Pino Silvestre Sport Cologne Pino Silvestre 2008

(Fast) uncommented fragrances No. 30

My predecessor may forgive me for calling the fragrance (almost) uncommented, especially since the comment, despite its brevity, is very expressive and accurate. Nevertheless, there is still a little room for more detailed descriptions, and I want to take advantage of that.

Tell me, who might the little man be, standing alone in the forest...

Pino Silvestre is sympathetic to me. Fundamentally sympathetic. The brand is affordable, smells pleasantly antiquated but not stale, interprets the concept of fresh, clear fragrance far from the idea of office scents or sport fragrances (I refrain from naming one of the countless examples from the mainstream market) and has a beautiful bottle. You read that right: the bottle shaped like a pine cone is, for me, part of the Pino Silvestre concept just as the Guerlinade is to Guerlain. Without this bottle, the fragrance certainly wouldn’t have become a cult classic so easily. You have to experience how it feels in your hand, how it molds to your grip and leaves a tactile memory that you won’t forget for the rest of your life. Even at the end of my life, I would remember the sensation that the Pino Silvestre bottle creates in the palm of my hand.

Let’s turn from aesthetics to the truly important aspects of any fragrance: the scent. Here, of course, we find the kinship to the classic green Pino Silvestre: how it smells can be read in my and many other comments on Pino Silvestre. The dominant notes are primarily coniferous: pine, resin. But there is also a green-herbaceous component that is pleasing. The fragrance has character, is somewhat gnarly-resinous, not a faceless office scent with roots in the 90s. We are in the mid-50s, ladies and gentlemen, when fragrances still had character, even at the risk of not appealing to everyone, a time when they didn’t smell inconspicuous like deodorant or room fragrance.

Back to the contemporary version: Pino Silvestre Sport Cologne (2008) with the yellow cap, which is the focus here today.

Surprisingly, the fragrance opens so dominantly citrusy that the edges and corners of the old Pino Silvestre are initially buried under this lemon grove. More and more, however, the classic-spicy tone of the old Pino emerges, even if the pine needle scent from the heart of the old one doesn’t really make an appearance. At first, I thought the absence of the pine needle in the notes for this version was a mistake. However, one might come to the thought that it was perhaps so subtly processed that it hardly plays a real role here.

The base of Sport Cologne is a bit angular and unharmonious, almost like its ancient predecessor, which also has a base note that isn’t entirely conciliatory, but rather reminds one of the male generation of our fathers (and grandfathers). So be it. This also somehow contributes to the charm of this fragrance, that it doesn’t dissolve into the pleasant scents of amber, musk, and vanilla, even though some of these notes are indeed mentioned here. They don’t seem to play a significant role. The fragrance is and remains not very cuddly.

Nevertheless, the rugged charm seems to appeal to some women as they are mentioned as owners in the column on the right. Some women even claim they are into the masculine charm of real men... Whatever the reasons may be for women liking this fragrance: it deserves to be worn by more than just rough brutes. I would really like to smell it on a woman’s skin. Maybe I can persuade my wife to try it...

Certainly, Pino Silvestre Sport Cologne does not reach the monolithic greatness of its olfactory grandfather, the ancient classic between Tabac Original, Russian Leather, and Old Spice. However, it deserves a test at your trusted drugstore, even if my rating may not resonate with everyone afterwards.
I stand by this and love these simple classics: old-fashioned - in the best sense of the word.