Hudson River NY Gravel 2020

Another well done homage to past gents' fragrances from Gravel, Hudson River NY has a delightful bergamot and coriander in its opening, a sweetened lavender further in, and a placid woody, vanillic dry down. However, this line is just a bit pricey for what it offers—practical facsimiles of tropes from the past. The limitation to this line is they lend very little newness, there are no twists, no veering just a bit off the Interstate, no exploring down the rustic roads. They have the classic fougere template down to a science, and I comment Gravel for that.

This makes them eminently wearable and lovely and all. I'd be impressed if I found these sold in a swank gentleman's outfitter, standing out among the tired smoky tobaccos and languishing whiskeys that are popular amongst boutique frag brands. I just feel like I've traversed this familiar terrain so much and already have more classics than I can do with, I can't really connect with this brand. They are good, though!

Gravel, the brand with the pebbles (eng. Gravel) in the bottle is certainly a minimalist highlight on the shelf. It is a simple but visually successful idea. The stones in each bottle, according to the brand's statement, all come from the Hudson River. Good reason to take a closer look at the eponymous fragrance.

Right from the start, cardamom and coriander spice things up, while the bergamot, briefly present, quickly fades away. A slightly sweet floral note, likely the geranium, lingers a bit longer but remains cautious in the background, ensuring that the prominent rose still retains a touch of lightness. Nevertheless, the first impression of a perfume named after a river is quite dry and warm. But perhaps the "river-like" quality will emerge later?

The Hudson River definitely has a progression (haha, pun intended). However, it doesn't really become more aquatic. After the opening, lavender joins in for a while, giving the fragrance a very classic fougère touch. At least until the woods arrive, because without moss in the base, the fougère impression increasingly dissipates as the woods become more dominant. The advantage of this is that the fragrance, despite its occasional fougère character, still remains unisex for me.
With the woods, the scent takes a turn towards a warm and still dry feeling. No trace of water in sight.

Did the marketing team miss the mark again? Perhaps. However, if you take a closer look at the description of the fragrance at Gravel, it doesn't say that the scent is inspired by the river, but rather by the pebbles in the river. Aha, there's the crux of the matter. And yeah, I can still go along with pebbles, even though personally, I associate the scent more with a clearing in the forest in high summer.