Quorum
Antonio Puig (1982)

I'm a fan of Polo Green but I find it a bit too harsh. the citrus and pine smell feels a bit too strong and chemical. The drydown is more bearable but I prefer other green scents.

This bottle of reformulated Quorum will always be in my collection... *this* same bottle I mean, because I never wear it outside the house.

The opening is big, harsh, smoky, green. After that it smells half like fabric softener, and half like a sweaty chain-smoking man covered in shrubs. I assume fabric softener is how my nose registers the soapy pine in this one because I get the same thing with the reformulated One Man Show by Jacques Bogart.

Imagine if you took Ralph Lauren Polo green and toned down what makes it pleasant and then amped up what's unpleasant. Quorum is a unique uber masculine scent, so I don't regret the dirt cheap blind buy, but I use it around the house more than on myself. A powerhouse for sure... I used it recently to freshen my car after I had utilized a ton of WD40 to remove sticker residue from the windshield. 4 sprays of Quorum easily annihilated the massively acute smell of WD40.

Warning: 2 sprays absolute max, but 0 sprays is probably ideal for me.

Masculinity Level: The sweaty scrotum of the big fat villain from Over The Top.

Let's talk about VINTAGE Quorum VS the recent formulation 😏...but before we do, I'd like to point out that this legend has sentimental value for me...a nostalgic gem. I promise though, I'll keep it as objective as I can 😉...
I bought Quorum at TJ Maxx in early 2020 after doing a double take on the bottle as I walked by the fragrance section. I hadn't worn cologne since my early 20s...why was I staring down this $12 brown bottle that looked like a prop from Remington Steele's bathroom? ...ohh, I know why...I LOVE vintage things. My record player is an RCA from 1969, I have vintage clothing I randomly wear, vintage Andre Agassi sneakers, and of course, vintage furniture that's been rehabbed by my wife all over my house. But there was something else...like I had seen it before? When I got home and bathed in it's mist, to make sure I could take all of its 80s swagger in...I was shocked. I practically teared up thinking about climbing mango trees in Nana's backyard in Miami as a child. The rush of memories...my Cuban Uncle Freddy w his silver hair and Miami tan as he barrel laughed hysterically and pulled up his polyester pants above his belly button...the guava pastries and key lime pies, from a culture I adored growing up...it was bringing me back to an exact moment in time...knocking off the dust of buried memories when life was simpler. It made me think of my Mom, and Quorum hugged me with all of its spanish glory. I thought, wow, all of these years that I've neglected to give my nose a nostalgic thrill...shame! Im a knucklehead for ignoring my obsession with smell. My wife knew I was about to jump down this rabbit hole, as I do w so many other things. (Such as Cryptocurrency, to name the most recent) ...What happened next is fate.
Not long after I discovered my long lost love for VINTAGE mens fragrances, and after HOURS of research, I stumbled into a dying mall with my wife after buying stained glass next door at Hobby Lobby. I immediately saw a fragrance store that looked like it hadn't seen an upgrade since 2008 😳...it was stepping back in time and it was like walking into an ebayer's wet dream. Vintage perfume and cologne, wall to wall, with a girl in her early 20s buried in her phone. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. First question was, ummm, does your store sell online? She laughed, and confessed that her parents own this store and a jewelry shop in another (much more popular) mall, and that they dont care about this store...This store was clearly on its last legs, as this mall was 70% empty...
As I stared at brand new bottles of vintage YSL Rive Gauche and Pour Homme, Discontinued Tom Fords, Bijan Style, 2005 Dior Homme, 80s batches of Eau Sauvage and Bandit, Tsar gift sets, 90s Guerlains, Kenzo Air, Sport de Paco, Very Valentino, Halston Catalyst sets, 90s/2000s discontinued rare goodies everywhere...it dawned on me that I could make a lot of money selling these on ebay...but DAMN, I'm a curious cat😆
I bought 60 vintage bottles, all priced at original pricing from 10-33 years ago -- and she was even kind enough to charge no tax. Some were discounted further below retail because, well, I was buying in bulk. She didn't check ebay prices once...didn't care...parents make her work for there for free while she goes to college 🤷‍♂️
On to one of those gems...Quorum. I was thrilled to compare the vintage 100ml batch from 1988...😳 to the recent formulation for $12. WHOA...and this is when the Vintage Fougere/Chypre addiction began 🤣
The difference can only be appreciated compared side by side on skin. To be fair, most reformulations end up being dumpster fires. This is not the case w Quorum, but what you now get is the diet VIBE of Quorum, soapier and fresher....but it is NOT like the vintage version. The depth, complexity, and warming oakmoss makes OG Quorum worth hunting, 100%. Now, if you already own a "smoking a pipe in a library" cologne, such as Polo Green, this may be a pass for you. But where Polo smells country club pretentious, Quorum smells like a bearded Spanish adventurer...like Indiana Jones played by a young Benicio Del Toro who hasn't shaved in a week. Does my wife like it? Ehhh...but she gets it, and even considers it acceptable for public use, unlike others in my collection🤣
Openings are similar but vintage isn't as bright and leans heavily on the caraway. Where the current formulation begins to go flat in the mid, eventually fading into soapy amber w mild tobacco, vintage Quorum's creamy sandalwood and spicy carnation are still singing as we roll into the drydown. The florals are much better in the vintage, especially the jasmine giving it a dash of funk. The pine is hiding somewhere in the background. The vintage moves through the stages clearly where the current is borderline linear. In the drydown, the vintage is simmering w wet oakmoss and tobacco...pipe tobacco. I absolutely love the drydown, where the leather feels rugged and the sweet tobacco hay note hangs for hours. The earthiness and dampness are all but missing from current...
Vintage longevity is 8hr+ and projection is NOT beast mode, but rather 2 notches below. Big misconception w this one is that its a powerhouse. Nope.
Current formulation is 5hrs on a good day...lots of misting lol. Its soapy and its lacking most of the character of the vintage. For $12 its a steal, but why do that when vintage bottles go for $50-$100?
30s and up... Fall and Winter only... casual daily driver and great for outdoors, vintage Quorum will forever be in my wardrobe, bringing me back to climbing the mango tree in Miami. Seek out any bottle from before 2002...but only if you can pull Quorum off...I know I sure as hell can 🤫

