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What a year to be a fragrance lover. There were so many strong releases this year that our list of the best men’s colognes of 2023 could easily have been twice as long—but we’ve whittled it down to the 23 we truly deserve the honorific.
If there are recurring themes among these 23 fragrances, they’re scents of musk and oud. Both notes are alluring, sophisticated, and mysterious; musk is a bit more ethereal while oud strikes us as more earthy and brooding. But there was levity in this year’s fragrances, too, in the form of vanillas, marine notes, and roses alike—often alongside those musky and oud-y notes, too. And according to Linda G. Levy, president of The Fragrance Foundation (TFF), the blending of masculine and feminine notes is a phenomenon that won’t stop anytime soon.
“The majority of fragrances that have moved into the ‘universal’ category are following those brands that insisted on being listed in both women’s and men’s categories in years past,” Levy says. (She and TFF use “universal”, as a stand in for “unisex”, “gender-neutral”, and the like. “The future is certainly universal and non-gender specific, as research has shown that consumers’ preference for fragrances is not linked to gender identity.”
Read on for our picks, some of which are decidedly masculine, while others play between the lines. If you don’t find something you like here—do you need 23 more options?—then consider a few other ways of discovering fragrances in the new year. Levy suggests trying the discovery sets that many brands offer, to help sample a reputable roster. Many fragrance brands will even credit the cost of their sets toward a full-size purchase once you find a favorite. You might also subscribe to TFF’s “Noteworthy” newsletter (scroll down to the bottom of the homepage), as well as its monthly digital magazine, Accords. The organization will even debut an online fragrance course in early 2024.
Without further ado, here are the most noteworthy standouts in a banner year.
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Brunello Cucinelli Pour Homme
Image Credit: Brunello Cucinelli Everything Brunello Cucinelli does is excellent, so it makes sense that the Italian philosopher (and part-time designer) would take time to create his first fragrances. Pour Homme, which debuted this fall alongside his brand’s Pour Femme scent, smells like a stroll through the Umbrian countryside that has inspired so many of Cucinelli’s creations. It includes notes of black pepper, bergamot, cypress, cedar, and amber, all of which combine into a spicy, citrus-forward juice. It’s a great all-rounder, but it’ll sing in spring and summer—or whenever you ‘re headed to warm weather.
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Henry Rose Menace
Image Credit: Henry Rose Menace, a welcome and optimistic guest for the wintry months ahead, isn’t nearly as sinister as its name suggests. Its musky-cypress-aquatic essence makes it seem like summer, and of course wears perfectly in the warmer half of the year, too. For all the fragrances out there that transport the wearer to the cliffs of the Mediterranean coast, this one begs the question: Isn’t the view from the boat even better?
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Le Labo Lavande 31
Image Credit: Le Labo What a genius name for a soapy-lavender scent: Lavande 31 is one of those fragrances you want to smell all day long, and that’s thanks to its mind-clearing freshness and cleanliness. It’s the bottled-up version of fresh sheets hanging on the line during early summer in Provence. This wears satisfyingly in any corner of the globe, any day of the year, thanks to the universality of its barbershop-esque freshness.
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Krigler Boudoir Renaissance 223
Image Credit: Krigler We’ve dedicated many a pixel to Krigler here at the Robb Report, and proudly so. But even we weren’t ready for the grand slam that is Boudoir Renaissance 223, a serious punctuation on the end of the year in fragrance. This oud-forward parfum hitches its hero note to patchouli, tobacco, cypress, raspberry, coffee beans, and more. It recalls another recent gem from the luxe label: Sylt Style, which was intended for a feminine audience but became a bestseller among male customers. Boudoir Renaissance 223 might register as not-so-universal, but trust us here: This eternally lasting oud wears like your best-tailored Brioni suit.
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Caswell-Massey Oaire
Image Credit: Caswell-Massey When a fragrance settles past that initial spritz and cozies up into the pores, the word for this is called “the dry down”—it’s a long-term scent that the cologne casts for the rest of the day. And Oaire has one of the most uplifting dry downs ever: suede musk, patchouli, and cedar culminate in a zen-ful medley. Rapturous, sophisticated, sensual.
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Arquiste L’Or de Louis
Image Credit: Arquiste And the award for “most beautiful scent to look at” goes to Arquiste (a niche brand that Levy says she watches closely). This one has 24k gold flakes dancing around inside the bottle like a snow globe, each spritz igniting a new shimmering performance. Best of all, the scent yields a smoky, resinous, and crisp-floral cast—yet another win from Arquiste, the gold standard in niche perfumery.
