Brooks Brothers for Men
Brooks Brothers (1998)

Sophistication and class in a bottle. Brooks Brothers Cologne is great for both work and formal occasions. This screams I am mature, enjoy expensive well-tailored suits, earned my MBA, and drive a Mercedes Benz.

As mentioned before, this is a lot like Ralph Lauren's Safari for Men. Everything that Ralph Lauren does is a little more dynamic, more showy, more "designed" than the house (Brooks Brothers) that he takes his inspiration from. This is a perfect example of that--a smoother, more conservative version of Safari. I get a slight metallic note, as if the machine-turned sterling belt buckle that the label echos was somehow dropped into the vat. I have worn this quite a lot over the years and really like it without completely loving it. That said, it is a perfect office scent, totally masculine and in the best taste. It may not get you laid, but it will not get you fired, either. One morning I showed up at my office wearing this and one of my team came in to brief me on something or other. He immediately said how great I smelled, then stopped, embarrassed that he had crossed some unspoken line about guys not complimenting other guy's fragrance. He then stammered that my cologne smelled good--you know, masculine...I mean manly. Uh, whatever that is smells good..... Flustered, he grabbed the file and fled. I later had a word with his wife who was asking for suggestions for a birthday present. Guess what he got that year?

For me, this is a light, grassy scent that is generic among men's scents of the past few decades. It is neither unique, nor creative, simply basic.

Like dozens of others of its type, not recommended.

Brooks Brothers for Men is certainly a winner among the hackneyed group of woody aromatics available today. It is nothing intriguing or breath-taking, but it is a solid masculine aromatic. Despite its American heritage, Brooks Brothers for Men is refined and smooth English woody aromatic featuring the usual suspects found in Safari for Men and Grafton though it is better than either of those. The opening is a bit fruitier and the overall composition is less fusty with of course less sillage and projection (which I like). Is BB a throwback, even retro? Despite its late arrival in 1998 compared to its predecessors, perhaps it does play the retro card and quite well I might add.

Even though Brooks Brothers for Men is a late 1990s interpretation of a late 1980s/early 1990s genre, one might chance to catch a whiff of the Belle Epoch/Edwardian Era as some reviewers have mentioned. Buy it while you can. Something this solid won't last long since most people have poor taste these days (the company from whom I purchased my Brooks Brothers said they would include a sample of a similar fragrance for me to try--they included a sample of something by Jessica Simpson).

The essence of affordable leather shoes, generic wooden shoe trees, cheap carpeting and musk are hastily merged to form a scent that instantly transports one's nose to the local haberdashery.

This is my husband's go-to fragrance. Not my #1 favorite of those in his collection, but it is, as others have noted, very old-school, clean but umabiguously masculine. I agree with Toughcool that the dry-down is the best part. This is most definitely the olfactory equivalent of pinstripes. Not daring, but tastefully done.