Perhaps this is why Viking gets so much undeserved hate. My 10ml fragrance of Viking is phenomenal, that's why I always raised an eyebrow at the hate it gets. If most people are experiencing the version of Viking that I most recently tried, then no wonder people tend to pile on Viking and not give it the true appreciation it deserves. It smells red, and I don't mind the bottle at all. And people who claim it doesn't feel "viking-ish" should consider how many varied goods and resources vikings actually plundered from a wide range of origin. They actually had an appreciation for the exotic, and were more cultured than we often assume (maybe go read about it).

If I had to conjure it in one image, I'd say, picture stumbling onto Cary Grant, in a tuxedo, sitting in the woodworking shop of a high-end furniture maker, eating the world's best-smelling take out Indian food. It's one of those fragrances that really can't be done justice in words, but that's kind of the references it evokes for me. I've always enjoyed Viking and at the time I haven't worn it in a while, so when I came across this free 2ml of Viking I decided to give it a whirl. WHAT IN THE CRAP IS THIS?!?! This IS NOT Viking, at least it is not even close to my 10ml decant. The best value creed right now, lasts longer than the others, not hard i hear you say but this is just lovely. Opens up fruity and fresh and stays that way longer than expected, got in the car today and the passengers all remarked how nice i smelled and asked what i was wearing. I had the same at lunch. At this moment and imo the only creed close to being worth its price. I managed to get a 2108 bottle and am delighted, i was using notedAromas duplex, that is absolutely incredibly close to it, if you cannot afford creed then i highly recommend that one and 29 pounds for 100ml. I had creed Viking on one arm and notedAromas on the other, NA actually lasted longer but just did not retain tat fresh opening form as long. I normally do not use dupes but it was too good to not buy as i will not but new creeds and wait until my woman buyer, finds me the older ones. I now have 7. Your mileage may vary but if you can pay the price to get it for your collection then by all means enjoy. Viking is an underrated fragrance, and I'm amazed it still has not reached a 4.0 rating on Fragrantica. But instead of saying noses are broken, I'll just say those are young noses. Everyone's a bubblegumchomper in their youth. But instead of being similar to classic Old Spice, Viking is closer to a fuller, niche-level variation on the traditional Bay Rum. Just swap out the slightly camphorous bay leaf for a deeply mentholated accord formed by the spicy mint and absinthe, take out the Rum, add lavender and it offers the same sweet, spicy daily-wear kind of vibe. The mentholated, anisic spiciness is addicting. Someone below said "like a combination of drakkar and clubman bay rum", which is a good take in my opinion. The comparisons to Drakkar Noir would be due to both being deeply mentholated. If you compare Viking to classic Old Spice it would be to one of the fuller, richer vintage iterations of Old Spice. I just sprayed my 1981 "Long Lasting Cologne" bottle of Old Spice on card and do get a closer similarity to Viking. One reviewer said Viking is like halfway between classic Old Spice and a Bay Rum. I would accept that.The pink pepper is surpsingly clean, and paired with the minty herbalness, it really awakens the senses. This makes for a wonderful morning fragrance, and it projects impressively for an hour or so. The citruses smell very *real*, and not at all detergent-y. We all went over to give her a hug and as soon as I got close enough she told me I smelled just like my great grandfather when I'd been a little tyke. Wow. I'm about a few hours into my first tester of this and am pretty floored. Honestly, this doesn't even smell like what I think of as cologne, it just smells good, like amazing incense. It took me about 15 minutes to put my finger on it, before I realized: cloves. Then, eventually, a hint of mint, a little licorice maybe? Something very much like being in a wood shop. Eventually something very warm and floral, almost soapy, comes out. Just a little. Yea this is somewhat unique, has an small old spice relation (due to the cooling and warming simultaneousness; best way to describe that is like tiger balm effect), bold, zesty, playful, woody, cuttingly fresh, and could be worn morning or night depending on the occasion. It’s a serious and charming scent while not being too serious. Could easily be a go-to when you want that masculine scent in the warmer months when you’re not feeling the softer fruitier scents. Where to wear… at a spice market in Morocco or India or Pakistan. Anywhere sizzling. Not Viking countries like Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Scotland etc unless in the middle of winter by a log fire drinking a peaty single malt.

As with all Creed's best, the achilles heel is the price point. I would easily buy full bottles of my top few Creed favorites if it wouldn't cost me in the 4 digits to do so. If I did that, this would absolutely be one of them. Unfortunately, though, as it's only my 2nd or 3rd favorite, until I strike it rich I'll settle for keeping a small decant around for an occasional treat. Is there this much disparity between Viking batches? Of course with Creed, most notably with Aventus, you can buy the same fragrance from Creed, but depending on the batch who knows what you are going to get. The dry down still has the cloves as the predominant note softened somewhat by green notes with a faint hint of soapiness. So if you dislike cloves you best stay clear of this one. This does have a lot going on, and sometimes it ranges from "old chest of drawers" to "brisk forest air". And with a classic vetiver&lavender combo, I'm not surprised that people make an internal link to older fragrances (that doesn't mean it *is* dated though). Depending on the weather and level of activity, this takes on various nuances on my husband and different things pop out. There's a floral elegance to it too, but it isn't feminine at all - the woods and aromatics still dominate.I will update my review regarding the performance etc after I have had more time with it and sorry for mentioning the "A" word so much, haha. It’s quite in your face, A ‘I’m the chairperson of the board’ type vibe. Intimidating more than anything. If you like Mugler style fragrances you might enjoy this. That was, until 2010. In retrospect, it's safe to say that the same hype cycle which made Aventus the most talked-about fragrance on the internet also tarnished its legacy. As heated forum discussions reduced opinions to either "best fragrance ever" (hyperbolic nonsense) or "overrated" (i.e. hyped - thanks for contributing), nobody seemed to see the scent for what it was: simply a pleasant, well-crafted masculine, its only fault being that it was aimed at a different crowd than Creed's previous offerings. I would say this is suitable for guys 25 and over, it is more mature and very masculine for sure, so not a youthful clubbing scent, but still smells sexy. This would be really good to wear to a whisky bar.