Yohji Homme (1999) (Eau de Toilette) by Yohji Yamamoto

Bottle Design:
Thierry de Baschmakoff

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Yohji Homme Yohji Yamamoto 1999 Eau de Toilette

Version from 1999

8.3 / 10 66 Ratings

A popular perfume by Yohji Yamamoto for men, released in 1999. The scent is spicy-woody. It was last marketed by Jean Patou Parfums.
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Main accords

Spicy

Woody

Gourmand

Sweet

Leathery

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Lavender

Aniseed

Coriander

Bergamot

Heart Notes

Glycyrrhiza glabra

Carnation

Geranium

Rosewood

Cinnamon

Base Notes

Cedar

Coffee

Rum

Leather

Sandalwood

Tonka bean

Perfumer

Jean-Michel Duriez

Ratings

Scent

8.366 Ratings

Longevity

7.640 Ratings

Sillage

6.536 Ratings

Bottle

6.950 Ratings

Submitted by DirkDS, last update on 02/12/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Yohji Homme (1999) After Shave

Au Masculin Eau de Toilette

Horizon

Guerlain Homme Eau de Parfum

Reviews

8 in-depth fragrance descriptions

12/13/2012

9Scent 10Longevity 7.5Sillage

Drseid
828 Reviews

Drseid

Very helpful Review 7

Jean Kerleo Would Be Proud...

*This is a review of the original release.

Yohji Homme opens with a deliciously well-blended combination of sharp bergamot citrus, lavender and the beginnings of a slowly growing licorice-like anise and slightly sweet rum tandem that at this stage takes a back seat to the citrus. In the early heart the anise and rum take the fore as the citrus all but disappears quickly, while joined by faint hints of carnation and cinnamon. During the superbly transitioned dry-down, the anise and rum finally dissipate, revealing a leather spiked powdery cocoa-like coffee base with just the faintest additional sweetness from supporting tonka bean. Projection and longevity are both very good.

The original discontinued release of Yohji Homme is a truly fabulous gourmand. The rum note mixes with an extremely well-implemented anise note perfectly, coming off as absolutely delectable. Transitions throughout the scent's development are deftly handled to the point of the scent morphing from its boozy heart into its leather and powdery coffee base seemingly out of nowhere. This kind of structure can only be achieved by a master nose at the top of their game and I suspect as others have mentioned in other reviews that Jean Kerleo who had just left Jean Patou before its release was indeed responsible for a good part of Yohji Homme's core structure... That said, credit needs to be given to Jean-Michel Duriez who officially is the nose behind this reference gourmand. As an aside, Yohji Homme is supposed to be re-released shortly after the posting of this review, and I confess I am eager to see if it is left relatively well-intact. If indeed it is, gourmand fans (and fragrance lovers in general) can certainly rejoice, as in its original form at least, Yohji Homme is just about as good as it gets in the gourmand genre, earning a strong 4 to 4.5 stars out of 5.

11/26/2024

9.5Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Aristipo
57 Reviews

Aristipo

1

One of a kind and ahead of its time

I’m thrilled to report that I’ve recently scored a unicorn: an unsprayed, 100-ml bottle of OG Yohji Homme. Launched in 1999 by Japanese fashion house Yohji Yamamoto, when its fragrances were still under the Jean Patou label, it was designed by nose Jean-Michel Duriez, probably with support from legendary Patou in-house perfumer Jean Kerleo. Yohji Homme attained mythical status and a cult following in the early 2000s, later cemented by Luca Turin’s rave, five-star review in his first Guide with Tania Sanchez (2008).

Honestly, the juice is pretty freaking incredible. I haven’t been able to stop sniffing it since I got it a few days ago (I’ve worn it twice at night, once for a formal dinner and once before bedtime). Today’s my first full-day run with it. It has a complex, three-part structure consisting of 1) an anisic fougère that lightly treads on 2) gourmand territory and ends on 3) a dark, chypre-like base. The first time I smelled the opening it reminded me distantly of Davidoff Zino and Azzaro Pour Homme — the former, due to the lavender-rosewood; the latter, because of the lavender-anise. But all reminiscences end immediately, as Yohji begins to unfurl its secrets and take an utterly unique path toward an unexpected destination.

After the initial aromatic burst featuring bergamot, lavender, anise, and coriander, it gains in depth and warmth with cinnamon, a more prominent rosewood, and a delicious licorice accord that functions as the pivot to transition from fougère to gourmand. I can discern geranium (or is it carnation?), but whatever florals are present are subtle and quickly subsumed by the irruption of its base protagonists, the real stars of the show: a boozy rum that takes you for a spin, a rich coffee that provides sturdy comfort (and prevents a hangover) and a fine grain, worn-in, brown leather that is only slightly sweetened by high-quality tonka beans and a creamy sandalwood. Heaven.

