Got a solid spray to the hand at Macys, which is plenty to get a sense for it. My first reaction: Meh. It’s just meh. The good: it’s pleasant and it actually projects fairly well, I have been catching pleasant whiffs of it for a few hours now. And the woody, powdery vanillic drydown is pleasant. And… that’s all I can really say. The bad: I can’t really say there’s anything bad about it either (although there is a sharpness at the open, probably from violet leaf, that I don’t care for). This to me is just a very pleasant, super mass appealing sweet smooth lavender floral vanilla. To my taste it’s actually very unisex, like straight down the middle. Pretty light on the cardamom & leather and so it’s light enough that I think this can be used safely in all but hot summer days. I honestly don’t see this being the next big thing for Armani - there are of tons of sweet lavender vanilla aromatic choices eg in the BIR line, Invictus Victory and 1 million and Phantom line, Bad Boy line, Gisada Gold, even Ferragamo F Black all coming to mind. I’m not saying all those smell alike or that this smells like those, more that my first impression was oh man this is kind of like things I’ve smelled so many times before and this isn’t so great that it stands out from them, at least to me anyway. Not that the SWY line was groundbreaking or anything, but when I sniff things from that line, I don’t think oh this is similar to so many other things I’ve smelled before (except of course the dozen other SWY flankers lol). I guess what I’m trying to say is the SWY line has some character that I think this release is lacking. I’m honestly a little disappointed, to me this isn’t even decant worthy to test further. But hey, this is just my opinion - go out and sample it for yourself, let me know if you think I need to give this another chance!

I'm not sure if it's me, where I'm at in the hobby, or if it is just generally not a great release year, but I've been struggling to get excited about most of the new releases this year. Flankers for brands and lines that I'd been collecting up to this point seem boring and flat. Is anyone else finding this year's releases less than stellar? I'm just wondering if it's that or perhaps I've hit a saturation point in my collection. M aybe it's both? Curious as to others experiences this year, and as always, open to recommendations to things that might be more exciting that you've discovered this year.

This flanker has gotten a lot of hate, been under rated and overlooked due to its singular DNA that distances from the rest of the line. It has been discontinued. I understand the Habit Rouge lover’s disappointment, but the fragrance in its own merits it’s beautiful. IMO, It has a lot of resemblances with Dior Homme 2020, L’Instinct having more sweet/floral nuances. It opens very fresh, green and with a lovely and well balanced sweet/floral aroma. As it dries down, transitions to a more smoky, woody and leathery balanced by the sweet/floral undertones. It’s an interesting and multifaceted scent, for daytime, casual, warmer weather scent with food projection and great longevity.