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12/16/2020
Landshark321
521 Reviews
Landshark321
Helpful Review
Sweet and spicy with slight animalic, smoky hints
Issey Miyake Nuit d’Issey Polaris is a recent acquisition, a release from earlier in 2020, a sweet and spicy woody/resinous mix that makes for a nice cold weather option. Apart from the black pepper, I do not detect most of the notes individually, so I’d just as well include the full list since it’s not too long: black pepper, bergamot, cypress, cedar, patchouli, oud, leather, vanilla. This appropriate conveys that there are spices, resins, woods, and sweets. There’s a vague notion of tobacco, as well, both the leaf and the smoke, that perhaps comes from the oud, leather, cedar, and cypress, the takeaway being that there is some dirtiness to counteract the sweetness of the vanilla and the spiciness of the pepper, which I’m guessing mainly account for the sweet/spicy blend.
As far as comparisons within the line, it’s sweeter and lacks the rose of Or Encens yet has a similar incense-like center, but is comparably agreeable, overall, to that earlier release; both are nice options (I’ve not yet tried Noir Ambre, unfortunately). It does not really compare to Noir Argent or Pulse of the Night, however, the other two men’s release’s of late with which I’m most familiar. Outside of the brand, Polaris lands ever so slightly more animalic than, say, Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb or Bvlgari Man in Black, but only just a touch, due to the leather/oud. It has a comparable sweet/spicy balance to these other options otherwise, though.
Overall, Polaris feels like a relatively safe release, like Or Encens, but is similarly well-executed and makes for a versatile cold weather option, particularly for men, unsurprising in that it’s in the men’s collection, though certainly it could work for some women. Like Or Encens, it performs well and is a nice offering, though I’d give the edge to Or Encens, which feels a bit better blended overall. I picked up a bottle of Polaris from FragranceBuy.CA as part of a recent sale, and it remains available on that site (which is great) for $67 (for the standard 100ml bottle size).
7 out of 10
As far as comparisons within the line, it’s sweeter and lacks the rose of Or Encens yet has a similar incense-like center, but is comparably agreeable, overall, to that earlier release; both are nice options (I’ve not yet tried Noir Ambre, unfortunately). It does not really compare to Noir Argent or Pulse of the Night, however, the other two men’s release’s of late with which I’m most familiar. Outside of the brand, Polaris lands ever so slightly more animalic than, say, Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb or Bvlgari Man in Black, but only just a touch, due to the leather/oud. It has a comparable sweet/spicy balance to these other options otherwise, though.
Overall, Polaris feels like a relatively safe release, like Or Encens, but is similarly well-executed and makes for a versatile cold weather option, particularly for men, unsurprising in that it’s in the men’s collection, though certainly it could work for some women. Like Or Encens, it performs well and is a nice offering, though I’d give the edge to Or Encens, which feels a bit better blended overall. I picked up a bottle of Polaris from FragranceBuy.CA as part of a recent sale, and it remains available on that site (which is great) for $67 (for the standard 100ml bottle size).
7 out of 10
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