Gentlemen, it feels good to be posting again. As we all know, life gets crazy and time slips away. I haven’t even managed a "mail call" post lately, but that doesn’t mean the collection hasn’t been growing! Lately, I’ve been exploring a specific house: Hugo Boss. Not the standard "Boss Bottled" line, but rather "The Collection." I’ve acquired about five of these now and am truly enjoying them—especially considering you can find them for around $75–$100 or lower if you go with a tester. I used to dance around this line because I could never find samples, until a recent trip to Mexico City where I stumbled upon a mall carrying the entire range. Let me introduce you to Elegant Vetiver. It features a beautifully balanced note breakdown: • Top Notes: Pistachio, Juniper • Heart Notes: Haitian Vetiver, Java Vetiver Oil • Base Notes: Cardamom, Labdanum For those of you who find vetiver a "challenging" note, this could be your perfect starter fragrance. It is incredibly unique in that it flirts with being a creamy gourmand but stops just short of it. Upon the opening, the pistachio and vetiver are the stars. The pistachio is nutty and prominent at first, but it’s quickly balanced by the juniper, which really shines here. The composition has a distinct "cashmere" feel—a smoothness that persists while the juniper and vetiver play in the background. To give you an idea of where this sits, let’s compare it to the Lalique Encre Noire line, which many of us consider the vetiver gold standard: • Vs. Encre Noire: While the original Lalique is dark, "inky," and reminds you of a damp forest, Elegant Vetiver is its bright, upscale cousin. It swaps that Gothic gloom for a nutty, polished creaminess. Imagine Batman the Dark Knight wearing Encre Noire and Diego de la Vega “1940’s Zorro “ wearing Elegant Vetiver • Vs. Encre Noire Sport: Even the "Sport" version of Lalique can be sharp and citrusy; the Boss version is much smoother and more "gentlemanly" thanks to that pistachio/cashmere influence.

Passed by another small boutique shop for the first time near work today, and everytime I literally become a big kid. Filled with indecision and excitement I opted for another addition to my Luna Rossa stable that’s been on my eye for a while. The collector in me instantly pulls up pics to show the attendee my collection followed by Jomashop to start checking the temperature in regards to prices 😅🤦🏻‍♂️. I have to say that fortunately for me most places always honor Jomashop prices, plus shipping and tax of course which I’m obviously fine with especially because I get to walk out bottle in hand. I realized this is the new bottle design and 2024 reformulation which is also fine although I do like the previous bottle design with the silver, but man, this smells excellent. I haven’t been disappointed with anything from this line yet. It’s lavender fresh vanilla masculinity in a bottle👌🏼. This bottle will definitely sit pretty next to my bottle of Carbon, Black, and the OG. Full wear coming soon. Smell great out there brothers.