FRAGRANCE | Latitude Longitude EDT by Nautica: The odd man out in the family

I've never been acquainted with Nautica Latitude Longitude before. I simply got it as part of a "vintage lot" someone was selling. Nautica for me is synonymous with aquatics and since aquatics are my least liked fragrance family, I never really gave it much thought—that is until I sprayed it one hot summer afternoon.

Where I was expecting a barrage of citruses and so-called marine notes to give me an instant jolt of freshness, I was taken aback by this rather dark, nutty, and almost burnt-like sweetness accompanying the perfunctory, minty, citric opening. What a pleasant surprise! There's a certain saltiness to it as well, something wet-woody, along with a deep-seated spiciness that further adds flavor to the whole scent.

The salt starts melting after several minutes while the citrus loses its zing. They don't entirely disappear, though, because instead of projecting themselves as individual notes, they bond together to form this sporty accord as counterpoint to the nutty sweetness, creating balance in the process. For someone who's not into aquatics or sporty scents, I'm really digging this.

But what sets this fragrance even further apart from Nautica's light, fresh, and clean signature is its salty, musky base, which slowly emerges from as early as half an hour to as late as one or two hours. It's the odd man out in a family of clean-cut, preppy guys; a bearded, brute sailor who doesn't care if he fits in or not. I'm guessing this explains its discontinuance. The musk behaves differently depending on either the weather or simply the temperature. On some days it can be relatively strong, on others not so much.

Latitude Longitude performs quite well, more so for a Nautica. I get a good two hours or so of moderate projection and a couple more on the softer side. Much like Cool Water Deep, it is its own fragrance. The bottle's cool although it's a little unstable when standing upright, so careful there. Like I said, this was a nice surprise, and is something I'd recommend trying. But since it's already discontinued, you probably just have to take a leap of faith and blind-buy if ever.