Upon donning Acqua di Parma BLUE MEDITERRANEO ARANCIA DI CAPRI, I thought immediately of Bond no 9 LITTLE ITALY, which was launched a few years later but smells remarkably similar to me. I don't think that this is a case of plagiarism, it's just that when you blend a certain assortment of pleasing components together, they are going to end up smelling very similar. In this case, there is a touch of woodiness and sweetness along with the tart citrus, primarily orange. It is the sweetness and the lack of greenness which sets these compositions apart from probably the most famous orange cologne: Hermès EAU DE COLOGNE ORANGE VERTE and its cousin, the CONCENTREE.
I am baffled by one strange disparity: the Acqua di Parma orange cologne seems to be loved by many people, while LITTLE ITALY has a fair number of detractors. To get to the bottom of this, I decided to do a direct side-by-side of the two fragrances, to ascertain whether my memory was perhaps playing tricks on me. In fact, I discovered that ARANCIA DI CAPRI and LITTLE ITALY are indeed phenomenologically very similar to my nose, but with a couple of differences.
LITTLE ITALY is brighter and a touch less sweet, and it features primarily clementine, while the dominant citrus in ARANCIA DI CAPRI seems to me to be closer to oranges. Believe it or not, I can speak ex cathedra about such distinctions, because my father (who lives in the Deep South) regularly sends me shipments of fruit from his citrus grove. My latest box contained clementines, satsumas, and oranges, along with kumquats. So I know my citrus and feel confident in making these claims.
A further difference is that the Bond no 9 is also quite a bit stronger (its longevity is not fantastic, but it's better...). Both compositions offer about the same timbre of citrus ensconced in a resinous and light woody base. They both smell great--but only if you love citrus of the orange variety!!!!
My conclusion is that some people just have a deep-seated resentment, verging sometimes on hatred, of Bond no 9.
For myself, I'd be happy with either of these fragrances, but I certainly don't need both, because they do smell very similar to me. The Bond no 9 is more expensive, if you buy it at MSRP, but testers can be had, and the longevity is much, much better than that of ARANCIA DI CAPRI.
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4.0/10
