Bentley for Men Absolute
Bentley (2014)

I still have a couple of bottles of the Tom Ford-created Gucci pour Homme left. I first tried GpH in a tester before it was launched and fell in love immediately, so I bought up a few bottles when it was discontinued. Having heard that this one is a bit of a dupe, I had to try it especially because it's such a reasonable price.

So, it is similar and clearly has been designed to replicate the GpH, but of course at this price point it doesn't have the same complexity or longevity. Still, there's that sweet smokiness and some similar wood notes. You don't get the leather or the barbecued meat or the saltiness, and you don't get the lovely lasting dry down. But the opening notes really are very similar. This does give you that comforting familiarity if you're missing Gucci pour Homme. For its price point I can't fault it.

Bentley Absolute is a fragrance with niche quality and an absolute steal for the price. It's like a combination of the resinous elements of Armani's Bois d'Encens and the sweet and aldehydic notes of 2 Man. While I haven't tried Gucci PH, I can say that this fragrance stands out on its own. The only downside is its longevity; it settles down too quickly. However, due to its affordable price, you can reapply generously. Overall, a great fragrance that's worth checking out.

Car brand aside, Absolute for Men... absolutely lives up to the promise of its heavy, pitch black bottle. It's no surprise that the bottle is beautifully done, or that the ingredient quality and blending are surprisingly good, considering luxury glassmaker-turned-pseudo-niche-perfumers Lalique hold the license for Bentley fragrances. And this feels very much like a spiritual sibling to one of the better Lalique scents and another favorite of mine, Encre Noire a l'Extreme, what with the heavy dose of ISO E "cedar" and the resinous incense note, though Absolute lacks the dank mustiness of l'Extreme's heavy vetiver, and instead feels like a blackened swirl of scorched incense, smoldering spices, and a pile of dry wood just waiting for the bonfire.

In reality, Absolute is supposedly the resurrection of the long discontinued Gucci Pour Homme, also by Michel Almairac and featuring nearly identical notes. I haven't tried GPH and can't comment other than to say I love this scent for what it is.

The "pencil shaving" cedar note familiar from so many other ISO E-heavy scents is on full display here, and this might be the strongest I've ever encountered it - it's a bone dry, almost desiccated rendition of extreme woodiness. Fortunately, the pepper, ginger, and frankincense round this out with a subtle sweetness that emerges in the drydown and adds depth to what feels like it will be a linear ride. Instead, the aggressive darkness of the opening gradually softens. This is an EDP that wears pretty close to the skin and it's never loud, but the semi-sweet warmth at the heart of the scent persists quite well even as the dry wood burns away.

Supposedly there's an "oud" note here, and I suspect whatever proxy they're using is what reads to my nose like a light dose of cumin towards the top of the scent. I've seen a few fragrantica reviews mention it, but not everyone experiences the note the same way - to me it's not armpitty cumin, and it's not as sharp as something like Declaration. It just feels a bit scorched, like the first acrid puff of smoke when you light a stick of incense and blow out the flame. Probably not for everyone, very much for me.

A wonderful surprise. A woody and dry winter fragrance that is clean and very unique. The woodiness is very pencil shaving like but there is no sweetness whatsoever which is fine by me. A cheap but wonderful woody man's fragrance

This is a heavy dose of resinous pencil shavings. There's not too much more to it than that.

But it's definitely a bargain given the price, assuming you like pencil-style cedar.

It's ironic how Almairac's Gucci PH was one of the key templates of a dominant stylistic strain to emerge in niche perfumery and it now comes full circle in a reincarnation as Bentley Absolute, thumbing its nose at all those overpriced bottles at about € 30 on the net (as I write). Dry woody peppery incense is not my favorite perfume style, but this works for me on cool days and when I prefer to project a more distanced, cool vibe. It's well constructed, smells like expensive niche and goes well with with a modern cut black suit, or a high end casual outfit. Well done, Bentley.