Dior
EDT · Men's · 2015
Fresh-spicy crowd-pleaser, the modern blue benchmark
fresh spicy · amber · citrus · woody · aromatic
Top (first impression): Calabrian Bergamot · Pepper
Heart (the character): Sichuan Pepper · Lavender · Pink Pepper · Vetiver · Patchouli · Geranium · Elemi
Base (the dry-down): Ambroxan · Cedar · Labdanum
Season: spring, summer, fall · Occasion: everyday, office, date night, night out
Longevity: long (7-9h) · Sillage: strong
Dior Sauvage launched in 2015, composed by then-Dior in-house perfumer Francois Demachy, and named to evoke the wide-open spaces of the American Southwest rather than any link to Dior's 1966 Eau Sauvage. Its formula leans heavily on Ambroxan, a powerful synthetic amber molecule that gives the scent its radiant, salty-mineral trail. The launch campaign starring Johnny Depp, shot in the Utah desert, became one of the most recognizable fragrance ads of the 2010s. Sauvage quickly grew into one of the best-selling men's fragrances in the world and spawned a full line including EDP, Parfum, and Elixir concentrations. It effectively reset the template for the 'blue/fresh' masculine category that dominated the late 2010s.
The defining mainstream men's fragrance of its era: a clean, peppery bergamot opening over a huge Ambroxan-driven dry-down that reads as fresh, masculine, and unmistakably modern. Polarizing only because it is so widely worn.
Nose: Francois Demachy
Bleu de Chanel EDP · Versace Eros · Dior Sauvage EDP · Armani Acqua di Gio Profumo