Boss Bottled Striking Lavender and Davidoff Cool Elixir Safron Mineral. The BB release sounds interesting, and could be a good contender for spring and summer this year. The Davidoff? Eh, could be good. Anyone interested in these?

Wonderful morning, Brotherhood! Today I’m bringing you one of my newer acquisitions from the house of Mancera, Aqua Wood, released in 2020 and crafted by the legendary Pierre Montale. To my nose, this one opens with a bright blast of lemon-lime citrus paired with a light aquatic freshness, likely coming from the pear note. Now, full disclosure, I’m a heavy sprayer, so the opening came off a bit sharp at first. But that’s pretty standard Mancera behavior, so I let it breathe. Around the 30-minute mark, things start to settle beautifully. The citrus is still present but dialed back, allowing the dry feeling pear to appear and soften the brightness just right. Out of nowhere… Ummm why hello Rose... where did you come from??? Totally unexpected… The Turkish rose starts to peek through and instantly rounds off the remaining sharp edges, adding a smooth elegance I wasn’t expecting at all. Then at this point musk and amber rise up and really anchor the fragrance. It creates a well-balanced, addictive scent that had me going back for sniff after sniff. As it reaches its final form, the standout players are a bright, airy rose wrapped in musky amber tones, clean, classy, and extremely wearable. Performance is excellent, true to Mancera fashion. I pulled in two compliments at work, both followed by genuine curiosity about what I was wearing. Longevity sat over 7 hours, with noticeable sillage lingering well after I left the room. Projection pushed about 2–3 feet for the first couple of hours, then hovered closer to 1 foot for another four before settling into a strong, noticeable skin scent as I kept getting whiffs of it as I moved around. The bottle is hefty, and the pressurized atomizer is top-tier, one of the best in the game, and exactly what you expect from Mancera. Overall, I highly recommend giving Aqua Wood a try. It’s versatile, evolves nicely, fun to wear, and a certified compliment-getter. I’m glad I stumbled onto this one and scooped it up as it’s definitely a banger in my book.