Old Spice Wolf Thorn: Cool name (kind of), but super-cheesy packaging. Kind of has an Ed Hardy look to it, doesn't it? There are almost no photos of this in spray cologne form on the internet, so I had to take my own for From Pyrgos. The Walgreens in my area carries a few interesting Old Spice products and this new fragrance by P&G is one of them. It's twelve bucks a bottle, so be on the lookout for it, and don't hesitate to buy it. Wolf Thorn isn't complicated and it's not top-shelf quality of course, but its lack of ambition works in its favor, and you definitely get what you pay for here.
Wolf Thorn is a simple citrus aromatic cologne with mostly grapefruit and lemon on top, and a brisk, slightly bitter drydown of violet leaf and some smoky-salty-sweet ambergris, the same unusual note found in Old Spice Fresh, diluted tenfold. The main attraction here is citrus, and it dominates most of Wolf Thorn's evolution. Its grapefruit and lemon notes start out very bright, fizzy, and naturalistic. Good, clean fun, without stooping to synthetic sweetness or scratchy ozonic notes. Within fifteen minutes the citrus begins to hollow out and turn rather grey and flinty, but that's the budget kicking in. They spent the bulk of their dollars on that fresh intro, surprise, surprise. But at least it isn't super-synthetic, and it achieves a convincing fresh-clean effect. If you like bitter, unadulterated, breakfast-at-eight-in-the-morning grapefruit, you'll probably like this fragrance. There are better grapefruit notes out there, but for the money, this one is pretty good.
When the citrus notes wane, naked violet leaf appears, very peppery and spare, with a slight floral sweetness behind the spice. Underlying that is an odd gummy note that inhabits all the current P&G scents, sort of a weird cross between ambergris and burnt cigarette tobacco. It's very light here and doesn't throw the balance off (precarious as it is), but I'm not sure I like it. In any case, it's not prominent enough to ruin the experience of wearing Wolf Thorn for me, so I'm willing to bet it won't put other guys off, either. You might like that note, who knows. All things considered, Wolf Thorn is a nice fragrance, very simple, very manly, and surprisingly well made. Expect two hours out of it; this is a cologne concentration. I think it's a few steps above Pure Sport and Smooth Blast. I could be wrong about this, but Wolf Thorn's spray cologne might be a limited edition thing that P&G discontinues in a year. If you're an Old Spice fan, get this while you can.
Wolf Thorn is a simple citrus aromatic cologne with mostly grapefruit and lemon on top, and a brisk, slightly bitter drydown of violet leaf and some smoky-salty-sweet ambergris, the same unusual note found in Old Spice Fresh, diluted tenfold. The main attraction here is citrus, and it dominates most of Wolf Thorn's evolution. Its grapefruit and lemon notes start out very bright, fizzy, and naturalistic. Good, clean fun, without stooping to synthetic sweetness or scratchy ozonic notes. Within fifteen minutes the citrus begins to hollow out and turn rather grey and flinty, but that's the budget kicking in. They spent the bulk of their dollars on that fresh intro, surprise, surprise. But at least it isn't super-synthetic, and it achieves a convincing fresh-clean effect. If you like bitter, unadulterated, breakfast-at-eight-in-the-morning grapefruit, you'll probably like this fragrance. There are better grapefruit notes out there, but for the money, this one is pretty good.
When the citrus notes wane, naked violet leaf appears, very peppery and spare, with a slight floral sweetness behind the spice. Underlying that is an odd gummy note that inhabits all the current P&G scents, sort of a weird cross between ambergris and burnt cigarette tobacco. It's very light here and doesn't throw the balance off (precarious as it is), but I'm not sure I like it. In any case, it's not prominent enough to ruin the experience of wearing Wolf Thorn for me, so I'm willing to bet it won't put other guys off, either. You might like that note, who knows. All things considered, Wolf Thorn is a nice fragrance, very simple, very manly, and surprisingly well made. Expect two hours out of it; this is a cologne concentration. I think it's a few steps above Pure Sport and Smooth Blast. I could be wrong about this, but Wolf Thorn's spray cologne might be a limited edition thing that P&G discontinues in a year. If you're an Old Spice fan, get this while you can.
I tried this at my local Walgreens based on this review. I found the citrus top note almost industrial in intensity. For the rest of the fragrance, you described it quite well. I am learning that often a fragrance described as Bright or Fizzy smells harsh and hostile to me.
ReplyDeleteOne of the great thing about learning about perfume is learning how vocabulary relates to experience.
I enjoy your blog very much. Thank you for contributing to my education.
Thanks for reading, and I'm glad you gave it a try. Am I to take it that "almost industrial in intensity" means it was too strong? That's an interesting description. I agree in the sense that Wolfthorn's top is really intense. Old Spice fragrances tend to be rather "thick," if I can use that term.
DeleteI meant to say that the citrus notes seemed very chemical and reminded me of industrial cleaning products I once used in a summer job cleaning traffic sign templets for a road crew. The principal solvent was "orange" but the sheer chemical intensity was vicious. The top note of "Wolf Thorn" reminded me of that experience.
ReplyDeleteI see in rereading your review you mention a grapefruit aspect. Perhaps that upped the astringency. I imagine I was expecting a more juicy, rounded citrus and was taken off guard by the "Brightness" of the opening.
You are right about the super-cheesy packaging.
"Thick" is a good description of much of the Old Spice line.
I recently snapped up a bottle of "Old Spice: Leather" and I am quite pleased with it.
Is there a higher quality cologne you can recommend that lasts much longer but smells very similar to this?
ReplyDeleteLook into Adam Levine's EDT for men. It's a celebuscent but the grapefruit and herbal kick in it is very good. Lasts a reasonably long time and bears some similarities to Wolfthorn.
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