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Parfums de Marly Althaïr
Image Credit: Parfums de Marly Althaïr is a positively drinkable cinnamon-praline bourbon-vanilla potion and an invitingly warm blanket for the cooler calendar months. Like many on this roster, it also has a musky radius, paired with resinous elemi and spicy cardamom, altogether making a layered and multidimensional recipe—just like your mom’s holiday greatest hits. You may be tempted to drink it, but please don’t.
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Ormonde Jayne Arabesque
Image Credit: Ormonde Jayne Patchouli, musk, and oud are throughlines on this list of scents, but Arabesque threads them together most expertly. This intoxicating and invigorating creation combines those anchoring notes with the floral lift of rose and jasmine, as well as a strikingly spicy introduction from black pepper and saffron. This eau’d to Middle Eastern flavors and scents is anything but middling.
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Creed Absolu Aventus
Image Credit: Creed If you weren’t at the Extra Butter boutique for the launch party of Creed Absolu Aventus in N.Y.C., then you might need to freshen your Rolodex. That event at the streetwear storefront signals a shift for the House of Creed, too: From skateboards to boardrooms, this one is as universal as it gets. It maintains levity with notes like grapefruit and pineapple, while vetiver, smoke, and patchouli keep a few buttons fastened. For now, Absolu Aventus is a limited edition, so run, don’t walk.
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Frédéric Malle Heaven Can Wait
Image Credit: Nordstrom We couldn’t wait to tell you about this mysterious, spicy-musky scent—a real lip-biter from the masterful nose of Jean-Claude Ellena. Of everything on this roster, this one probably skews the most feminine, but in a way that invites male wearers to express a softer, more sophisticated, and (dare we say) erudite air? Heaven Can Wait contains spectrum-defying multitudes.
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Claus Porto Musgo Real Alto Mar
Image Credit: Claus Porto We previously committed our love to this scent in a standalone review; it leads an expansion of Claus Porto’s Musgo Real line, its barbershop-esque assortment of men’s soaps, shaving creams, and scents. The beloved Portuguese label made a splash with this aquatic-minty-herbaceous EDT, and it wears exactly like the aftershave splashes of yore (just don’t go spritzing it on freshly shorn skin).
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Montblanc Explorer Platinum
Image Credit: Amazon Of all Montblanc’s many Explorer expressions, Platinum feels like the biggest risk, and it works. You might get a hint of coconut tucked between those familiar ozonic, woody, and amberous essences, just as you might turn a head or three while wearing this deliciously grounded, confident number. It’s a great weekday-to-weekend scent, too, and feels equally appropriate for budget meetings as it does for date night.
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Perfumehead Xanaboud
Image Credit: Perfumehead Perfumehead is one of Levy’s top brands to watch, and in the past two years has made a profound impression with its high-endurance extraits. Look no further than Xanaboud, an oud-y, rosy, patchouli-y, vanilla-y mélange that encapsulates all of your optimism and ideals, then projects them in a 6-foot radius for others to benefit.
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Louis Vuitton Pacific Chill
Image Credit: Louis Vuitton No notes. Well, no bad notes, that is. Because Pacific Chill is yet another top-tier launch in Louis Vuitton’s lineup. The brand owns summer scents with its lineup of California-inspired fragrances, and Pacific Chill contends for the top spot against Afternoon Swim. Its blend of black currant, cedrat, and lemon give it this collective squeeze of grapefruit—it’s a bit like wearing a refreshing Paloma cocktail. No joke here: A midday huff of the bottle takes the edge off just like Happy Hour drinks, so imagine what wearing it all day will do for your cortisol levels.
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Altra Skin
Image Credit: Altra The London-based brand Altra entered the U.S. market this year with a five-scent assortment. While there are “no skips” in this lineup, our top choice is the musky “Skin”. Give it a moment to settle onto your pulse points, and it casts this beautiful radius that is unique to each wearer—almost like a personal scent enhancer. (Rarely do we use the term “personal musk” as something worth enhancing, but in this case, we mean that unique, pheromone-esque nature that each person possesses.) This clean scent manages to be both subtle and head-turning, making it perfect for workplace wear or a beat of relaxing optimism on a long travel day.
