1818
Brooks Brothers

From someone who is slightly averse to high levels of clove, this juice is awesome! The clove combines so fluidly with the other barbershop/bay rum ingredients that it plays with the band, not over it.

I had a newer bottle, so the longevity issue could either be my skin, my climate, or a reformulation. I would love to test a vintage bottle to see if performance would improve.

Lasts all work day, but barely detectible after 4-5 hours.

7.5/10 performance considered
8.5/10 performance not withstanding

I must agree completely with what shamu1 wrote on “Pour Monsieur” blog, and I thank him for having brought this fragrance to our fragrance fanatics' attention. I am truly amazed by 1818, and despite I am a longtime fan of traditional wet shaving, I am usually not that intrigued by this type of fragrances (first because I usually don't like cloves and they are usually stuffed with that note; and also because nearly all the ones I tried were always kind of cheap, too dry for my tastes, often poorly-lasting... and well, plain boring too sometimes). 1818 by Brooks Brothers is instead both the best masculine offering by this brand, and one of the nicest, most compelling “barbershop” scents currently available on the market, if we exclude rare or costly vintages. Maybe the best one. It is a truly impeccable, rich Bay Rum scent exuding masculinity, self-confidence, a “raw” piratesque exoticism blended with a Western breeze of clean, reassuring warmth – the kind of smooth and comforting soapy warmth evoking a fine robe, a glass of sherry, your freshly-shaved neck still burning from your Astra blades' passage.

1818 is all of that; there's an initial blast of leathery spices (cloves), a fresh, tart slap of citrus and bergamot, a surprisingly rich, uplifting and natural-smelling herbal-woody accord mostly comprising bay leaf, bitter grassy notes and mossy woods (and I mean deeply, realistically mossy), a dark and extremely distinguished musky base, all slowly revealing a fantastic “shaving cream” heart of soapy talc-powdery notes, with a subtle hint of sweet tobacco. There is no creativity, no fancy stuff, no pretend luxury; just a straightforward, unpretentious, proudly old-school tribute to the most classic “real men” grooming products blended by someone which must really know the subject. Mature and gentlemanly: no dandies, no hippies, no bros, no hipsters allowed.

Another sign of the quality of this fragrance is the evolution, which shows an extremely enjoyable transition from a raw, sharp and edgy spicy-leathery-herbal opening to a smooth, warm drydown comprising hints of vanilla, boozy-ambery tobacco, a surprisingly bracing sort of herbal-infused bergamot tea note, even almost some licorice-like accents, still enveloped in a refined cloud of talc soap and moody spices which smells so soothing and classy you wished it could last forever. The drydown is really not to miss here, I've rarely experienced such a clever, neat use of warm tea-vanillic notes (by this I mean you wouldn't expect this drydown considering the first sharp stages of the fragrance: I didn't really “see it coming”). The note I call “tea” is probably just the echo of herbs and bergamot, but still it really smells like tart black tea leaves to me. Hours of clean, refined, vibrant, relaxed elegance with some unpredictable shades and transitions, which can easily replace and overpass dozens of more pretentious (and way more expensive) “gentleman” fragrances. Pure comfort in a bottle. I assume 1818 won't appeal many, if not most of today's fragrance fans , but if you're a “classicist” and you crave for a fantastic “barbershop” scent for those days you want to smell like a John Steinbeck's character, then this is a gem and an absolutely compelling steal for the price.

8,5/10

Wait for the drydown So, I blind-bought this based on other's reviews and the BB reputation. I can't say I am disappointed. As others have said, this is a "generic" smelling cologne, filled to the brim with the barber shop scents that are associated with cheaper musky colognes. The first sprays are soooooooooooooo strong! It literally overpowers and you feel like you bathed in oriental spices and sweet myrh. But after an hour or two, the drydown knocks you out with a lush, vanilla and light powder mix that truly smells fantastic, classy and one of a kind. One must search high and low for this type of all-over scent. It's easy to test this out and be repulsed. The initial smell could have been toned down so much by BB. But give it some time my friends; this beauty demands time and dedication to show her true face. I sprayed myself out of this classic bottle (6 oz. for 40 USD on amazon) and my wife and I thought it was cheap and overpowering, like a pimp on 7th St. in the 80's. But given some lingering down time, this gem unfolds to a gorgeous classic scent that Cary Grant would have loved and that you and those around you will continue to sniff and sigh at. Overall review, give it a shot. Cheap enough, and if you wait for the drydown, oh what treats await you!! Cheers.

Upmarket barbershop for the corner office crowd. It opens all boozy and brave but quickly goes vanilla and, frankly, bland. Not that 1818 is a bad scent. It's perfectly balanced for the office – and as unsexy as button-down shirts. It's clean, a little on the sweet side, with a touch of flowers. . . and that cologne vibe. (By this I mean that generic musky aftershave element that says don't worry, it's a cologne you are smelling.) People get 1818 for Christmas with ties and socks.

I'm giving 1818 a neutral review because it's well blended and has a little more character than the majority of department store fragrances. I think it's the cloves that rescue it. But check out Knize Ten for the real old-money-in-a-bottle vibe.

If money had its own fragrance, this would be it. If you wear a suit everyday, and you sit in a corner office, this fragrance is for you. If you are an old-school egomaniac, this is for you.

1818 is boozey, linear, vanilla, and over powering, almost borderline cheap and generic smelling....so be forewarned.


I give it a thumbs up because you will get comments that you smell like "old money".

1818 appears at first glance to be of the big and bold spice school populated by Obsession, Third Man, Santa Fe and their ilk. On a scent strip, it is loud and forceful and the boozy spice roars. Once on skin, however, it is far less stomping and for those who are turned off by the high volume of these fragrances this is probably a positive. 1818 is quite wearable especially in cooler climes due to this relative tranquility.

Usually only a couple of sprays will produce potent sillage with this genre, but one needs a few more with Brooks Brothers' 1818. That's okay, because the bottle is 6 ounces and for about $55, that's a bargain.

Fans of the spice bombs Santos, New York and the aforementioned trio will want to head to a Brooks Brothers outlet and test drive the near-luxury 1818 EDT.