Armani CodeBlack Code Giorgio Armani 2004Eau de Toilette

Armani Code / Black Code (Eau de Toilette) by Giorgio Armani

Where to buy

Search on

Where to buy

Armani Code / Black Code (Eau de Toilette) (Giorgio Armani)

7.6 / 10 762 Ratings

Armani Code is a popular perfume by Giorgio Armani for men and was released in 2004. The scent is spicy-sweet. It is being marketed by L'Oréal.

Search on

Perfumers

Antoine Maisondieu, Antoine Lie

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Bergamot, Lemon
Heart Notes	Olive blossom, Star anise
Base Notes	Gaiac wood, Leather, Tobacco, Tonka bean

Ratings

Scent

7.6 | 762 Ratings

Longevity

6.7 | 553 Ratings

Sillage

6.4 | 542 Ratings

Bottle

7.2 | 566 Ratings

Value for money

7.1 | 17 Ratings

View Video of Armani Code / Black Code (Eau de Toilette) (YouTube)

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 15.01.2021.

Rate
Collection
Classify
Notes

Reviews

12/06/2020

9
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 9
Bottle

CalisThenx

Translated Show original

CalisThenx

Helpful Review 3

Classics never die out

This little masterpiece is already a few years old, but that doesn't do him any harm, as he still knows how to convince despite his age. And when I talk about age, I see this scent on a very mature and grown man and not on a milky boy. Not necessarily in a suit, but in someone who has both feet on the ground and who is neither aloof nor arrogant, but very down to earth and rather reserved, like a true gentleman. Yes, he definitely has his freshness, but what makes him so mature for me is the tobacco, the guaiac wood and the leather, these are also the two notes I smell the most. But as in many other fragrances, the leather here doesn't associate me so much with raspberry, but is very subtle in the background. The tobacco is not scratchy and the guaiac wood seems to be a fine sanded wood, without any edges and corners as I said above
I now have many fragrances and he has recently joined me and I am happy to have him in my collection, he is really so smooth and has a very calming effect on me
The bottle is really noble with the black and also the durability is completely fine on my skin, I am at 8 to even 10h, is always different
Clear recommendation to buy.

2 Replies

10/22/2020

6
Scent 1
Longevity 3
Sillage 5
Bottle

Demetera
18 Reviews

Demetera

Less performance than a sloth in the olympics

Somewhere got a sample from this (2020 reformulated one).
My first reaxtion was a big wow. Its fresh at the opening, masculine and woody with some sweeetness at the end, but in a very interesting way. I can imagine someone using it in a suit or with a leather jacket, or even in a farmer+pullover, so its a sweet/woody fragrance with amazing versatility. Its probably okay for spring too. wow, its not too common, lets get a flanker!

The flanker just arrived, Wowowowow! okay, its not a really strong one in performance (I like skin scents like la nuit), but lets spray 7 times, it could be enough!
After 1-2 hours i just realised there is nothing left from the Code. Respray time! Another 1-2 hours, and the code gone again.

So to be clear: I like the weak sillage scents, I prefer the ones where others just smell the fragrance when they are talk to me directly.
Nonetheless this one is not weak in projectivity, its just a really really weak one in longetivity and overall performance. Probably if I have a bath in it, its gone in 1-2 hours late too.
I’m a bit disappointed.

09/01/2020

8
Scent 6
Longevity 7
Sillage 9
Bottle

Farmi

Translated Show original

Farmi

Helpful Review 7

How the failed reformulation dismantled a mainstream classic...

Guys, this is hard. Hard for my heart to take a trip down memory lane. Oh, no! :-(

But first the prehistory:
Who of you doesn't know this - even after many years of "perfume career" with strong evolution, you still often look back wistfully on your younger years, in which typical designer fragrances were often executed to your complete satisfaction. Nearly everyone had "the one", which he probably wouldn't even look at crossly today. With me it was the very first code - now it's out.

Code, then marketed as Black Code, was without question in. While most of the young clubbers with Le Male (and a little later One Million - uargh) polluted the local clubs with a sweet scent, the Armani buyers were - how ironic - with their choice of scents rather the (young) gentlemen who wanted to shine with a little more understatement. Less shouting, more whispering - had they ever managed to stand up to the above mentioned attention guns, the compliments were sure to come. In my 18-20s I have NOT received more compliments with NO fragrance than for Armani Code. I'm surprised, because especially the younger girls are more known for being attracted to colleagues like Le Male, Eros, 1 Million and Co. I enjoyed it - and Code became my long-runner without greater ambitions.

With time, other fragrances come, you develop further, you "rise". After years of break I unpacked the old code bottle again and enjoyed the memories that are awakened again with it.

