Boss Spirit Hugo Boss 1989 Eau de Toilette

When considering the fragrance universe of Hugo Boss, one can claim that over the course of nearly 30 years, they have catered to pretty much every clientele and taste.
There has been aquatic, spicy, sensual, sporty, and even something exclusive with the "The Collection" series.

Offshoots of the successful "Boss Bottled" and the classic "Hugo," the oh-so-typical summer flankers, and what feels like 17 "Editions" of "Boss In Motion" belong, in my opinion, to the category of "Exaggerated & Unnecessary."

Let's be honest, the glory days of the Metzingen fashion label are long gone in terms of fragrance - hits like "Number One," "Elements," "Boss Bottled," or the aforementioned "Hugo" are years behind us... every new announcement is met with a critical eye from me, after all, Boss is no longer trying to reinvent the wheel (typical "Boss apple note in every fragrance) and as Luca Turin once aptly put it - the investments, that is, the money, is no longer put into the perfume itself, but into advertising - just look at all these "celebrity face campaigns." Most recently Gwyneth Paltrow and Jared Leto.

Many years before these two and current trend phenomena, the third Hugo Boss men's fragrance was launched in 1989, which I was able to test extensively thanks to "FryBender" - thank you very much!

The bottle was designed by Hamburg designer Peter Schmidt, like many other Boss bottles, and has a classic and noble feel with its Art Deco glass architecture.
The black cap with gold accents and the golden liquid underscores this attitude.
The campaign featured a couple in evening attire dancing in front of a car.

The hood open - making the best of the situation.
"Spirit" possesses the "spirit" of the 1980s and exudes its flair and mood.
It conveys a radiant shine in the opening thanks to aldehydes and mugwort with a herbal, spicy undertone. The typical urine opening note from back then is absent - that was present and still exists today in "Number One."

As the fragrance develops, Spirit takes on a woody, floral character with a bitter anise note, which does not really turn sweet. Rather, it is a dry, minty shading.
It reminds me of dry hay and parched fields.

Thanks to all the green notes, Spirit divides me and gives me a certain skepticism. Is it a floral chypre or a mossy fougère?
At least it embodies both character traits.

In the drydown, Spirit now develops into a dry, woody candidate with aromatic tobacco and moss nuances. Extremely masculine and self-assured!

The spectacle ends within 7-8 hours and leaves me once again with that typical "feels familiar" temperament.
Surely my father had it before the impactful "Fahrenheit cut" for me ;)

Looking back, Spirit was neither revolutionary nor groundbreaking.
It lasted just 8 years, being discontinued between 1996 and 1997.
Thus, the 1980s flair remains only in Number One.
Both smell quite similar to me, although I currently have no direct comparison.
From memory, Number One seems a bit more citrusy and richer.

But I could be mistaken… reason enough for a soon comparison…