Zino Davidoff (1986) Eau de Toilette

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8.0 / 10 670 Ratings

Zino (Eau de Toilette) is a popular perfume by Davidoff for men and was released in 1986. The scent is spicy-woody. The longevity is above-average. The production was apparently discontinued.

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Perfumer

Michel Almairac

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Bergamot, Lavender, Clary sage, Rosewood
Heart Notes	Geranium, Jasmine, Lily-of-the-valley, Rose
Base Notes	Amber, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Tonka bean, Vanilla, Cedar

Ratings

Scent

8.0 (670 Ratings)

Longevity

8.1 (483 Ratings)

Sillage

7.6 (472 Ratings)

Bottle

6.3 (459 Ratings)

View Video of Zino (Eau de Toilette) (YouTube)

Submitted by MartinGE, last update on 20.01.2019

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Reviews

10/13/2018

8.0/10

8.5/10

Saadi

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Saadi

Greatly helpful Review 13

Fragrance for personalities

I can say little about the individual scents, as I lack the practice and knowledge to do so. I am impressed by the differentiated way in which some noses in the community can recognise the individual fragrances. While trying it out I first thought of Amber and later I smelled the rose. Overall a fragrance for more mature personalities, it is a heavy fragrance with depth. The fragrance reminds me of the scent dealers in the Great Bazaar in Istanbul who trade in scented oils. Amber, Oud, Patchouli, Musk,... The scent is through and through an Oriental. For followers of this fragrance is definitely a sample worth. I've taken a liking to it, and now it's in my collection

2 Replies

07/28/2018

6.0/10

4.0/10

6.0/10

5.0/10

Gekko

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Gekko

Greatly helpful Review 23

A shadow of himself, or of the execution of perfume classics

With the early 50's and a long-standing madness of fragrance, one can look back on a respectable olfactory window of time and memory. The days I ordered over the bay one of my absolute favorites of the late 80's, early 90's: Zino. The fragrance was unique at the time and certainly one of the best ever from Davidoff. Spicy- woody with a creamy, vanilla elegance that was unique. Durability and Sillage exorbitant, you had to dose it carefully, otherwise it became crowdunpleasant. I bathed in the scent at the time. Other favourites with corresponding consumption were Daniel Hechters Caractere and Jil Sander Man. The latter I bought recently for horror money unfortunately tilted, while you can still buy the Caractere in the old glory. The name is program.
But when I hung up the Zino, I was almost scared. My ancient olfactory memory reported: false bottle, fool. I looked it up, nope, it says Zino.
If you know the old smell, you notice immediately that the start is completely different. Formerly from zero to one hundred, instant volume, top dog. Now it looks almost aquatic, thin, shifted, the components are probably the same, fresh bergamot and I smell strongly lavender. But the old Zino feeling stays away. The flower bouquet doesn't really reach me either, the later wood vanilla base is conciliatory.
However, the irritation remains. Paradoxically, the whole thing is even better than many others on the market, but it makes it all the clearer to me what a giant Zino was at the time.
It is certainly howling to the moon when lamenting that hammer scents have been discontinued and you have to struggle for the remainder, degrading. But I personally can deal with it better than with a reformulated shadow of myself. The list of such candidates is long ( YSL la Nuit, Trussardi Uomo, Fahrenheit, Azzaro Homme etc. etc. .....
The underlying strategy is not accessible to me. Production costs? Not really, please!! It would be so easy to stay in the market with constant quality and when the life cycle has reached the end, to release a completely new fragrance with a new name. Would be a pity for the old, but at least consistent! But this irritating fledderei has fraudulent traits.

PS: before there are any questions about the rating, the old Zino would get a smooth 10.

11 Replies

04/09/2018

6.0/10

8.0/10

8.5/10

Carlitos01

Very helpful Review 4

Thirty year old Zino is here to stay

Michel Almeirac is a very competent nose and signed hits for Montblanc, Hugo Boss, Joop, Bodega Veneta, Azzaro, Bond n.9, Burberry... besides this Zino gem for Davidoff.
Bare in mind that this fragrance was launched in 1988. For a very good reason so many people keep using Zino since 30 years ago.

