Armani Code
Black Code
Giorgio Armani 2004 Eau de Toilette

Version from 2004

Armani Code (2004) / Black Code (Eau de Toilette) by Giorgio Armani

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7.6 / 10 1539 Ratings

A popular perfume by Giorgio Armani for men, released in 2004. The scent is spicy-sweet. It was last marketed by L'Oréal.

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Main accords

Spicy

Sweet

Woody

Fresh

Oriental

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Bergamot

Lemon

Heart Notes

Star anise

Olive blossom

Base Notes

Tonka bean

Gaiac wood Leather

Leather

Tobacco

Perfumers

Antoine Maisondieu, Antoine Lie

Ratings

Scent

7.61539 Ratings

Longevity

6.71268 Ratings

Sillage

6.51258 Ratings

Bottle

7.21281 Ratings

Value for money

7.0708 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 07/13/2025.

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Reviews

28 in-depth fragrance descriptions

03/24/2012

7.5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 6
Scent

Missk
1357 Reviews

Missk

Very helpful Review 2

The perfect scent for your black tuxedo

The thing about Armani Code is that it's extremely sexy but rather difficult to describe. It's not spicy like most masculine scents, for example, YSL's Opium for Men or CK's Obsession for Men.

In some ways it's a clean and soapy interpretation of a spicy scent with a touch of citrus and leather. There is such an aura of confidence and elegance surrounding this fragrance, making it rather formal in a way, like something you'd perhaps wear with a traditional tux.

The olive blossom is a wonderfully unique additive to the composition, bringing with it an interesting saltiness which is quite alluring on the skin.

There is a powdery like aspect to this fragrance that tends to develop more towards the drydown. Do not fear, it's a masculine powderiness, nothing like sweet, flowery baby powder or anything like that.

Refined and somewhat formal, yet easily transferred into day-wear, Armani Code is probably one of the nicest Giorgio Armani scents I've tried. It's successful in being simplistic and not too over-the-top or too edgy. The longevity and the projection is good which is an added bonus of course. I recommend this fragrance for formal wear, cold weather and those fashion-conscious men.

07/15/2017

8
Bottle 6
Sillage 7
Longevity 8
Scent

Manscents
14 Reviews

Manscents

2

A class scent

Armani Code by the house of Giorgio Armani is great masculine scent. It has a really bright and fresh opening with some sweetness provided by the tonka bean note. I get a hint of mint also possibly provided by the star anise. While i dont have a a good nose for individual notes I dont get the tobacco as listed but I do get some woodiness after the dry-down, I find that this does leave a good scent trail after applying. Longevity for me is average around 5 - 6 hours. It will project depending on skin type for the first 2 - 3 hours. Armani Code is a versatile scent and could work as a good day or night scent. My only negative is the price seems a bit over inflated.

The bottle design is slender and modern and it is easy to use when applying. Although the dark glass seems opaque there is some transparency and you can see remaining juice in certain light,

Overall score 8/10

10/03/2021

7
Pricing 8
Bottle 6
Sillage 7
Longevity 8
Scent

PedroCabral
147 Reviews

PedroCabral

Helpful Review 2

Slightly sweetened rubber leather

Armani Code itself is one of the fragrances that I've always been curious to test, both for the notes themselves and for the many positive comments made about it. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, a great perfume, but... I still expected more. I explain.

It is clearly a very high quality male perfume. Note that it is slim and elegant (we are talking about an Armani right?). The brand itself needs no comment!

Armani Code opens with a light citrus breeze, very light indeed and very fast, as anise with the wood note soon enters the scene (a great combination)! Then come the notes of tobacco and leather (note that predominated in my skin), followed by a light sweetness of tonka bean.

The reason why I expected more from this fragrance is in the sense that it was something sweeter, that it had a more intense tonka bean note. As the leather note predominated in me, I felt this scent a little more "closed" than I would have liked.

With this more intense leather note, I felt a slight rubbery touch, which immediately brought me back to Bvlgari Black. I'm not saying they're the same, it's just that on my skin, both highlighted this rubbery aroma, which I like a lot, just that I prefer Bvlgari because it has the vanilla note that made it sweeter than Armani.

Well, apart from this point that I expected a sweeter perfume, Armani Code is a very good fragrance indeed! Although it's not a blockbuster perfume, in the sense of not having an intense projection, it sticks well to the skin, which is a very positive point.

Elegant, refined and for men with class, Armani Code is an ideal perfume for those who want to feel smelly but don't want to attract too much attention. An excellent choice of perfume to wear at work!

Congratulations to Armani brand for this beautiful creation.

05/29/2013

9
Scent

Grehn
9 Reviews

Grehn

2

very good fragrance but expensive!

i Think this is a pretty Amazing fragrance!
i Think its pretty expensive, you can get better fragrances for the same Money, so thats the reason why a gave it 90 instead of 100%, this fragrance just get better if you wear a leatherjacket, so the smell of the leatherjacket and the fragrance go together.. really nice smell!

04/14/2022

BrianBuchanan
351 Reviews

BrianBuchanan

2

Code Breaker

Armani Code finds a niche in the narrow field of designer masculines, thanks to the original notes of Fairy Liquid and green olives. The rest of it is standard masculine tropes like wood, citrus and leather, and there are quotes from Tommy and Cacharel pour l’Homme.

But with fruits and a mossy note it’s basically a Cool Water clone - which fits with the note of washing up liquid, a smell that would be familiar to many from ‘doing the dishes’. But, finding it in a Cologne may have been quite a shock, and so, it would have been prudent to pair the green detergent with well known quotes and masculine themes to give Armani Code a more comforting familiarity.

That’s not to say this is comfortable; it’s bitter, in a hard masculine style with an oily-woody texture that’s slightly softened by flowers, powder and a sweet base of amber. These introduce a feminine feel. Armani Code plays the codes in a way you wouldn’t expect from its imagery of the suited and booted hard man with a girl on his arm.

Even though it's a precursor to the Spiky Woods, both in odour and image, it’s far from their crass brutality – being smooth, integrated and well worked.
And, perhaps, because Armani Code gives (a certain amount of) depth to the normally shallow masculine, it was a big success in the noughties. It still smells good today.

(Black Code sample)

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