FRAGRANCE | Zino EDT by Davidoff: A less polished, old-school fougère with grit

This one's an oldie, a product of the 80s. I don't know how popular this was or if it ever became popular at all. Whatever the case, Zino Davidoff seems to have suffered in the shadows of its blockbuster sibling, Cool Water, to the point that, I believe, it's no longer produced. That's just sad because Zino is a fantastic fragrance. Old school, yes, but fantastic nonetheless.

The fragrance opens quite strong with lavender at the fore. It has a creamy character in the usual fougère mold, accompanied by a slightly salty sidekick. The latter definitely helps in making the composition more interesting. After several minutes, the scent develops a moderately woody and rosy character, their combined aroma dancing beautifully with the lavender. Despite the fragrance's minimal, ambery vanilla sweetness, the wood is very rounded, with nary a hint of sharpness.

Patchouli also becomes noticeable, slow yet steady in its buildup. It's a cleaned-up patch but with its inherently earthy and woody properties still intact. Later, the saltiness morphs into a soft animalic accord. It isn't anything to be afraid of really because, like I said, it's mild. Besides, you should instead be thanking this nuanced addition because it gives the scent more depth and character. Over time, the creamy lavender thins out and the animalics fade but their essences remain and have seamlessly melded into the now-dominant patchouli. 

I don't know how the vintage formulation behaves but the one I have lasts a fairly long time, starting out strong before petering out after its first two hours or so. In the traditional sense, Zino smells very manly and it definitely has that old-school vibe going on. Overall, I love how it maintains that freshness typical of fougères while keeping the scent grounded in a wonderfully earthy and woody base, and made even better with just a tinge of animalics. 

Comparing it to other barbershop-style scents, Zino Davidoff is smoother than Tom Ford's Beau de Jour since it lacks the spicy sharpness of the latter but it's not as creamy as the classic YSL Rive Gauche. Rive Gauche is all clean and suave while Zino is less polished and has more grit. It may not help Zino stand out but that grit at least helps differentiate itself from other fougères. Again, too bad Davidoff discontinued it.