Royal Copenhagen

I first remember this cologne as a child. it was and still is my dad's favorite scent. During the 80's and early 90's my dad would go on long trips with his best friend just to purchase cases of this strong manly scent. It lingered in the air like his invisible shadow. In fact once on a secret date with my first fiance' with whom my dad had no knowledge of this cologne actually alerted me to his presence. We were at the mall and I smelled his signature scent wafting though the air as if it were sounding a silent alarm screaming, "Your dad is close, alert, alert!" I turned to my mom who was with us and said, "mom I smell dad!" My parent's were divorced and although she approved of my relationship I knew my dad would never. She said, "oh honey the perfume and cologne aisle is just a few aisles back, it can't be him don't worry!" I calmed down a bit and grasped my fiance's hand a bit tighter. Soon we would be in the theater, away from my mom, and any small chance of running into my at the time overly controlling dad. Yet no sooner had we rounded the next two aisles did my suspicions get proven correct! There my dad stood dressed far too well as always for just a regular shopping excursion, his eyes scanning me and then my fiance' with a look of utter instant disapproval. Oh, Copenhagen you did try to warn me lol! That story is still remembered and told, though thankfully my dad has mellowed with age, and now he actually likes my old fiance' with whom I still have a close friendship with. From time to time one of us will recall and tell that story and we always comment on the strength of this cologne. Those are now fond funny memories and we laugh about it still after all these years. My dad who is now 69 years of age still prefers this cologne over any other. Does he like Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, Polo, Gucci, nah, he wants his Copenhagen! He used to bathe in it and still does, splashing a hefty amount in his large hands before patting down his clothing, beard, hair, and ears. As far as the scent goes it is eternal, manly, unique in a vintage way, and seemingly still attracts the same amount of attention from women as it always has. My dad has always been very popular with the ladies and sometimes we joke that maybe this was his secret weapon all along. Manly, an alarm to hide your fiance', and your dad's secret weapon to attract women in every bottle!

I got burned out on this several years ago, and it was that burnout that started me on my quest to find a fragrance that I enjoyed wearing that not only smelled good but was uniquely me. And in that quest... I really couldn't find anything I liked. (not anything reasonably affordable, anyway) As such, I recently came back to it, and it's kind of like running across a long lost friend. Describing it without sounding like a cliched perfume commercial is a bit difficult. It does have a soft, clean, powdery musk smell to it, but it's not an animal musk or a flowery white musk. It's warm and masculine smelling without being overly spicy and in-your-face, unlike the actual "Musk" version of this fragrance that Royal Copenhagen produces, that fragrance almost burned the hair out of my nose the first time I smelled it. What burned me out on this product originally, however, is that the projection of it is not that great, and with it being a cologne, it doesn't last terribly long regardless of how much I put on. I decanted this newest bottle into a different bottle with a higher output atomizer, so I'm applying more of it when I spray it on. That's helping improve the projection and durability of the fragrance quite a bit, but it's not where I'd like it to be. I would pay good money to have a bottle of this as an EDT or Perfume concentration if they ever produced it.

Got this Christmas of 1986, my sophomore year in highschool. Loved this stuff. So classic and clean. Just got a new bottle this month after decades. While the older was better, I have to say the current formulation does it justice. The older one lasted FOREVER and was richer, rounder and would explode off your skin when you heated up, yet still remaining pleasant. The current formulation is a little bit more 2 dimensional but retains the soul of the fragrance. I'm not upset or disappointed by it considering that it legally cannot contain some of the ingredients it once did due to IFRA. It still smells like RC and it still smells wonderful. I forgot how much I enjoy this. It's classic man's fragrance of a forgone era. And it still lasts a good long time with wonderful sillage. PS : This is unorthodox but I ordered a small bottle of oakmoss absolute from Etsy, put 1 drop (small gooey glob) in an 8oz splash bottle, let it dissolve over a few days and the end result was heavenly. It really adds that three dimensional effect along with buttery smoothness. PS: I got two vintage bottles off Ebay and they are similar to splash bottle, slightly better. I got the 1.5 oz spay bc some people said it's different and better. It's different. It lasts a long time and does smell a little more like the OG.

It's just impossible for some people to distance themselves from their associations. That is why you see words like "dad" and "grandpa" directed toward this fragrance. Yes, Royal Copenhagen is old school, but that doesn't mean it needs to be exiled to the old folks home. I get incredibly weary of how dismissive some reviewers can be toward classic fragrances. People really don't keep an open mind when they smell the classics and it blinds to their merits. I wear RC at age 39 and I get lots of compliments. It smells nothing like modern mens cologne, so it comes across as very unique. To hell with "grandpa" and "dad". What's old is new again! This is a fresh, regal fragrance full of lavender, tonka, florals and musk. It's not the sexiest fragrance, but that's what Royal Copenhagen Musk is for! You have to be a certain kind of man for it to suit you. But if you're polite, confident, and intelligent, there is no reason adult men of many ages couldn't pull this off. Reviewers greatly exaggerate how dated and old fashioned this cologne is. They're projecting their own fears of becoming old and irrelevant onto it. If it got the Pabst Blue Ribbon re-branding treatment, people would be clamoring to wear it because of the cool factor.

One thing to keep in mind is that the formulation of Royal Copenhagen varies depending on which size bottle you purchase. The splash goes on strong and fades more quickly. The aftershave has a slightly fresher smell than the cologne. I also find that the juice in the 1.5 ounce bottle is stronger than the juice in the 3.5 ounce. I have no idea why. The 1.5 ounce juice smells and performs the best. The 3.5 ounce is more floral and slightly watered down. I just sprayed both of them on each hand, and after ten minutes, the 3.5oz is defintiely more flat and subtle. The 1.5 is more...musky, maybe? The difference is about 10%, but for me it makes the 1.5 a little more rugged and masculine. It also remains as a skin scent for much longer. I have purchased 2 bottles of 1.5oz cologne and they both have more of a base structure than the larger bottles. I cannot say whether this is batch inconsistency or whether they are intentionally different. My guess is that it is intentional, but I cannot say why. Maybe they water dilute the larger bottles with more alcohol, top and heart notes. If you want the boldest version, get the 1.5 ounce bottle. I really prefer it to the others.