Polo Modern Reserve by Ralph Lauren: fragrance review & comparison

~by guest writer Mike Perez

Wood. Pine. Evergreen. The Christmas season 2008 has arrived (is it just me, or is the entire fall/winter season just a blur!?) and the green/wood smell of a fresh Christmas tree is one of my favorite smells. In Miami, I can’t walk into a snow covered forest and smell the trees – so the smell of a tree or wreath filling my home is as close as I can get to the real thing.
I’ve looked diligently, for fragrances that smell like this: Fou d’Absinthe by L’Artisan Parfumeur recreates it nicely, alongside a generous helping of boozy absinthe; Aqua Allegoria Winter Delice by Guerlain smells just like a stiff / dried-out Christmas wreath (pine cones, twigs, dried holly berries) folded into a gingerbread cake accord with a resinous incense base.
I asked someone on Basenotes for a recommendation, and they mentioned Polo by Ralph Lauren.
Polo and I never really got along. Maybe because it was so easy to hate. Back in the 80’s I smelled this scent on just about every single male, in my junior high school locker room. Its irreverent wood/pine accord is unmistakably strong and diffuses in the air quickly…I always felt that it’s a ‘male’ Poison.
Now older, I realize how many colognoisseurs respect and admire Polo as a classic men’s masculine. I softened to the idea of owning it and even tracked some vintage (aerosol EdT) bottles of it on Ebay once – but I never bought a bottle.

Now Ralph Lauren has released Polo Modern Reserve, their 30th Anniversary Edition, created by the very same perfumer responsible for original Polo, Carlos Benaim. The original Polo has NOT been discontinued – rather they both are available.
It’s confusing, since both share the same bottle color, shape, cap, gold lettering and logo – the only difference is the new scent says ‘Modern Reserve’ on the front of the bottle.
When I sampled it I noticed a much more spicy (almost soapy) top note that isn’t harsh at all. Less resinous. But not ‘typical’ or ‘fresh’ (thank goodness). The scent evolves quickly through a few stages and one could easily miss them if you’re not paying attention: soapy basil; spice; a hint of leather and/or birch tar; the tiniest bit of smoky resin (myrrh?); and then: the vintage smell of Polo. The sharpness and piercing effect of the notes has been softened (the tobacco is gone). I, personally, prefer this change. The original always smelled less like something in nature (animal, plant) and more like a manufactured ‘smell’ of green foliage, woods and the outdoors. It suffered for this: It was lumped into the bargain fragrance category (along with other outstanding masculines like Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, Aramis and the discontinued [prior to reformulation/ vintage] Brut). When so many other products (hand soap, dishwashing liquid, carpet cleaner) are scented like this too, it’s no surprise many have a knee-jerk aversion to it. Maybe this is why Ralph Lauren decided to re-brand, re-bottle and reformulate it?
Me, I’m impressed: This new edition impresses me without cheapening the quality of the original scent. It highlights all of the lovely facets while it simultaneously plays down those less-than-friendly parts with a more balanced vetiver/leather base. It also, just like the original, lasts hours and hours! Which, I’ve come to learn, is what many men look for in their fragrances. {Stay tuned for a post on longevity, here on Perfume Shrine, soon}.

Does it smell like a Christmas tree? No. But, then again, it doesn’t smell like a polo field either. However a bottle, along with a copy of the scratch-and-sniff book ‘The Smell of Christmas’, underneath my Christmas tree might be just do the trick! :)

Notes for Polo Modern Reserve:
Top: Cardamom C02*, Fresh-cut Basil, Pimento Berry.
Heart: Vetyver-leather, liquid Jasmine, precious Myrrh Incense.
Bottom: Humidor Wood, Patchouli, Sueded Leather.

Prices: $62.50 / 120 ml bottle or $200 for 240 ml (limited edition, only 3,500 gold lettering bottles produced, in a numbered wooden box). Available at major department stores and http://www.ralphlauren.com/



*CO2 extraction or supercritical carbon dioxide is an increasingly popular solvent for extracting volatile oils and fragrance compounds from various raw materials used in perfumery, due to the relatively low critical temperature and reactivity of CO2 which diminishes damage or denaturing (otherwise the materials' odour would be altered).



Clip originally uploaded by Modetopiamodel on Youtube. Pics of bottle and polo player Nacho Figueras provided by MikePerez.