Before the drydown I'm not quite clear about this yet - the (old) code is still too confused here and leaves (at least me) still confused about what it wants to become. I don't think the bergamot is as pronounced as some people say - but that also applies ONLY to the old code. When it is an hour old, it becomes the fragrance I loved so much. This slightly sweet-tart restraint, this delicate olive blossom, this depth without being pompous.

I always explain it like this:
He is simply not the ripper who honks his horn as he drives past in the Lambo - but the gentleman who prefers to park the Aston Martin around the corner and wants to shine with charm. I think you can still wear the code at the age of 50 - even if there would undoubtedly be a lot of handcrafted and historically superior fragrances here...

Enough raving, now comes the sad part of the story:
From time to time the code was dug out - but then it was empty! The last 125ml bottle stayed empty on the shelf for a long time - until I decided to get it again after some more years...

The anticipation was high, as it was again years of pause. But a hoped-for indulgence in youthful memories turned into an open mouth - what is THAT. A fake? Thinned? Hello? What have they done with MY CODE!?

I don't know what they did - and when the obvious reformulation came, I can't say exactly. But the result is a disgrace! The old code was still a creamy, gloomy, full and exciting "slop" (positively meant) - the new one is a WC-Stein Cologne with a shot of old code. Way too flat, too light, too windy. The durability (already not ideal back then) is also a bad joke. How can you just take away the complete character of a fragrance with a reformulation?

The old code was a fluffy blanket that you felt comfortable with. The new code is a sheet sprayed with toilet duck that someone forgot to put on. I'm sad, Armani!

Yesterday I bought myself an ancient bottle, just to make sure that my memory wasn't playing tricks on me - my head wasn't fooled. There it is again. My code. And I will cherish the 20ml sip left over when my head wants to go on a time travel back to youth.

1 Replies

05/31/2020

9
Scent 7
Longevity 7
Sillage 7
Bottle

Jota
17 Reviews

Jota

Excelent modern classic!

I think this is a timeless fragrance on the designer side. Clean, sweet, subtle and sexy. It has born in 2004 but remains very modern. One of the best choices if you are begining a colection. You will not regret this one. Plus it´s a compliment getter.

03/19/2020

7.5
Scent 7
Longevity 6
Sillage 9
Bottle

Condorpilot1

Translated Show original

Condorpilot1

Classics of elegance

Feel almost every man has or had Armani Code at hand or in his collection. He rightly has an image of an elegant men's fragrance with style. Somehow everyone seems to like it. To what extent Armani Code has been reformulated and the durability might have deteriorated, I do not know.

For me Armani Code was for a long time a synthetic cocktail that I always liked. Undefinable in its nuances but still round and pleasant. Although it has been one of the classics of designer fragrances for years, it still stands out from the crowd and does its own thing. This also makes him look timeless, it is m.M.n. a perfume that you can almost always wear. A fresh, already synthetic prelude, which then comes along with a hint of olive. Green olive, not black. So at least at first. But then the olive is gone relatively quickly and the scent changes into something darker. Wood, suede, light sweetness. And then the olive returns after about 30 minutes - black olive. And this change of the olive fits the scent enormously well. There is something medical in the background, which I cannot classify, but it doesn't bother me.

Well, a round, very well-made fragrance. If only it had more radiance, that would be great. You can definitely go out to dinner with it, and on a date tonight. Wearing a suit, I guess. Office? On cold days. It's a casual scent, but if you're not too casual. Armani Code has a little bit of everything.

12/28/2019

7.5
Scent 6
Longevity 4
Sillage 10
Bottle 7
Pricing

SvenScent

Translated Show original

SvenScent

(K)a code for eternity!?!?

Armani Code was something like my signature scent for a long time. I found it different, not mainstream at all, and I still feel that way today. Especially its heart note of olive and star anise, which has the citric opening immediately under control, makes it quite unique, the guaiac wood gives it some mystical depth. The tonka bean, on the other hand, I have always perceived only very subtly; and whenever I read somewhere that this scent is too sweet, I think either I have had the wrong juice in the bottles for years, or the writer has never smelled code (or, another possibility, confused with 1 million ;-)

By the way, code always reminds me of Sauvage (or better the other way around). It must be the liquoriceiness of star anise that awakens this, my association, although the EdT, which I personally own from Sauvage, unlike the EdP, does not seem to contain any star anise. I have often asked myself where this liquorice accord in Sauvage actually comes from. But that may be a different story in the near future.

Armani Code is, I think, a perfume that is still easy to wear, but I have to say that I rarely wear it anymore. Maybe it's not quite as modern anymore, but I probably just broke my back. Because when I do reach for it from time to time, I am always surprised how elegant and noble it is at bottom.