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Elorea Hazy Blue
Image Credit: Elorea Earlier this year, Elorea launched a collection of four scents, called “The Forgotten Words”, doubling its already stellar assortment. Our favorite of the newer foursome is Hazy Blue, which is an ode to “the bluish, hazy energy that is visible in the distance during sunset”. Its ozonic and musky notes give it an ethereal quality (which is signature Elorea, really), and a floral-citrus medley adds depth to the entire accord.
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Bvlgari Man Rain Essence
Image Credit: Nordstrom This lightweight scent from Bvlgari is perfect for the guy who wants to sport a versatile scent every day, but not have it define him. Rain Essence combines notes of guaiac wood, green tea, mineral amber, and orange for a fresh, aquatic finish, and a broadly appealing one at that. If you’d rather not wear the same signature scent as all your colleagues, then Bvlgari’s latest is a refreshing, high-return alternative.
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St Johns Madras
Image Credit: St Johns We can’t say enough good about St Johns’ scent assortment, and 2023’s Madras raises the bar even more. (One colleague gave a much-deserved ode to it.) This is one of the more broody choices on this lineup of new scents, for its black pepper, clove, nutmeg, patchouli, cedar, and amber medley. But a dusting of costas, mandarin, and lemon give it the necessary dimensions for more year-round wear; there aren’t many fragrances with that many heavy notes that wear so beautifully in summer. But that is exactly St Johns’ appeal; everything is “island vibes” with them, down to their iconic fishpot-weave bottles.
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Aesop Gloam
Image Credit: Aesop This soothing scent is one of self-reflection, inward expressions, and a pinch of navel-gazing. Gloam is devised to comfort the senses and inspire clarity. It does so with a powdery, peppery, and patchouli-forward recipe, and feels like it should be the official scent of Longhaul Air Travel, Remote Work, Freelancers Everywhere, Literary MFAs, and Bed Time. We’d even endorse spritzing it into your diffuser for a general sense of serenity throughout your abode. This one is blissful.
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Roja Dove Parfums Isola Blu
Image Credit: Saks Fifth Avenue If ever there was “Eau de Robb Report”, then this is it: Roja Dove’s haute 2023 launch projects a summer escape to a private Mediterranean island via private yacht, with a supremely opulent olfactive prowess. An accord of freshly cut grass takes center stage, but it’s rounded by notes of black currant, bergamot, juniper, and maté. Together they transport you to that island with its endless blue horizon. The bottle deserves its own shout-out, too, for looking like the crown jewels of haute parfumerie.
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Diptyque Eau Nabati
Image Credit: Neiman Marcus Eau Nabati is a juxtaposition of a paradise garden in the middle of a hot desert—an oasis both physically and mentally. It blends sappy Peru balsam, mapley immortelle, vegetal palm leaf, and crisp bergamot. The sum of its parts is sophisticated if not slightly polarizing (more in terms of people who might choose to wear it, as opposed to those who interact with it, since most people will think quite highly of its accords). Eau Nabati’s finish borders on vanilla yet feels ambrous in nature. It will find a home with the guy who takes himself seriously at work and wants a buttoned-down weekend scent, OR, the guy who doesn’t take work too seriously, but still wants to feel sophisticated and original.
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Cartier Pasha Noir Absolu
Image Credit: Nordstrom “Burning wood and caramelized sugar” is the essence of Cartier’s Pasha remix, Noir Absolu. Make no mistake: This is a sultry, date-night select, but will wear well at black-tie functions, too. It’s a terrific counterpart to your less suggestive signature scent, yet Pasha Noir Absolu never crosses the line into Sex Panther territory. Instead, it’s like a top-shelf nightcap after a terrific evening, and an olfactory underline of any good impressions you managed to make.
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Issey Miyake L’Eau D’Issey Pour Homme Vetiver EDT Intense
Image Credit: Nordstrom Vetiver is that one ingredient you can punch up in just about any fragrance recipe, and the result is something equally appealing and yet entirely transformed. Then again, this remix on L’Eau D’Issey Pour Homme also nixes many of the original scent’s notes in favor of that vetiver maxing out. The brand calls it a streamlined formula of only essentials, with vetiver, ginger, and clary sage making the cut. This scent feels instantly essential as well—it’s sexy but not overcomplicated, and approachable enough for workplace wear. Get it now, so you can stake your claim in it before anybody else in the office.
