This does have a lot going on, and sometimes it ranges from "old chest of drawers" to "brisk forest air". And with a classic vetiver&lavender combo, I'm not surprised that people make an internal link to older fragrances (that doesn't mean it *is* dated though). Depending on the weather and level of activity, this takes on various nuances on my husband and different things pop out. There's a floral elegance to it too, but it isn't feminine at all - the woods and aromatics still dominate. A few weeks after this came out I put some on to go visit my parents. My sons both came with and were wearing other frags. Moments after we arrive and walk in the door my mother, who is nearing 80 at the time, says "Who's wearing Old Spice?". All that aside, it's a pretty good fragrance. Those spices hit you up front, then the lavender gradually gets stronger and eventually the tonka-woody base becomes the strongest aspect, but the spice, lavender and rose stay the whole time. Performance and projection are in line with warm weather fragrances, meaning it's not great, but it won't choke you out, either. Personally, GIT and Sublime Vanille are still my favorite Creeds and the only ones I've bought full bottle of, but this is a very good, very useful scent in many situations. What makes Creed so polarising, besides inflated prices and specious claims of royal heritage, is that their fragrances walk the line between boldly rugged and unabashedly crude, true to that ur-British sensibility which also gave us scratchy Shetland sweaters and clunky Church's shoes. Whether Creed scents would make you shiver with pleasure or give you a thumping migrane used to depend on which side of the line your own sensibilities lay.

This is acidic almost. Very strange to have called it Viking. India would have been a more descriptive name.Your mileage may vary but if you can pay the price to get it for your collection then by all means enjoy. Perhaps this is why Viking gets so much undeserved hate. My 10ml fragrance of Viking is phenomenal, that's why I always raised an eyebrow at the hate it gets. If most people are experiencing the version of Viking that I most recently tried, then no wonder people tend to pile on Viking and not give it the true appreciation it deserves.

The pink pepper is surpsingly clean, and paired with the minty herbalness, it really awakens the senses. This makes for a wonderful morning fragrance, and it projects impressively for an hour or so. The citruses smell very *real*, and not at all detergent-y. I will update my review regarding the performance etc after I have had more time with it and sorry for mentioning the "A" word so much, haha. Is this better/does viking replace aventus for me? No, they’re completely different. I feel viking is more versatile whereas aventus is strictly a summer fragrance. I only pull Aventus out in the heat or it simply just doesn’t project. Where to wear… at a spice market in Morocco or India or Pakistan. Anywhere sizzling. Not Viking countries like Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Scotland etc unless in the middle of winter by a log fire drinking a peaty single malt. If I had to conjure it in one image, I'd say, picture stumbling onto Cary Grant, in a tuxedo, sitting in the woodworking shop of a high-end furniture maker, eating the world's best-smelling take out Indian food. It's one of those fragrances that really can't be done justice in words, but that's kind of the references it evokes for me.Yea this is somewhat unique, has an small old spice relation (due to the cooling and warming simultaneousness; best way to describe that is like tiger balm effect), bold, zesty, playful, woody, cuttingly fresh, and could be worn morning or night depending on the occasion. It’s a serious and charming scent while not being too serious. Could easily be a go-to when you want that masculine scent in the warmer months when you’re not feeling the softer fruitier scents. Yes, it's really freaking expensive, and yes, older gentlemen wear scents similar to this, but I'm a 32 year old woman who doesn't care about that (there's nothing wrong with getting older anyway, the ageist crap is tiresome), I just really enjoy when my husband wears this, and it's one of his favorites (take it with a grain of salt though, I wear "o.l.d lady stuff" sometimes). I would say this is suitable for guys 25 and over, it is more mature and very masculine for sure, so not a youthful clubbing scent, but still smells sexy. This would be really good to wear to a whisky bar. It's a lovely fragrance, it's well made with excellent ingredients and it smells like something that costs a 15th the price. We all went over to give her a hug and as soon as I got close enough she told me I smelled just like my great grandfather when I'd been a little tyke.