Emperor Eau de Parfum

Wow! Reading through the reviews and the Aventus Fanboy Club has all but taken over. I'll come back to this topic after my review of Emperor EDP. This is a fantastic fragrance! The pineapple is gorgeous - bright, juicy, sweet, sparkly, but with a hint of saltiness. It's like smelling the perfect pineapple at its apex of being ripe before it spoils. After the pineapple begins to settle, the other fruits take turns introducing themselves as they flash off one after the other, in a juxtaposed fashion, while the vanilla and salty woods base holds everything together. The vanilla isn't heavy, but noticeable, and the same with the birch. This isn't a "smoky vanilla" Aventus batch like 13Q01. This is more subtle, but it's noticeable. The overall performance is 10+ hours with massive silage for all of 4 solid hours and then some - depending on atmospheric conditions. You CAN overspray to the point of obnoxious. It will not only fill a room, but the entire building. Two to three sprays lasts all day. This is a 10/10 for me. The performance is better than most Aventus batches I('ve) own(ed), and better than ALL other Aventus clones on the market. Just remember - When you buy any bottle in the PV EMPEROR lineup, you have to let it macerate just like you would a bottle of Aventus. When I receive a new bottle, I immediately apply 5-6 sprays and store it in a dark, cool spot for about a month, then come back to it and repeat. By the 3rd visit, it's gotten a lot stronger and the notes are becoming distinguishable. What this is doing is allowing oxygen into the bottle and mix with the juice. This accelerates maceration. Always store your frags in a cool, dark place. UV is the worst thing to expose your frags to. Next is drastic temperature fluctuations where the juice is heated up and cooled off too much. Never keep your frags in the bathroom or vehicle. Now, about Aventus. I've owned well over 100 different batches and have literally spent $$$ TENS OF THOUSANDS on them (10J/K, 11N/X/Z, 13NB/Q/R/T/U/Z/ZZ, 14G/H, 15P/R/U/W/X/Y, 16A/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/J/K/L/M, 17N/R/T/V/W, 18B/G/K, 19P/S/U and all the LOT variants of each, and I'm leaving out a bunch). Aventus is good, but it ain't $400 good (Retail). I have cheaper colognes that smell and perform so much better, and receive so many more compliments, and PV EMPEROR EDP is one of them. TBH, I rarely get compliments when I wear Aventus, and most have been/are from guys. Here's the honest truth about Aventus. It's a "boxer-dropper" frag because it's a "prestige" thing with guys. After being a member of every Aventus Facebook group for years, it's just a bunch of dudes whacking their puds while patting each other on the back and hyping the hype. It's like a cult of closet roamers. AND THAT'S THE TRUTH Take it however you will, I don't care. I just know that after ALL THE HYPE I bought into with Aventus, I'll put my bottle of EMPEROR EDP up against ANY Aventus batch from 2014 to Present. ESPECIALLY present! The new Aventus is worse than that lemon pledge toilet water known as CDNIM. YOU'RE WELCOME!

Well I did it. I finally got around to grabbing an Emperor sample and testing it out. What's my verdict you ask? Well, I must say, it is very, very close to the best 2015 batches of Aventus. How close you ask? I would say around 96% close. Creed Aventus has been my signature scent since 2015. I have worn at least one batch of Aventus from each year since 2015 with the exception of this year. I have not smelled every batch like some, but my favorite batches I have smelled are from 2015. I actually still have some 15Y11 left which is known to be a beast and in fact the batch that I tested Emperor against here (equal amount sprayed on each back of hand). I would say the main difference between Emperor and my 15Y11 Aventus batch is performance. Emperor just can't quite match the strength and pop of my "Holy Grail" 2015 batch, but it can be argued that neither can modern day Aventus. I actually prefer Emperor over my 2019 batch of Aventus. And I never thought I would say that. Before Emperor, I had never been a big fan of Aventus clones. I mean CDNI was probably the closest before Emperor, but never did it for me when I smelled it up close. The other clones were synthetic smelling bombs to me, but Parfums Vintage intrigued me when they released the original PV and Noir. They captured some of that "sparkle" that was missing from any clone before. Still, in comparison to Aventus I thought it lacked depth and the pineapple note was just too sharp. PVI came out soon after, and while performance was improved and notes amplified, that "sharp" pineapple note with nostril burning capabilities was even sharper. It wasn't until King that PV started to finally nail the pineapple note in actual Aventus. And here, in Emperor? I think they've really nailed it. This is by far THE BEST Aventus clone you will ever smell. I really think I am going to save my pennies and buy this next time instead of trying to rely on decanters or discounters of the real thing.

A very Pineapple Vintage-esque pineapple note up top – quite tart but this opening doesn’t last long as the other notes tend to catch up quickly creating a very masculine, sensual scent that commands attention. The scent is very well blended into a Smokey woody pineapple that we know so synonymously with Aventus. Although, in my opinion and on my skin, this is definitely superior to the 2018 sample I have but (as I recall) in the same realm as older versions. Creed has lost me with all this batch stuff – too much to keep up with! Occasions – Anytime, Anywhere, dressed up or down. The performance makes this a go to in the winter, especially here in the Rocky Mountains where the temps can drop below freezing and on many occasions sub zero. On 4 sprays, I get anywhere from 8-11 hours. The extrait version is absolute beast mode, easily lasting for 14+ hours and destroying the cold air like a true warrior. Overall - This is hands down my most complimented scent and the reactions I get from women are awkward and indescribable. I do not wear this to work anymore because of this, but this is a go to for formal and date night. A true panty dropper extraordinaire in every sense of the word! Glad I bought the 100 ml while it was still available as at the time of this review – only a 50ml is available.

I got a sample of this through with another purchase and being a big fan of Aventus and having some to compare it against, I was quite excited to try this. I have to say at this point I've never tried any of PV's other Aventus offerings, so can't say how this compares, but right next to my batch of 18d02, this is really good! Opening is very similar, with Aventus being a little softer and Emperor being more prominent, but yet still well rounded. Aventus seems to lose the smell of the opening quicker, but this is something I don't mind as at this point is that smell of Aventus that I love. Emperor in dry down is very similar again, it's stronger than Aventus and to my amateur nose, I can smell more of the vanilla coming through in Aventus and some of the other notes being more prominent in Emperor. Longevity - I get nose fatigue quite easily with Aventus, but I found the 2 of them very close being very long lasting, but emperor throughout being the stronger and better projecting! In closing, this is as good as it gets and honestly I would happily purchase this in replacement of Aventus! They also do an extrait, which I'd be interesting in getting a sample of at some point. An easy buy for any of you pineapple heads :)

I've tried 4 batches of Aventus, all 2018 onward, and Emperor EDP is better than 3 of them. Emperor has superior performance to these 4, the quality of the birch in emperor is excellent. Very pronounced and realistic. It's hands down the best of all Aventus clones I've tried. The branding is nowhere near on Creed's level, but hey can't have it all at a discounted price. Would wear this spring through summer. Have also tried Emperor Extrait, which is less fruity and dries down into a gorgeous smooth ambergris. The Extrait would definitely be better suited to colder days, I prefer the versatility of Emperor EDP. If I had the choice between newer Aventus batches and this I'd pick this. Edit: have now tried 17Q11 and 17N01. Vs weaker batches I prefer emperor, but once you start getting into the stronger ones you start noticing the lack of depth in emperor, particularly in smoke, apple, blackcurrent and vanilla. Emperor extrait has a more well rounded vanilla, but neither has a smoke note, just tonnes of birch. Edit2: Have now tried 17X01, 15U11, 15X21, these are all far better than emperor in just about every way, but are also about twice as expensive.