Colonia Essenza
Acqua di Parma (2010)

My wife had an instant and sustained favorable reaction. Nothing groundbreaking, but better than TF Neroli Portofino. If you prefer your EDCs bright and astringent, look elsewhere, but if you like a soapy/creamy profile, this should be right up your alley. I wouldn't pay retail, but FragranceNet's price, as of this posting, of under $120 for 6 oz sounds right.

Once in a while, a perfume sneaks up into your life and changes your perspective about a certain perfume group. For me, that group was fresh florals.

Colonia Essenza is one of those rare gems which shattered that perspective for me.

Here are my 5 quick takes:

- An excellent choice for the classy gentleman
- Fresh and Floral scent family
- Created by master perfumer Michel Almairac
- Long-lasting eau de cologne best used in warmer weather
- Youngsters should sample it before purchase

It is a masterpiece and true holy grail signature perfume. Check out the full review on scentgrail.com

A traditional neroli eau de cologne with an herbs-and-patchouli supporting structure.

That prominent patchouli somewhat spoils the fragrance for me, because it somewhat dirties up the otherwise clean, refreshing aura of the genre. For that reason, I'm more partial to Colonia Assoluta, which is just as soapy but uses a "clean" amber-musk base to bolster and extend the composition.

That said, it's undeniably well-made, with clarity of structure and fine materials, and can be found for very reasonable prices.

For something with a similar profile but a cleaner dark-woody base, seek out Banana Republic Neroli Woods.

Go to scent when I can't make up my mind what I want to wear in my collection. Masculine, not unisex IMO. Love.

It's as though somebody started from 4711 and took off in the opposite direction as Neroli Portofino: hack off anything remotely citrusy, crank up the soapiness to an unbearable level, and make it stick around for, mercifully, only minutes even on a shirt collar.

Colonia Essenza is Acqua di Parma Colonia (1916) plus neroli.

Not to be too flippant about this scent, but there was no huge overhaul or reimagining of the original. For all intents and purposes, this is a soapier version of the original, and quite honestly, I think I prefer it to Colonia.

It still suffers from the same ephemeral nature of Colonia, but the neroli gives this a fresher, more clean scent, while the original is more citric, and in my opinion, it can be somewhat off-putting. I've worn Colonia for years, and it's something I own more because it's a classic rather than it standing on its own merits. Its name carries it a good distance, for lack of a better way of phrasing it.

If you are a fan of Colonia, you will probably enjoy this, and if you are a fan of neroli or "soapy" scents, chances are that you may enjoy this more than Colonia, which for me is the case, though I don't enjoy it enough that I will be purchasing this. Certainly a "try before you buy," but a good scent, and a nice direction for Colonia to take.

Thumbs up for a nice update to the original.