Some people don’t like ranking fragrances and ‘love them all equal’ or think it’s offensive even, but I don’t. Taste is subjective. My favorites and especially the order may change every day, but a couple of times a year I like to assess my collection thoroughly and see how my taste has changed. I curate my collection strictly and will swap out fragrances whenever I feel I can upgrade (hence there are only a handful of #ADs in my top 50).
These are ones that I own full bottles of only. I’ll do a top wishlist and top ‘Sold and reason why’ list soon. Here’s an attempt at my current 50 favorite fragrances (as of July 2023) with some context and most notable changes explained below.
TOP 50
🥇 Guerlain MITSOUKO PARFUM (Vintage)
🥈 Xerjoff LUNOSA
🥉 Fragrance du Bois SAHRAA [#AD]
04. Marc-Antoine Barrois GANYMEDE
05. Roja Parfums ENIGMA POUR HOMME [#AD]
06. Frederic Malle NOIR EPICES
07. Xerjoff IRISSS
08. Jazeel GHALA
09. Amouage EPIC 56
10. Prada PRADA/AMBER
11. Chanel 31 RUE CAMBON EDP
12. Frederic Malle PORTRAIT OF A LADY
13. Ella K MELODIE D’ALTAI
14. Xerjoff 40 KNOTS
15. Ensar Oud TONKIN MUSK
16. Guerlain HOMME EDP
17. Serge Lutens FEMINITE DU BOIS
18. Hermes TERRE D’HERMES PARFUM
19. Atelier Des Ors POMELO RIVIERA
20. Amouage REFLECTION MAN
21. Ostens IMPRESSION JASMINE ABSOLUTE [#AD]
22. Lorga AMBRE PLATINE [#AD]
23. Perris ABSOLUE D’OSMANTHE
24. Guerlain GOURMAND COQUIN
25. Areej Le Dore GUL HINA
26. Ralph Lauren SAFARI EDP (Vintage)
27. Xerjoff IOMMI MONKEY SPECIAL
28. Essential Parfums FIG INFUSION
29. Parfums de Marly HEROD
30. Dior BOIS D’ARGENT
31. Maison Tahite COFFEE BOMB
32. Frederic Malle CARNAL FLOWER
33. Les Abstraits BELLE AME
34. Dior HOMME PARFUM
35. Nishane ANI
36. Dior MISS DIOR EDT (Vintage)
37. Maitre Parfumeur Et Gantier CUIR FETICHE
38. Marc-Antoine Barrois ENCELADE
39. Geo F. Trumper SANDALWOOD COLOGNE
40. Strangers Parfumerie BURNING BEN
41. Areej Le Dore INDONESIAN OUD
42. BDK GRIS CHARNEL EDP [#AD]
43. V Canto ADUX [#AD]
44. Matiere Premiere RADICAL ROSE [#AD]
45. Parfum D’Empire AMBRE RUSSE
46. Tom Ford FOR MEN EXTREME
47. Maison Francis Kurkdjian GRAND SOIR
48. Cartier DECLARATION D’UN SOIR
49. Mancera CEDRAT BOISE
50. Carner SANDOR 70’s
📈ON THE RISE & NEWCOMERS 📈
The highest ranking new one in my collection this year is Jazeel Ghala. Other relative newcomers are Prada Amber, Serge Lutens Feminite Du Bois, Maison Tahite Coffee Bomb & Les Abstraits Belle Ame.
The relatively ‘safe’ Areej Le Dore’s Gul Hina and newcomer Indonesian Oud have secured a nice place. A big jump for Essential Parfums Fig Infusion, as it’s a great one for versatility. Terre d’Hermes Parfum has been high and low on my lists throughout the years, but I think it deserves to be quite high. Lastly, the vintage Safari (For Her) was an eye-opener for me.
📉 TRENDING DOWN 📉
Newcomers that excite me get a bit of a bias and they tend to rank lower in subsequent list. This was the case for Tom Ford For Men Extreme and Parfums d’Empire Ambre Russe for example as they rank lower in comparison to where I’d ranked them last year. The most notable decrease is perhaps Matiere Premiere Radical Rose; I feel that over time that fragrance has become sweeter and more sugary (the same reason I ended up selling my once beloved Dior Oud Ispahan). Other descenders have to do with fatigue; knowing them very well, so it’s less exciting. For example MFK Grand Soir has slowly faded from my top and the same is happening to Parfums de Marly Herod and has happened before to Mancera Cedrat Boise.
✂️ OMISSIONS ✂️
Even with a top 100, there would be fragrances in my collection that I feel bad for leaving out. Aside from the ones I don’t have full bottles of or that I sold (as mentioned, I’ll make separate lists for those), there were still some tough decisions to be made.
The hardest ones that I had to leave out were probably Thomas de Monaco Raw Gold, Akro Awake, D:SOL MMXVI Terram and Alghabra King Of Flowers. I noticed I find it easier to leave out fresher options out when I have to make a cut. For example Gallivant Bukhara or Strangers Salted Green Mango. Some are left out because they are similar to others on the list, most notably Scents Of Wood Plum In Cognac (over which I pick Herod) or Van Cleef & Arpels Bois D’Iris & Atelier Des Ors Iris Fauve (over which I pick Bois D’Argent). OmanLuxury Angham was up for debate and could be interchangeable on the list with Sandor 70’s or Burning Ben.
🔝 TOP 10 🔝
For almost 3 years Fragrance Du Bois Sahraa was my undisputed number one. It was surpassed last year by my vintage (1960-1970) Mitsouko Parfum and Xerjoff Lunosa and that still feels right. Since last year, Jazeel Ghala and Prada Prada/Amber are new to the top. The one that made room for Ghala is Chanel 31 Rue Cambon. A fragrance that has constantly climbed up is Frederic Malle Noir Epices and this is the first time I decided to rank it over Portrait Of Lady, which was one of my first niche purchases and has lost a tiny bit of it’s magic over the years. This is the first time I ever left Portrait Of A Lady out of a top 10.
🌊 TRENDS 🌊
Good florals are hard to beat. There are several in my top and there is something about a good floral (and I’ll include iris in this) that feels majestic to me. Vintages are something that I started exploring more in the past year; with 3 being in the top 50 as of now. I expect to have at least 1-2 more come 2024 (I’m looking at you vintage Lancome Poeme). I notice that I have less of an appetite to wear gourmands, especially with warmer Spring/Summers, causing Kilian Black Phantom to be left out and for two ex-top 10 entries Lorga Ambre Platine & Ella K Melodie D’Altai to be ranked lower.