Polo
Ralph Lauren (1978)

My earliest knowledge of the original Polo was sneaking sprays of it from my older brother's dresser when I was ten years old. He was 17 years old, and I was already starting to figure out that he wasn't the best role model for me, speeding around in a 1968 red Mustang convertible my Mom bought him with insurance money from a car accident we were in the year prior, which he would eventually total (shrug). He was reckless in every way possible, and I was the younger bookish one, collecting stamps and coins and thumbing through National Audubon field guides. Polo seemed a bit too sophisticated for my big bro, he was more a Cool Water type. I should've been the Polo.

And I was, I finally bought my own bottle when I was about 12, my second after Aspen. I was into smelling like a sexy pine tree in pre-adolescence, and it seems prescient to what my taste would become. I think these early "colognes" of mine were like olfactory leitmotifs in my developing sexuality, driving my impression of how to be a man, how to smell like a man, and at this age a boy is spending so much time sorting it out. What I couldn't reconcile was how drawn I was to other men who wore these "colognes" and as adolescence would force me to face some truths, It was the 1990s, it wasn't as hard as in decades prior, but it definitely wasn't all that easy either.

So I wore Polo today, an older Warner version, and to me it smelled like the excitement and anxiety of emerging sexuality, and at 45 years old, that felt bittersweet. I recalled all the frustration, fear, and hope, the foolish crushes, early unrequited love, and the condemnation of a world not ready to accept anything outside of the heteronormative. Fragrances from one's past won't let you forget where you were when you wore them often, even if it was 30 or more years ago, and often that means you have a complicated relationship with them. I am happy this is around to revisit from time to time, as a portal to my past that enables me to give my younger self a good pat on the back and remind him that everything will be okay.

Oh, the smell? Why bother going on about it? It's an icon for a good reason.

Very nostalgic and iconic. This is one of my top “Time Machine” scents, instantly transporting me to my friend’s house where we would steal a sniff of her dad’s Polo resting on his dresser. Or the smell of the Polo stores back in the 80’s. It’s so masculine and memorable, evoking the best of those yuppy years. Spicy, bitter green opening and loads of legendary oak moss almost like a pine tree or leaves burning in the fall. The drydown is more soapy and clean but still so masculine with the spicy, smokey leather that tends to dominate.

I'm reviewing a tall-neck Cosmair bottle (for the aficionados) that doesn't seem to have the same powerful performance that I remember. The opening is strong and projects well but it fades on me within a few hours or I'm going nose blind.

Here in Europe, Ralph Lauren's first ever fragrance was not a runaway hit when it was launched in 1978. From what I gather, Ralph Lauren didn't spend that much money to market their products outside the US until the 1990s. Hence why it's harder to find vintage Cosmair or Warner versions around here. What I'm reviewing is the L'Oreal tall sprayer version from the mid-2000s i.e. one of the maligned later versions.

It opens a bit spicy with crisp pine and hay and then dries down to a smoky tobacco soapy leather. It is a powerhouse for the mature man, but very refined, especially when compared to Puig Quorum, which it often is.

Projection is great. Lasts forever.

Masculinity Level: Logan Roy from Succession.

Many are so quick to dismiss "new-age" Polo due to its vintage pedigree, meanwhile scents like Sauvage Elixir and Layton are highly praised. Yes, the oakmoss is gone. Yes, the performance has drastically changed (for the better). Yes, the composition has slightly been tweaked. But one thing hasn't changed, and that is: Polo is still Polo. The pine sap, oak, basil, and spicy leather affair is very much still there. Sometimes it is easy to forget that Polo has passed the test of time. It is such an honor and privilege to still have this wonderful scent produced and marketed in today's tonka bean market. I own both the Cosmair and current formulation, and I honestly prefer the latter as I find its a smoother, more modernized incarnation of Polo that I also find smokier. This is likely due to the addition of frankincense to make up for the loss of real oakmoss. All in all, the scent is still comes off as classy, virile, and noble.

It's fun to revisit scents that were once ubiquitous and have now fallen out of fashion. A strong, mossy pine, Polo is definitely that. No fruit, aquatic or detergent notes here! Easier to wear than other classic scents of its time, as there are no heavy, musky animalic notes. Ralph Lauren's very aspirational advertising always gave me the giggles, but that's what his Boomer audience was into, I guess. Polo's success did make Ralph a very rich man, after all.

At once timeless and dated, it’s that hike we once took through the woods. The time you kept letting branches slap me in the face. Pine branches, specifically. Really? Not you? Well, maybe I’m not talking to you. Anyway, it’s THAT pine-like. Possibly some leather; maybe some tobacco. But definitely pine. I think.

Polo’s really not at all what I was expecting, trying it again after all these years. I was fully prepared to dismiss it as a throwaway throwback. But it’s just not. And it’s uber masculine, too—though I could’ve sworn there were girls in my high school who wore Polo. However, considering where I’m from, that wouldn’t really be all that strange if true. And if in fact no girls wore it in my high school, then I might not be talking to you.

If a gypsy were to eat my heart, then I’m almost positive said gypsy would be imbued with an insatiable lust for sampling all available classic scents. And a terrible stomachache. Which is just my way of saying that I’m well on my way to sampling all available classic scents. Been doing it for years. Have a spreadsheet. Gave this one a 6 out of 6. Don’t agree? You quite sure I’m even talking to you?

In closing, I’d just like to say that I wish they could bottle the sensation I get when I sample Polo. What? Yes, of course they have, but— Wait—I guess they have! Lucky us! Well, me. I think I’ve concluded that I’m not talking to you….