Bottega Veneta Pour Homme’s inspiration was “the outdoors”…the Italian outdoors; the company description ignites wanderlust:
…a journey north from the Veneto region, where we find ourselves in the Dolomites. Amid the lush mountain meadows, sits a farmhouse; a rustic retreat from reality. The interior is paneled with pinewood and the windows are open wide, letting in a gentle breeze evocative of hay, fir cones, and pine needles from the nearby woods; combined with the chilled air from the glacial stream that is bordered by wild irises.
(We’ll stop there, because the rest of the narrative1 becomes muddled.)
If Bottega Veneta Pour Homme takes me to that cabin in the mountains of Italy, I’ll be happy!
Bottega Veneta Pour Homme2 opens with a fragrance note that mimics the aroma of pine needles — you can almost feel the waxy-sticky needles in your hands. Fir balsam and pimento add warmth and richness to the opening (I detect some background bergamot, too). Quickly, the slightly “meaty” aroma of sage emerges but stays “still” (and does not obliterate the pine-pimento accord). Almost on queue (following the company’s Dolomite farmhouse description) comes the “hay” — the scent of bundles of dusty, dried herbs. The lovely base of Bottega Veneta Pour Homme, with its quiet wood-leather and subtle muskiness, I assume, is thanks to labdanum.
Bottega Veneta Pour Homme is a quiet perfume (it has only average lasting power and it doesn't venture far from one's body) so it's perfect for office/airplane/theatre wear, or intimate moments when someone has to come CLOSE to smell it. I'd classify Bottega Veneta Pour Homme as an adult/masculine perfume, perhaps a little grown-up/complex for teens or those who hanker for simple, fresh/ozonic fragrances.
My only complaint about Bottega Veneta Pour Homme doesn't concern the juice; the company should have made a "wild" commercial, starring a handsome mountain man (instead of the dull high-rise scene with an almost-zombie model — cute, but bland). Bottega Veneta Pour Homme leaves the scent I reviewed last week, Gucci Made to Measure, in the dust (or mountain mist)...its ingredients smell richer, more deluxe (though it's just marginally more expensive than Made to Measure). I like Bottega Veneta Pour Homme and hope, during the holiday shopping season, that lots of people agree and give it as a gift to the men in their lives (I'd much rather smell it than other recent designer perfumes for men).
Me? I don't need another bottle of anything...unless that bottle of perfume literally transports me to Italy.
Bottega Veneta Pour Homme Eau de Toilette (currently a Nordstrom exclusive) is available in 50 ml ($80) and 90 ml ($110).
1. From Bottega Veneta’s website: “A built-in wood bench is made comfortable by gracefully aged leather cushions, and seated there is a man taking a break between his heavy work schedule and an upcoming mountain climbing excursion. This vision fuses rugged sensuality, subtle intellect, and raw intrigue that lingers in the mind like a memory not soon to be forgotten.”
2. Perfumers: Daniela Andrier and Antoine Maisondieu; ingredients: bergamot, pine, juniper berry, Jamaican pimento, labdanum, fir balsam, sage, patchouli, and leather
Note: bottom image of Dolomite cabin via Wikimedia Commons.
Thanks so much for this review Kevin! You’ve revived my interest–I got a scent strip (in the Nordstrom’s catalog, maybe?) that smelled disappointingly “sporty”, but what you’re describing sounds much better! I’ll make a point of going to try some of the real stuff. (After Marni, I suppose I should know to give Daniela Andrier the benefit of the doubt!)
CH: the pine shows up strong on a scent strip.
I tried this at an airport and thought it was rather nice. I compared it to the female version, and liked this one better. The shop also had a small section of Lutens so I sprayed some Feminite du Bois and that left Bottega Veneta Pour Homme in the dust … But after reading your review, I feel I should give it one more try.
Morgana…it has been a LONG time since I have tried that Lutens…it’s certainly more powerful.
Great to see a review of this. I have not yet smelled this but I am looking forward to doing so as I like the woman’s one but wanted to wait for this before making a buying decision. Ha, yes the back story does get quite muddled doesn’t it? Maybe they need you for an urgent rewrite (and a mountain man reshoot!). I guess they are pitchin’ it to the city boys though. I like the colourway of the magazine ad though and the contemplative look on Zak’s face. Sure he would have been just as comfortable rolling around in a forest and dipping into a lake somewhere in Italy as an alternative to the video location. Nice camera work with the reflective glass work. Imagine if you saw a woman staring back at you through your window. I would be confused at the intent of scent. All for transformation by ‘fumes but not to actual gender reassignment by inhalation.
JR: I’d be happy to direct that shoot…I’d need a month pre-shoot for ‘research’ in the Dolomites.
Can I be onsite caterer for the research AND shoot please? Or Zak’s PA and trainer… I could ensure the Tristan prelude is on constant replay…
Ha! Hired.
I liked this one too! My husband has requested this for Christmas and I will gladly oblige!
So, you found it nice but not necessarily full bottle worthy(fbw:)) for yourself? Do you have enough in your collection or are you looking for more of a love?
The creepy, serial killer commercial was a disappointment…agree with the rugged, mountain man..would have been much better!
This guy, idk if it’s the creepy lighting or what, looked waxy, pale and feminine…did I mention he looked creepy?!!
Omega…I just don’t need even a decant of anything till I finish, oh, twelve bottles!
Yes he’s in the high rise but as he stares across the rooftops what he longs for is the farm house in the Dolomites. He has his life laid out for him as an urban zombie but it’s not enough. A bottle of Bottega Veneta pour Homme will take him to that other place.
See? Works …
Annemarie: it does work.
I really like the scent, too. It’s just that I had such high expectations after the ‘female’ version that it somehow fell behind. I do agree it’s a close-to-the-skin scent so it’s you – the wearer – who will enjoy it the most (though after a couple of hours you will need to actually sniff your wrists) Still, the original BV is so perfect in my books that it’s simply unsurpassed. I absolutely love it, I wear it and I don’t care at all if it doesn’t carry a ‘pour homme’ sign on it.
I completely agree, the ‘female’ version is way better, and I’m a guy who wears the original. I seem to catch hints of the original in the men’s version, but it is so well-mannered it leaves me wanting more…
the female version is far better than this imho