Consort Boadicea the Victorious 2016

"You must take the A train
to go to Sugar Hill, way up in Harlem.
If you miss the A train,
you'll find you missed the quickest way to Harlem"

Billy Strayhorn's jazz standard "Take the A Train" refers to the A subway line that runs through Manhattan to Harlem. In the Sugar Hill neighborhood, which became home to many wealthy African Americans starting in the 1920s, many musicians settled, including Duke Ellington, for whom the song was composed. Anyone who could afford an apartment in Sugar Hill had truly made it.

The story of Aventus is also one of rapid ascent. It has been on the market for less than ten years, yet it is one of the most successful and arguably the most polarizing men's fragrances in the niche sector. Nowadays, it feels like not only cheap imitators can be found (1), but also countless (partly upscale, high-priced) niche brands have, shall we say, been inspired to launch similar scents (2).

(1 L'Aventure, Supremacy Silver, Insurrection II Pure, Club de Nuit Intense Man, Tierra del Fuego, Vibrant Leather, Pineapple Vintage Intense, Dua/Alexandria Fragrances, ...)
(2 Hacivat, Orion, Nero, Royal Vintage, Cedrat Boise, Elysium, Morning Chess, Heroique, Floris 1976, Loewe Esencia etc.)

The A(ventus) Train has also been taken by Boadicea the Victorious. The result, Consort, unmistakably shares Aventus' slightly fresh, spicy, and dry-woody facets, but overall feels a bit airier. The top note is more citrusy than that of Creed's, thus only partially reminiscent of pineapple and has a slightly more pronounced sharpness, which quickly subsides. In the middle phase, Consort moves further away from its inspiration and resembles Nishane's Hacivat more, due to its greener and soft-floral orientation. However, it never becomes extremely floral, nor does it become truly smoky. I would also classify Aventus as only very subtly smoky - compared to many other niche fragrances - and yet it offers a bit more fullness (musk). In return, Consort scores with a pleasantly bright wood base that lingers on the skin quite a while. In my opinion, longevity and projection are comparable to Aventus.

Both fragrances share a certain fundamental issue: despite all their versatility and solid quality, I simply do not feel any emotional connection, as is the case with other perfumes. Both are pleasant to wear, but the price is (nowadays) excessive at €270 for 100 ml for Aventus and even nearly €300 for Consort, which also does not deserve a better rating because it does not stand out qualitatively from Creed's bestseller.