Davidoff
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Absinth dominates immediately with its anise-adjacent sharpness, whilst basil cuts through like kitchen herb rather than floral note—this is botanical spice with an almost cleaning-product brightness. The synthetic base reveals itself at once, lending the herbal opening a glassy, laboratory-crafted quality that feels deliberately estranged from nature.
Bell pepper and pimento develop into something unexpectedly savory, with the patchouli creating a grounding layer that prevents the composition from becoming purely vegetable matter. The interplay between spiced earth and synthetic clarity becomes more pronounced as the aromatic top notes fade, creating a strange tension between culinary inspiration and chemical execution.
Benzoin and styrax attempt to provide sweetness and warmth, but their amber quality never fully dominates—the spice and synthetic character remain stubbornly present, fading gradually into skin scent rather than dissolving into softness. What remains is more mineral than comforting, more memory than presence.
Hot Water is a fragrance that announces itself with aggressive intent. Olivier Polge constructs a composition that prioritises confrontation over seduction—the absinth and basil opening immediately establish a herbal sharpness that feels almost medicinal, more reminiscent of a spiced spirit than a traditional eau de toilette. What makes this composition genuinely interesting is how those aromatics collide with the heart's vegetable-forward spice: bell pepper and pimento create a savoury, almost culinary character that transforms the fragrance into something approaching a botanical study rather than a conventional scent. The patchouli anchors these disparate elements without softening them.
The synthetic accords (88% according to the composition data) work deliberately against naturalism here. Rather than masking this as "green" or "fresh," Polge leans into the artificial quality—the spice reads crystalline and sharp-edged, never warm or comforting. This is a fragrance for those who appreciate deliberate artificiality as an aesthetic choice, not an accident of formulation.
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3.7/5 (186)