Colonia Assoluta Acqua di Parma 2003

Acqua di Parma Colonia Assoluta is an example of the best iconic school of citric barber style perfumes. It is on the wave of Chanel Pour Monsieur or YSL pour homme. So it's herbal, dry citrus, spice on a well basis well built of woods. It has a fragrance that distances itself from modern perfumes. What is most striking is the refinement and harmony of this symphony of notes. It is a perfume for People trained in classic and slightly Vintage fragrances. In my opinion one of the best perfumes of the Acqua di Parma line! Currently discontinued.

It took me a few wears to completely understand and love this scent. On first wearing, I immediately fell in love with the top notes that are a beautiful classic smelling orange and lemon citrus blast that is quite similar to the original AdP Colonia and must be the JC Ellena part of the scent. They are his best work outside of his masterpiece, TdH in my opinion, and are absolutely incredible.

The problem I originally had with Assoluta was the Duchaufour amber and musk base that came off as a bit too feminine for my tastes initially. After a few more wearings (and after exploring other Duchaufour scents like Amouage Jubilation XXV) I have come to appreciate the dry-down almost as well as the opening. I still prefer the top notes and wish they lasted longer, but the whole package is a very strong overall work. Longevity for an EdC is incredible as I get about 10 hours.

So, I guess the real question remaining is did these two top tier noses improve on the classic AdP Colonia scent? I think the answer is "yes" in many ways and "no" in others. The opening and longevity are improved but I still prefer the original dry-down to some extent. I think I prefer the original by a slight margin, but both scents are so strong in the EdC category and different enough from each other that I feel they are both deserving of strong consideration for anyone's scent wardrobe. I own and will wear both with great enjoyment and pride. 4 out of 5 stars.

I am confused by the naming of Acqua di Parma COLONIA ASSOLUTA, which suggests that it is a stronger, more "absolute" or pure version of COLONIA. In fact, it's a completely different composition. Among many other differences, lavender and rosemary are conspicuously absent from ASSOLUTA; resins are happily present; and this one strikes me as more feminine than masculine, rather than vice versa!

These differences are all improvements to my nose. COLONIA ASSOLUTA is a very subtle, smooth, resinous perfume with such an understated presence that it seems more like a base than a full-fledged perfume. I'm not that surprised, though, since minimalism is Ellena's signature style. Overall, I think that I find his work more conceptually than perfumically appealing. I would definitely wear ASSOLUTA, if I had a bottle, but I also wouldn't go out of my way to obtain one.

2018 Update - After repeated wearings, I've come to find that I really enjoy this much more than after the initial wearing that prompted the review below. Once I came to terms with this being a very different fragrance than the original - not a flanker - I was able jettison the bias of an irrelevant benchmark and judge this on its own merits - as a well-constructed citrus - woody - patchouli construct with a touch of amber and floral sweetness - jasmine/rose.

Old (2013) Review - I have to say this is a bit of a disappointment to me after the original, which is one of my all time favorites. The citrus opening on this one seems more synthetic and lacks the original's nice balance with an herbal note. There is less complexity and less quality to my nose. The dry down is also very pale and never completely looses the touch of sweet industrial solvent that spoils this for me. Not a negative because overall it's still a decent, wearable fragrance. It's just that its a bit like the undistinguished child of a legendary parent to me.

Great option for summer. Classy and elegant.

In my opinion the pimento note and the ylang-ylang give an edge to this fragrance. I would say this is a green floral fragrance.

It reminds me a bit of Guerlain's Cologne Du 68 when dries down (a little powdery).

Great sillage and projection for a cologne. Definetely worth it.

Updated January 2014