Quorum is a 1980s masculine barbershop fougere. It is a nice composition but has poor performance compared to other fragrances in this genre. The opening is woody and mossy but is tinged with perfume alcohol however, it dries down quickly and reveals a nice scent with leather, pine and some floral notes. A very pleasant scent but within 2 hours it is a skin scent and at 4 hours it has disappeared completely. This is where I realise why Quorum is so cheap, it can usually be found for under $15 and for that the buyer is getting a bottle of perfume alcohol with a small amount of fragrance oil. This is a scent that has some real potential if they refined the opening and improved the longevity. Overall I say that Quorum is a decent barbershop scent but the poor longevity means I would prefer to pay an extra $30 and buy something like Paco Rabanne Pour Homme instead. For men who enjoy this genre there are just so many better performing barbershop fragrances out there with great compositions and at good value. In any case I am glad that I had the opportunity to try Quorum by Antonio Puig and I'm sure I'll give it a few more wears in the future.

I very much like the dark, masculine scent of oak moss and it's clearly present in Quorum which is a classic 80s fragrance if which I am also a fan. I have the newer version and the vintage. Is there really a detectable, worthwhile difference? In this case a definite yes. Newer has Tree Moss which adds a harsher edge. Vintage only has oak moss which produces a smoother, richer experience. The newer may have slightly better performance but the vintage really is more satisfying.

80s frags

Its a nice polite 80s frag. Its got the same 80s smells and charectoristics, but they are smoothed out a bit. Pine, leather, moss. Obviously reformulated, but still balanced. Seems to have avoided the bare chemically nature many fragrances get when theyve moved downmarket to a cheaper price range. Does have some dry cigarette ash smell. Quite nice. Cheap. Thumbs up.