ARMANI
CODE PROFUMO

2016

PERFUMER
Antoine Maisondieu

Cardamom
Green Apple
Green Mandarin

Nutmeg
Lavender
Orange Blossom

Tonka Bean
Amber
Leather

The original Armani Code was my signature scent for over 10 years, before getting into the fragrance hobby. I started wearing it around the age of 18 I think (with a bottle still called Code Black) and wore it pretty much all the time until I was 29. After that, I finally tried Profumo for the first time and while I think it’s good, I prefer the original.

The opening of the original is much fresher, but also a lot harsher than it is in its Profumo counterpart. Code Profumo immediately steps it up with sweetness and a powdery texture, whereas the original has what I perceive as black pepper in the opening. Powdery sweet is the main theme for Code Profumo; I barely get any of the fruits that are listed.

Neither of the variants are well-balanced in my opinion, the original Code had a punchier leather note, which works really well with the freshness of the citrus. It’s still a pleasant smell, although not the smoothest or most complicated, because it drowns out some of the other notes.

Code Profumo is a lot softer and feels of higher quality to me, but I don’t think I prefer the scent. The Profumo has a generic, overpowered tonka sweetness throughout the wear and, to my nose, little else to offer. There’s a warmth from the amber, but I mainly get vanilla powder. I don’t think it’s unpleasant at all and it seems like a solid date-fragrance, but I recently sampled Hugo Boss’ The Scent Private Accord for example, and that seems like a vastly more interesting fragrance for the same purpose.

Overall, I have to give the edge to the original Armani Code. My main issue with the original was the performance, which was clearly below average on my skin in recent years. The Profumo seems to hold up somewhat better, but I’m not sure if it’s significantly better, especially in that amped up tonka bean.