Polo Black

EDT · 2005

Perfumer · Ellen Molner · Pierre Negrin

Polo Black opens on an iced mango accord, kept clear of syrup by Spanish sage, a thread of citrus and a green effervescent facet. The heart is deliberately transparent: hedione stretches the fruit thin rather than thickening it, while armoise leaves a bitter green edge underneath. The base then turns woody — sandalwood, timberol and patchouli, rounded off by tonka bean — giving the composition a dark weight its bright opening does not predict. It belongs to the mid-2000s school of masculine fruity-woody aquatics, in which pairing an exotic fruit with a woody floor counted as a signature. The eau de toilette concentration matches that reading: bright at the top, moderate in its trail.