The first step on my fragrant path was getting Jovan Musk for my thirteenth birthday. The second step was moving up to Ralph Lauren Polo when I was in college. While I really only look at my bottle of Jovan Musk these days there is always some time when I want to wear Polo. That affection has always made me interested when a new flanker of Polo is released. It has been an uneven experience over the years but there is a nice little collection of similarly shaped bottles on a shelf in my closet which indicates there have been some hits. What I have found when I look closer is that most of those were composed by Carlos Benaim who did the original Polo. Which now makes me look forward to any new Polo he produces.
2015 has seen the Polo flankers move into something called a “Supreme” series where they feature a specific note. The first release, in the beginning of the year, was Polo Supreme Oud. M. Benaim along with Clement Gavarry were responsible and they used the cypriol oud accord but nothing about that felt like Polo to me. It had the name but it didn’t have the essence. For the last part of the year the second release is Polo Supreme Leather. This one feels like it has both the name and the essence.
Carlos Benaim
Two of my favorite versions of Polo are Crest and Modern Reserve. One of the reasons I like them is M. Benaim tweaks the spices on top in both cases. Basil is in Polo, rosemary in Crest, and cardamom in Modern Reserve. The entry spice for Polo Supreme Leather is nutmeg and even though it is different it is somehow similar enough to make it feel like a Polo. The rest of the construction is also made up of very different notes from Polo. Because the leather is being featured M. Benaim can particularly get away with changing things up in the foundation.
Polo Supreme Leather opens with a soft breath of cardamom and bergamot before the nutmeg steals that breath away. Saffron and sage provide the next additions to the nutmeg. It provides a nicely constructed triangle as all three notes form a lively accord. Rose is the floral at the heart of Polo Supreme Leather and it fills up the space within that triangle beautifully. By having it framed in those spices it keeps it from becoming too rosy. It does a fine job of butching up the rose but it is the next note which really takes care of that. Suderal is a synthetic leather aromachemical which smells like the most expensive suede leather. The leather in the traditional Polo base is fused to woods. In Polo Supreme Leather there are no woods. It is just the supple sweet leathery smell of Suderal. M. Benaim uses Tonka and a honey accord to amp up the sweeter refined quality of the Suderal. This is where Polo Supreme Leather remains for hours and hours.
Polo Supreme Leather has 16-18 hour longevity and average sillage.
This was a much more successful attempt to feature an ingredient than the first Supreme. Polo Supreme Leather gets all of the things right that I want in a Polo flanker. A spicy opening, an herbal floral heart, and a leathery base. The suede is so interesting I never noticed that the woods weren’t there until the second time I wore it. I believe my Polo bottles will be getting a new addition very soon.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Bloomingdale’s.
–Mark Behnke