My ratings:
Longevity - 8+ hours
Sillage - 8/10 (big in the first 3 hours, regular till the 6th hour and faint for the remaining hours).
Weather - spring, autumn, winter (day and night)
Age - 30 ~ 101
Compliments - from people who like a good intense woody/oriental masculin scent.
Scent - 8.5/10 (Yes I do like Boss number 1, Tuscany, Essencia de Loewe, Azzaro for Men, and some other classy old timers).
Presentation: old fashioned, but please don't change the bottle and reformulate at the same time.
Price: Currently less than 20 Euros online for 125ml. My bottle costed me 25 Euros more than one year ago.

Main Notes According to me - It is a complex scent very well mastered that has a:
Strong opening with rosewood and lavender + strong closing with immense patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla and cedar.
In between some flowerish scents like rose can be detected.
Feelings - oriental, dark, classy, elegant, a bit beasty and a bit sweet.

It does remember me Encre Noir specially in the dry down. Regarding the emotions that this scent creates it remembers me Pure Malt.
The woodsy combo that I get in the dry down it's a peculiar type of woodiness melted with patchouli and the combination is a real headturner.

This fragrance is devoted to amplify the charm around men between 30 and 60 years old, using jeans, aviator leather jackets, signed cotton shirts and stylish moccasins.
GREAT FRAGRANCE !!!!

08/16/2017

Sergio80

Just not for me

I just bought a 125ml flank...blindly but have to admit I should have tried it first. It is definitely not a fragrance welcomed by everyone, you either love or hate it. I bought it because after reading the reviews and realizing that it has a strong sillage and longevity, I could not let a 125ml flank go for just 15EUR!!But it is just not for me, it has something I would define overwhelming(perhaps I am not the biggest fan of vintage fragrances). It reminds me the Givenchy Oblique, unisex fragrance. Probably because too powdery on the dry-down. Now I have to find out what to do with a 125 ml bottle!!

11/11/2016

9.0/10

Hitchslap

Very helpful Review 2

For the gentleman.

Two thumbs up!

It's November as I write this, this is the type of weather, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, for this fragrance.

Go out and try it, dark and rich.

Goes well with that extra layer of clothing, good friends, nights out and enjoying their company!

You feel more mature and as if people take you a little more seriously with this great aroma around you.

09/25/2015

RhythmnHues

Greatly helpful Review 6

Crème de la crème

Nothing moves me like Zino. The sensation I experience is something I only encounter when I'm listening to a very emotional piece of music by someone like Rimsky-Korsakov or Khachaturian. It's 'the' best fragrance I have ever worn, so far. It's the perfume I wear for all the 'special' occasions in my life. And it's also what I wear when I'm just chilling, by myself, at home. If I had to choose only one fragrance from my entire collection, it probably would be this.

It opens with a sharp pungent herbal accord with Geranium, Sage, & Bergamot supported by a nice round Rosewood note. After a short while the Lavender peeps in, soft and powdery. And it smoothly moves from there to a beautiful, creamy, sweet rose-patchouli-sandalwood accord - and pretty much stays there for the rest of the show. I do get strong whiffs of tobacco and subtle leather but neither of these are listed. The tobacco must be the Ambergris. That's the beauty of it. The ingredients are top notch. Nothing smells cheap or synthetic. Projects beautifully and lasts all day. It's not overpowering in anyway. Perfect for all occasions. Especially for intimate moments - she will want to eat you up with a spoon.

This is pure genius. Classy masculinity in a bottle. Crème de la crème.

10/10

08/30/2013

7.5/10

7.0/10

Apicius

Very helpful Review 8

Still dangerous?

So, it is still around? Shortly after its release in the Eighties I got my hands on a miniature of it. It was a great fragrance, and it impressed me much. Zino was deep dark and opulent due to lots of patchouly – it reminded me of strong black mocha, cognac, whiskey and other less healthy things. Zino was the A*Men of the Eighties, its direct predecessor in style and character. No other perfume that came from Davidoff ever fit better to that brand. Remember: Davidoff stands for high-class cigars that may cost a little. Zino was the only Davidoff perfume that fit into a smoking room. It could stand up very well against the odour of cigars and pipes and complement it in the most pleasant manner.

