James Bond 007
James Bond 007
80 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Bergamot and lime thrust forward with aggressive citrus brightness, immediately complicated by aniseed's licorice sweetness and a curiously plasticky aquatic drydown that suggests synthetic ozones at full throttle. The clash feels jarring—fresh citrus battling candy-sweet herbals with an underlying chemical undertone.
The woody notes (cedar, teak, iris) struggle to establish themselves against the lingering synthetic sweetness and soapy iris powderiness. The fragrance becomes increasingly one-dimensional here, the initial brightness flattening into a generic aquatic-sweet blur that could be any number of mass-market fragrances.
A whisper of Jamaican coffee attempts a belated rescue, adding brief earthiness and subtle warmth, but by now projection has collapsed entirely. The scent fades to a barely-detectable sweetish residue, leaving you questioning whether it's still there at all.
James Bond 007 Ocean Royale arrives as a bracing maritime fantasy, though one that struggles to maintain its sophisticated pretensions. The opening salvo is unmistakably synthetic—a chemical saltiness that aims for ozonic aquatic freshness but lands closer to plastic seaweed and off-brand cleaning products. There's an ambitious interplay between the bergamot's bright citrus bite and a distinctly aniseedy undertone that lends an unexpected herbaceous sweetness, almost liquorice-like, which fights against the aquatic accord rather than complementing it.
The composition reveals itself as fundamentally confused about its identity. The cedarwood and teakwood in the heart should provide woody restraint, but they emerge strangely muted beneath that overwhelming synthetic sweetness, as though someone's cranked the fruity-floral machine to full volume. The iris adds a powdery, slightly soapy dimension that doesn't quite rescue the proceedings. This is a fragrance that feels more theme-park approximation of "luxury ocean breeze" than genuine olfactory experience.
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3.4/5 (109)