Saks Fifth Avenue for Him
Bond No. 9 × Saks Fifth Avenue (2007)

Hot fresh mint water
Your cool spicy tux goes with
Your Dimitri shades.

I first wore S5H about five years ago when my wife picked up several sample vials from the Bond9 boutique during a business trip to NYC. I wore through the sample over the course of the year and ever since have wished I owned a bottle. S5H is by no means the best of Bond9, but it's easy wearing, year round, fresh versatility had me often wishing it was in my collection.

To me S5H has a common fruit, incense and amber theme that's dressed up through the addition of a chili, cardamon, black pepper and bergamot that does indeed conjure a licorice note, which I absolutely love over a incense, amber and wood base. While most Bonds are super amplified EDP strength, S5H is charming and subtle. I believe if it were at Bond's typical projection level the notes would begin to compete, rather than compliment each other, so credit to Almariac for his masterful composition.

I like S5H as an anytime fragrance that could be worn in the office or out to a casual affair. It's light, fresh and extremely wearable with just enough originality to be interesting and memorable. Worth trying for any Bond No9 fan. Thumbs Up.

There is a note in a skunk's spray that I find interesting.
It's actually more attractive than repulsive.
I find it interesting because I'm not supposed to like it, but I do.
There is a note in Saks Fifth Avenue that produces the same effect.
I find it interesting and therefore keep smelling it.
It is the type of note that I feel others wouldn't like (at first).

After I got passed the licorice thing it was incredible. Up until then I wasn't that impressed.

Pepper and citrus. Noting earth shattering here, but actually quiet nice. Opening has depth for a bright fragrance, and has a sort of classy feel to it. I can see wearing this to a presentation I need to feel good to. After about two hours, the scent on my skin is warm. The pepper seems to fuse with an interesting woody note that is not familiar to me. Not sniffing myself, just taking in the projected scent, it smells nice, but a bit generic. On my skin close, I enjoy it more.

Saks Fifth Avenue for Him kicks of with some of the most played-out topnotes in the business, that ubiquitous mix of grape soda, lavender, violet, and aquatic Windex smell that every masculine scent uses when they want to smell like every other masculine scent at the Macys. However, there's a decent wood scent hiding under the laughably common top.

Given about 30 minutes, the silly aquatic grape mess burns off and I'm left with a really interesting mix of lavender and pine that's actually very nice. Sadly, that aquatic note stays in the background, like trying to sniff a top-notch niche perfume while someone spills chlorine bleach next to you. Later, a nice pine tar note comes in, smelling kind of like licorice at first, but ending up smelling like piney leather. Unfortunately, hat Windex/bleach note ends up ruining everything at the end, forming a really cheap-smelling metallic "woody amber" base that overpowers and ultimately destroys the really interesting woody/lavender/leather thing that was happening.

For anyone who's read my reviews, you know any scent with that dumb Windex/chlorine "woody amber" chemical in it gets an automatic thumbs down from me, though to be fair, those lavender/pine/licorice/leather middle notes are fantastic and worth a sniff. For people who enjoy creative aquatics or, well, guys who like mall scents and kind of want to smell like everything else but then they don't but then they do again, Saks Fifth Avenue for Him may be your grail!