But there is also an annoying flaw in the code: its poor sillage (and durability). While the durability is not sooo bad at all, it can at least be perceived relatively long at close range, so I have always wished that it would appear much less reserved in terms of silage! I know there are numerous flankers, with better performance, but none of them smell like the "Black". Actually, what I would like is a code that smells exactly like the original code, but with 10.0 points in performance! But after all, a man should have wishes...

08/20/2019

8
Scent 7
Longevity 7
Sillage 7
Bottle

Carlitos01
285 Reviews

Carlitos01

Helpful Review 3

A market reference revisited

[short review]
The original Code made itself a place as the "other" Armani besides Acqua di Gio. It's a classy classic deserving a lot more market attention than it has received in recent years. It deserves a better place than just that secondary brand reference. Actually - in my opinion - is a much better perfume than its more famous aquatic brother.
Code is a mature spicy and sweet fragrance, with an under average performance for the notes, a nice visual presentation and an undeniable ability to pleasure ladies.
It opens with citrus as it is Armani's tradition, to later develop a bit of florals with anise facets. It dries down sweet and woody and it's in this phase that we recognise the real fragrance DNA.
The house of Armani launched a lot of Code flankers and this perfume is a bit "lost" in the shelves with so many same brand competitive offers. I would say that it is even a bit underrated. As this scent is around for quite some years, prices became competitive for an Armani fragrance and it's an excellent alternative for an elegant and formal event or dining out choice. It's not even a bit outdated and I kind of prefer it to other woody sweet formal scents in the same pricing region from similar designers.
It's one of my wife's favourites.
I give this scent a global rate of 8.0/10.00.

Music: Tanita Tikaram - "Good Tradition"

07/10/2018

7
Scent 7
Longevity 6
Sillage 5
Bottle

Rapha

Translated Show original

Rapha

Beautiful fragrance shelf life but once again the shelf life

Endurance burner, woman magnet, Pantydropper There is much which the code says, I must admit it already stands out from the other bestsellers. It is a very nice scent which has its justification in any case but unfortunately Armani has a very bad durability of approx. 4-5 hours as with the also very good smelling "He". Not particularly suitable for celebrating as the silage is not the best either. But what I have to admit is that you get some compliments. For dates therefore very well suitable with a nice meal if one does not want to be too intrusive. It's very popular with women, but men also asked what a great fragrance this is.

To the fragrance itself he starts beautifully citric with a slightly overblown sweet but not too sweet. It then becomes spicier in the course and sweeter the citric freshness is quickly vanished. A gentle woody note slowly creeps in and becomes more dominant over time, but the tonka bean never becomes too dominant. After about 2 hours I almost only smell a soft tonka bean with a nice hint of guaiac wood. As said with a better durability you could have made more out of it.
I am curious what Armani still has great in the portfolio then hopefully times with a better durability.

04/28/2018

6
Scent 7
Longevity 6
Sillage 7
Bottle

DN1982

Translated Show original

DN1982

Just to be on the safe side

That's what this scent expresses.
Classic citric prelude, which has quite some range. But in the middle of the race it goes steeply downhill. Aniseed is something sweet and flattering, but also requires an appropriate dose. Unfortunately here a bit too much of restraint. So the liaison with the olive blossom does not really succeed. Here a sweet spice like basil or pimento would have been a much better partner. Not that the scent is restless, but I have the impression that it smells a bit strange for a short time, slightly musty. But this phase fades away quite quickly and at the base he rips it out again. Woody-leathery with a matching sweetness that never comes to the fore too dominantly.
I wouldn't call it arbitrary now, because it has its own independence and there are always similarities somewhere. Armani Code is a fragrance that is certainly not suitable for friends of powerhouses, but otherwise always dresses appropriately and at every opportunity. If you are not looking for excitement, but want to be sovereignly scented, you might find the right scent here.

04/18/2018

7.5
Scent 7
Longevity 7
Sillage

Bernado77

Translated Show original

Bernado77

Helpful Review 6

Armani Code Business

It is arbitrary, the sillage and durability could be more expressive. But is it the right fragrance for these criteria? I like scents like this one, not too obtrusive, not too offbeat, almost down to earth! With a perfume you want to represent certain things to the outside world, and when dealing with customers, a fragrance with a silage that turns over would only bother me. It starts freshly scented like bergamot, then becomes sweeter, not too sweet like others, I smell clearly natural tonka bean and even if I am too old for tonka bean hammers, in this case it smells good, because in the background you can still smell the freshness of bergamot. Durability is unfortunately only average, the sillage does not kill anyone, but it is there. In short, for me the perfect business fragrance. Friendly, uncomplicated, modern but not too lurid, I like to wear it to work alongside Valentino and Invivtus

1 Replies

Show all reviews (14)