Yohji Homme was a pioneer and is the perfect gourmand for those of us who don’t usually like gourmands. It’s merely gestural in this regard, in no way evoking anything truly edible. Rum and coffee: two of the best aromas in the world, especially to someone from Guatemala, like me. I have now found my holiday season holy grail: light, fresh, spicy, warm, boozy, semisweet, suave, inviting, and effortlessly interesting. No wonder it’s a legend.

02/13/2025

0.5Scent

celeblas
119 Reviews

celeblas

1

Not Quite Yohji

As a fan of Yohji's tailoring and his work in general, I was interested to try this and see how that might or might not translate into this fragrance. To me it opens with a blast of fresh spice where liquorice is dominant. It quickly dries down into something quite like fresh powder, I get a baby wipe accord from it which I deeply dislike. I think the exact accord is the scent of Wet Ones or an equivalent mass market wipe. I get none of the coﬀee, rum, woods, tonka, leather, etc. They seem to show up at the beginning, along with everything else and then quickly disappear. None of them show up as base notes in this for me at all. Wouldn't buy, and wouldn't wear, and doesn't reflect Yohji's aesthetic to me at all. He has released more contemporary scents which probably do a better job but I haven't yet been able to get ahold of them to try. I would also like to compare this 1999 formula that I tried to the more recent reformulation to see if I like the changes.

08/12/2022

Intersport
115 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Intersport

Top Review 18

When was Yohji Homme?

Yohji Yamamoto's first men's fragrance belongs, similar to the releases of Helmut Lang, to the small circle of 'designer' perfumes that proposed something new around the turn of the millennium while also playing with classic genres. Within this equally small circle, it had a devoted fan base, was eventually discontinued, and after a few years (too late) was reissued, before being discontinued a second time (presumably for good).

Ernstheiter has already excellently explained the fragrance and its role in the Fougère reorientation, and I can only provide a few temporal points, perhaps an additional perspective on Yohji Homme.

When considering Yohji Yamamoto's work as a 'dress-maker' in the 90s, one can find numerous references to 'Western' or better 'French' influences upon closer inspection; a documentary film by Wim Wenders (Notebook on Cities and Clothes, 1989), inspirations from early French cinema, collections that were partly produced in France (a detail that the often-mentioned Japanese houses have deliberately avoided), and then the perfumes, the first, Yohji, (1996) personally crafted by Jean Kerléo, and Yohji Homme, by Jean-Michel Duriez, who was at that time the perfumer responsible at Patou. Another reference to deeply French expertise, commissioning his perfume at Patou. Through Patou's distribution, Yohji Homme was easier to find than early Comme des Garçons releases without being quite as mainstream as Issey Miyake would become in the following years.

This could also be further explored in the fragrance itself: a Fougère composition, a classic format, that through targeted exchange and expansion of some key players presents itself quite differently at first and second glance - a thoughtful, indeed restrained adoption and further development of proto-gourmand approaches - Mugler's Angel (1993) probably still hovered over the skies of Paris, here through a discreet licorice note with coffee-like undertones that were incredibly soft and delicate, complemented by a touch of cardamom that added a coolness. A look at the blotter paper shows clear remnants of this Fougère skeleton even after a few days, along with a subtle coumarin note that is never distinctly recognizable on the skin.

Yohji Homme was not available for long in its first edition; perhaps it was simply a bit too delicate for those years. The licorice note as a warm-cold combination was to be used much more distinctly the following year with the original 'dumbbell' version of Body Kouros (2000), but still clearly related. Luca Turin speculates a back-and-forth between Annick Ménardo and Jean-Michel Duriez; this speculative proximity is indeed perceptible in the scent. Perfectly embedded and finest cardamom capsules could be nearly perfectly showcased by Yann Vasnier with L'Homme Sage (2005). Yohji Homme had already anticipated quite a bit - many of the quasi-gourmand delicacies that keep reappearing can be related to this fragrance.

In 2013, Yohji Homme was released again. The return orchestrated by Olivier Pescheux is remarkable; it captures the old Yohji Homme surprisingly well overall, but perhaps negotiates the individual components a bit too seamlessly. The recognizable Fougère structure of the original version is no longer as evident, and a temporal development is hardly discernible; everything revolves around the overall accord of Yohji Homme, which only fades out as a whole. Nevertheless, a respectable reissue, conducted as meticulously as the second editions of the Helmut Lang perfumes. Here, too, there is speculation - were there only regulations that held Pescheux back from getting closer to the original, were there groups of ingredients - bases? - that Patou's team had designed, but which the new producers could not access?

