Aramis Perfumes & Colognes

Aramis is one of the most historically important men’s fragrances still in production anywhere.

1966, and the invention of the men’s counter

Before Aramis, American department stores barely sold fragrance to men. There was aftershave, sold with razors, and there was cologne as a Christmas present. The idea that a man might choose and buy a serious fragrance for himself did not really have a counter to stand at.

Estée Lauder created Aramis in 1966 to build one. It was launched as a full prestige line — not a flanker to a women’s scent, not an aftershave with ambitions — and it worked well enough that every house followed.

The name comes from one of the three musketeers, and there is a story that Lauder took it from a Turkish root for a plant. Both versions get repeated; we would not swear to either.

What it smells like, honestly

This is a leather chypre: green herbs and citrus over oakmoss, patchouli and leather. It is dry, bitter and unmistakably from another era — the opposite of everything sweet that has sold for the last twenty years.

Which means it divides people sharply. Someone under thirty may find it smells like a grandfather. Someone who knows fragrance will recognise it as a genuine classic in the way Kouros and the original Azzaro are. It is worth smelling for that reason alone, and it costs very little.

You will find Aramis under men’s cologne. If this direction appeals, Azzaro keeps its 1978 original going and Givenchy still makes the 1970s Gentleman.