Tsar by Van cleef and Arpels

Tsar has seen a couple of reformulations , one that was much maligned and the latest reformulation.  The original formulation apparently being quite a powerhouse, fortunately I never smelt the original formulation so cannot be dissapointed in what is available today.
Tsar is often described as being very green but if Tsar was a colour I would see it as more the colour of tobacco or fallen autumn leaves.  Tsar is a little spicy and somewhat smokey, there is a definate air of tobacco smoke to this along with a touch of leather.  Tsar reminds me a little of Jazz by Ysl but with the spices dialled back and some smoke added. I can see a well groomed older gentleman wearing this and this is a great old school, slightly formal scent with moderate longevity and sillage.

One Man Show by Bogart

Wow , this stuff is strong!!! I really want to love this fragrance after all it is unapologetically strong and ballsy and very herbal and spicy smelling and even has a note a little like burning wood which is usually a good thing in my books, however I am kind of luke warm on this,it is very heavy on the top notes, in particular pine and as a result lacks depth in the basenotes to support the fragrance and give it sufficient muscle and as a result smells strong but thin and sharp and reminds me of pine scented radox, as a result I quite like this but dont love it
6/10

Cool Water by Davidoff

This is like smelling the beginning of  the end of the masculine cologne, a forerunner of all the aquatic, fresh dreck that is currently available in every department store, the fact that this fragrance has been massively influential is not in dispute.  Unfortunately it is a horrible fragrance, a synthetic, detergent meshed with cheap deodorant smelling mess, I cannot understand who would want to smell like this

Score 1/10

Cuba Black

One of the better of the Cuba scents which generally range from ok to quite vile smelling , Cuba black opens with a anise/licorice blast and quickly dries down to a woody floral smelling fragrance (floral in a very manly way) with the anise/licorice note still strongly evident, their is something in the treatment of the notes and in the overt masculinity of the scent that feels a little like a powerhouse that has been dialed back/watered down in strength which brings me to my issue with this fragrance, whilst it may smell great the longevity is awful , the fragrance is gone within around 3 hours and the projection is average which means that rather than the olfactory assault that you would expect from an old school 80's vibe fragrance like this you get a whimper before it fades to nothingness which means that whilst I really like this it is rarely worn , a shame really.