't recommend it as a blind buy. Overall, a wonderful scent for a chosen few.

I really like this one, but I was baffled by the scent itself. When I read the notes I thought I was in for one experience, but when I sprayed it I got one distinct, altogether different one: patchouli and cacao, almost like a cousin to Kokorico. I'm guessing that the "patchouli" was actually the accord created by the incense working with some of the woods and aromatics, and the "cacao" was the amber being accented with the sage and some of the richer, darker wood notes? I have to be on the alert for patch since my wife can't stand it when it's a dominant note in any of my scents, and I was 100% certain I was going to come back here and see it in the pyramid (had I missed it before?) - I was amazed it was not there :) In either case I agree with Pianopolice, this is best saved for cool/cold weather where it really shines, and then I will likely use it in the evenings. I am really liking the entire Varvatos line so far (outside of the Artisans, since I tend to steer clear of anything remotely aquatic).

just recently acquired this beauty, after a long search – I love this fragrance, it’s very mature. This is a masterpiece, in the opening the bitter orange turning quite fast woody, leathery and a little incense, amber damn this smells good. the longevity for a JV is decent, for me this is a niche style fragrance – the ideal fragrance to wear in the winter. John Varvatos is a great fragrance house, they produce one of the best designer fragrances around and they are not mainstream, the bottles are very high quality – they are not that long in the game +/-15 years and they have had a lot of wins and just a few bad ones – this is a very masculine house – just a few fragrances could be unisex – platinum is definitely masculine, I think this will gain a lot of interest in the next couple of years because the scent is very unique and there isn’t any fragrance that smells exactly like this, maybe I should have bought a couple bottles, just as an investment, maybe I will if I can get hold of one

I have to agree with knox.. It def shares a similarity to bentley intense. Not sure what note it is but its a similar vibe but the bentley is a little stronger with it. This one is nice, its masculine, smooth, woody, resinous with a little smoke or incense vibe. It has sweetness but to the extent of bentley intense. A vanillic woody amber with some incense. Macusline and smells like a niche quality. I am not sure yet as this is a first impression, but the performance would be my concern simply because it is a JJ... Hopefully this performs at least average.. John varvatos makes some great scents... but the performance sometimes is sub par. I still like the original and dark rebel the best but this one is up there with them.