I wore it a few times but suddenly I had to cough and my chest became narrow. It took a while until I related this to Zino, and enthusiasm turned into aversion. I avoided contact to anybody who came along with that Zino fume. With ostentation I would leave the room: Talk to me after you have taken a shower and changed clothes!

A while ago, after many years, I have cautiously taken a sniff of today's Zino – out of nostalgic reasons. Well, it did indeed resemble the old scent! But it is in no way the heavy juice that it once was. Like Paloma Picasso's Minotaure or Givenchy's Gentlemen it is strongly reformulated. The unique smoking room character is gone, and it is much less opulent. Although it is still something good I wouldn't protest any longer if I sensed it – and it is by far not that recognizable any longer. Also, I don't have to cough.

Regulations about perfume ingredients may play their part when it comes to reformulation. They are the reason, but also sometimes the excuse for the substitution of ingredients. You never know if a particular fragrance could not have been reformulated with more caution. Today's Zino plays a tribute to today's trends in perfumery. If you talk about it, you will have to explain if you refer to the vintage or the current fragrance.

Be that as it may, the new Zino is no longer dangerous and fits perfectly to today's smoke bans.

01/17/2013

5.0/10

2.5/10

5.0/10

Drseid

Swimming Against The Tide...

Zino opens with a smooth bergamot and rosewood tandem. The rosewood hangs around into the heart joined by a somewhat synthetic supporting rose and wormwood duo that begins to turn powdery later-on driven by an artificial smelling vanilla rising from the base. The scent becomes a slightly sweet sandalwood and powdery vanilla double feature in the dry-down stage, with remnants of the rosewood remaining and a just slightly dirty patchouli underpinning the starring notes late. Projection and longevity are both average, with the scent lasting 6-8 hours on skin.

Zino has quite the cult following and while I first tried it when it was released over 20 years ago and disliked it back then I hoped to have changed my opinion after all the high praise lauded on it over the years. That said, I am afraid my opinion hasn't changed one iota. Something about the powdery vanilla, rosewood and sandalwood combination just does not sit well with me (most likely the powder is the culprit). I did like the bergamot and rosewood open that for just a moment had me thinking I might change my mind, but alas Zino is just not for me and I can't force myself to like it no matter how far in the minority I may be. Zino is worth a sample if you can still find one to sniff for yourself, but I cannot recommend this 2.5 star out of 5 discontinued release, especially as it now commands relatively high prices on the resale market.

1 Replies

08/02/2012

jtd

jtd

herbal floral

With Zino, I felt for the longest time that I was missing something. I don’t find it interesting or appealing. It’s a bit of a stew. The balance is off. In particular there are too many other broad, rich notes (rosewood, sandalwood, amber, patchouli, vanilla) that are somehow reduced to a flat sweetness. The Guerlain-style trick of salting a vanillic amber with herbs really fails here. (Funny, then that Zino is often compared to Heritage, one of few Guerlain amber-oriental that doesn’t use the Guerlinade trick.) Whether it’s the sweet but flat backdrop, or simply the wrong rose I find the combination just uncomfortable. Perhaps this type of aromatic woody rose masculine just isn’t my bag. Zino reminds me a good bit of Ungaro III, another fragrance whose critical success evades me.

Actually both Zino and Ungaro III bring home an important point for me. I may not like them myself, and what I buy and wear will be guided by my own pleasure. But critical discussion of perfume will involve our preferences as well as objectivity, analysis and imagination.

1 Replies

06/22/2012

5.0/10

8.0/10

Gold

Very helpful Review 5

The suave charmer

Zino Davidoff means business and it ignites and pounces on my skin. Under its breath with a bed of patchouli, moss, tobacco leaf, forest woods and leather this scent really means it. A former boy-friend called it "his lethal weapon". In spite of the many reformulation Zino suffered, it is still very sensual and too passionate for the office. Zino is a super-suave charmer. Since I like it so much, I sometimes wear it myself (being a woman). Maybe I am a little eccentric, but I feel like "Puttin' on the Ritz" in this gorgeous scent. I feel very confident wearing it, because it imparts me with a kind of "gentlemanly brilliance". Warm, refined and urbane - when worn by a woman, this one is for ladies with quite definite ideas about themselves who like to add a touch of mystery to their life.