It seems that the owners of Yohji Yamamoto perfumes cannot quite let go - if they are not releasing fragrances with rather helplessly/absurdly sounding names like 'I Am Not Going To Disturb You' (2017) or 'Avant-Garde' (2018), the old, elegant form of the early Yohji bottles is repeatedly used, as in the case of the latter - although not with the refined but somewhat fragile closure system that Thierry de Baschmakoff developed for Yohji Homme, but with Edith Touati's design for Yamamoto's first women's fragrance. Perhaps it is not too late for a return of the return of Yohji and Yohji Homme.

11/21/2014

7.5Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Ernstheiter
41 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Ernstheiter

Top Review 14

The Japanese Neanderthal of Gourmand Fragrances

In recent weeks, Yohji Homme has steadily moved up the list of the 100 most popular perfumes for men and has even made it into the top ten. However, this high regard has only been expressed in two perfume comments so far.

While Antonia Hilke flickered across screens in the 80s, bringing the latest fashion from Paris into German living rooms several times a year, I first learned of the existence of two Japanese fashion designers - Kenzo and Yohji Yamamoto. The former stood for colorful and lively clothing, while the latter represented spartan and unembellished styles. To put it in a nutshell, Kenzo was exuberance, Yamamoto was purism. Thus, it is not surprising that the name Kenzo has a greater level of recognition than that of Yamamoto. The same goes for the distribution of the two labels (though the term "distribution" must be relativized in light of the high prices).

As is the case with any fashion label that takes itself seriously, both Kenzo and Yamamoto launched their own fragrances. To emphasize his purism, Yamamoto created a bottle in the shape of an oversized vial for his fragrance. Everything about it is straightforward, with no embellishments to distract, and all superfluous elements have been eliminated. The spray head of the bottle doesn't even have a cap. Only a horseshoe-shaped clip attached to the side flips over the spray head to prevent accidental spraying. Anyone who has tried to get their hands on a bottle of this fragrance knows what that means. I don't want to resort to the overused example of a "needle in a haystack," so I'll simply say that it is incredibly difficult to find this rarity.

By the mid-70s, traditional fougère fragrances had already peaked when Paco Rabanne gave this genre a new direction with his P.R. pour Homme. By adding Mediterranean ingredients like tarragon, rosemary, and thyme to the traditional fougère framework, he created the Aromatic Fougère.

It would take more than a decade before Yohji Yamamoto gave the genre yet another new direction. By completely forgoing animalic substances and using new aromas like coffee, licorice, and rum, he infused his fragrance with a previously unseen spice. The interplay between lavender and anise in the top note, along with licorice, cinnamon, coffee, and rum in the development, was superbly balanced and would become the precursor to the highly successful gourmand fragrances of the last 10 years.

The sweet-spicy anise dominates from the very beginning and runs through the entire fragrance progression. However, coffee, rum, and woody notes form the perfect counterbalance, preventing the fragrance from becoming a winter or even Christmas scent. The fragrance always retains its cool spice and does not drift into an overwhelming sweetness. Only the anise is unmistakable to me; all other fragrance notes are so well balanced that it would be presumptuous to claim I could pick out individual notes.

There is, however, a significant difference compared to today's popular gourmand fragrances like "L'Instant De Guerlain." Guerlain's masterpiece evokes for me the association of a "cuddle fragrance," which is never the case with Yohji Homme, thanks to its cool spice.

Immediately after spraying, the fragrance is very strong and anise-heavy, but it quickly recedes. I find the sillage to be rather moderate, but for this type of fragrance, that's better. The longevity is also not in the upper range, lasting around 6 - 8 hours, which is rather average.

Yohji Homme fascinates me as a perfume lover, but not as a wearer. I find it interesting how someone, at a time when fougères were already long out of fashion, revived this genre by incorporating unusual fragrance notes; indeed, that he was even a pioneer and/or source of inspiration for many gourmand fragrances by the end of the 90s with this scent.

Could Yohji Homme be my signature scent? I can clearly say no; it is too avant-garde for me. When I wear it, I feel that it doesn't suit me, that I am not properly dressed, pardon, perfumed. My reference fragrance remains "Gentile" by Maria Candida G. with its striking unobtrusiveness.

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