Bentley For Men Absolute

After having had Gucci Pour Homme 2003 as a teenager back in the day, my first perfume ever, I was so happy to find this one. The smell is unmistakeably similar, I wouldn't know how it differs. Maybe the Gucci perfume had a bit more of a luxurious/power sillage and a less synthetic opening but for the rest its the same kind of spicy woody fragrance that I remember it to be. I'm not the kind of person who categorizes perfumes as being only good for the summer or winter, but with this fragrance I heavily lean towards the winter. It really has a cedary quality to it that doesn't fit a warm sunny day. It also is a fragrance that I wouldn't wear casually. It exudes masculinity and would be best paired in my opinion with a dressed up look, a suit, or anything that exudes confidence and status. All in all, a great original Gucci Pour Homme clone for its price, one that brought me so much nostalgia and many compliments.

This is as old school, woody a fragrance as you can get. It’s just something that in 2025/6 for an easily accessible fragrance you just don’t come across as a perfume style anymore. It’s woody, dry and has absolutely no sweetness to it. It’s a fantastic cold weather scent, before everyone associated Christmas pudding with winter scents (SWY/Le Male Elixir/Azzaro Most wanted Intense EDP & Parfum/JPG le Scandal/Spicebomb extreme). This is what makes it “old school masculine”. I’ve had amazingly positive reactions to it from people in the 30+ age range (and I’m in my 50s). I have all the sweet winter fragrances, but on occasion, its great to just get away from the sweetness- in a way a woody, refershing, smell for cold weather that absolute is noticeable in cold weather without being sweet. Very underrated!!

So, I probably reviewed this before but I'm not about to doom scroll to find it. I noticed I only "liked" this initially. I was likely struggling with the papyrus (smells like a wrinkled $100 bill in someone's pocket) in this, but that only lasts in the opening now. Out of the 200+ fragrances I have, this is the best woody I have scent wise. I don't have the OG this is inspired by, so I can't compare those. The only other fragrance I have with that pencil shavings vibe is Rasasi Waaw on the far drydown. But the Absolute's woody note is clean and upfront from the beginning till the end! This lasts a whole work day, but I would love for this to project more...so if anyone knows of a stronger projecting version of this, please share!

Basically Gucci Pour Homme in a new bottle. What a delight this is to wear! I'm not super crazy about the opening as there is an cumin like not in there that can be a little abrasive, and even after owning this one for a while, it still catches me off guard, but it passes quickly enough, once the dry down starts, this is fantastic. It's crazy value for the price and I have seen bottles selling for around $20. Lalique never fails to impress with quality, and this is no exception. It's definitely a mature scent profile and shares a lot of DNA with Tom Ford Bois Pacifique, as well. Bois Pacifique has a much better opening and is better quality all around, but also costs 5x as much, but doesn't smell 5x better (maybe 2.5x 😉)

I don't even know what to say about it. It's one of those fragrances you don't have a nose for until you smell it or something like it.