Ralph Lauren Polo Red EDP lands in the woody spicy fragrance group and was created by Olivier Fillotin. It has notes of cranberry, grapefruit, Italian lemon, saffron, sage, amber, coffee and woodsy notes.
From the Brand - "The latest edition by the house of Ralph Lauren belongs to the collection of men's fragrance Polo which finally celebrates the fiery red color this year. Polo RED is announced as a ferocious and energizing fragrance which includes ingredients fitting the red color. The composition opens with red grapefruit united with cranberry and Italian lemon. The heart of the composition emphasizes accords of red sage, red saffron and lavender, while the "red notes" in the base are described with red wood, hot amber and fragrant coffee beans! The spicy red composition of woody-spicy character is signed by perfumer Olivier Gillotin, carrying the scent of strength, masculinity and character."
From Fragrantica - "I typically call Polo Red underrated—because who even mentions Polo Red EDT anymore? It’s long been overshadowed by its green bottle cousin, Versace Eros EDT, and other fragrances like 1 Million and Ultramale. All of them get lumped into that “clubbing scents” category. Bleh. Kind of cringed writing that. But those colognes are still talked about to this day, either with reverence or disdain by the fragrance community. Polo Red EDT, though? In my opinion, it’s better than all of them. And I wish it had a bigger footprint instead of being relegated to “oh, it’s fine, but nothing special.” When I first bought it two years ago, I wasn’t too impressed. At the time, I was a big fan of The Most Wanted by Azzaro—which is undoubtedly cloyingly sweet in comparison—so I found the weaker performance of Polo Red kind of disappointing. But something happened. Over time, as my fragrance collection grew, I found myself coming back to Polo Red regularly. “It’s that damn addicting cranberry note,” I thought. But I was wrong. Sure, the cranberry note is very pretty, but there was something else pulling me in: that coffee note. Let me be frank—that "coffee" note isn’t a 1:1 match with a freshly brewed espresso, nor is it like a cappuccino or latte. It’s a coffee nuance—it's like when people describe coffee as having notes of hazelnut or dried fruits. In Polo Red, it’s more like a combination of unsweetened dark chocolate with a touch of vanilla. As a base note, it anchors the fragrance. It’s what you notice when it clings to your clothes. This single aspect, along with some subtle herbal and citrus elements, actually makes Polo Red smell quite masculine. That nuance stays fairly flat and keeps the fragrance grounded throughout its wear. In contrast, the cranberry note is on the other end of the spectrum. It’s fresh, it pops, it grabs your attention immediately. Fruity, a little sparkly—and when combined with the other elements, it creates this fresh, herbaceous sweetness that feels unique compared to other sweet fragrances marketed to men. As it dries down on the skin, the cranberry top note fades away, allowing a slightly vanillic amber to take center stage. But on clothes? That fresh cranberry-coffee combo still lingers—and it still smells amazing. When it dries down (and it dries down fast, within an hour and a half), that fruity punch disappears. And honestly, that’s my only gripe with Polo Red. If it lasted longer—if it projected a little further—it would, without a doubt, be my absolute favorite. A 10 out of 10. That being said, it still edges out some of my other favorites just because of how addicting it is. It’s tastefully sweet. Not saccharine, not cotton candy sweet—just sweet enough that you keep bringing your arm up to your nose. No weird notes, no off-putting chemical vibes. It’s balanced, well-crafted, and a prime example of how to do a sweet masculine scent right. An underrated masterpiece (9/10)."
From Fragrantica - "This has actually aged incredible well, in an era currently where everything is a clone of Bvlgari tygar, Creed aventus, dior sauvage, dior homme intense, versace pour homme, acqua di gio, terre d'hermes and all that stuff that smells exactly the same sometimes you just gotta revisit the classics which were way better and more unique scents. Polo red has aged well, it smells different than everything else you get today and that's mostly due to the cranberry note in here you still don't get red fruit fragrances very often for men, actually quite hard to find i've looked heaps and tried every designer out there on the market today. Also most the darker fruity fragrances tend to get discontinued fairly quickly (example 1 million lucky), this one stuck around and lasted the test of time and for good reason, it's well balanced, masculine, girls love it, fairly versatile to wear anywhere and a true classic that established a lot of it's loyal fans who still come back to keep buying it after all these years"
From Fragrantica - "Once again, i recommend readers to be weary of Fragrantica reviews. Yesterday, I purchased a bottle of this gem, and after reading many reviews, I then became bummed that I had bought a great smelling, but incredibly poorly performing scent. So, before going to work, I oversprayed, hoping to get an hour of scent. We'll, here I am on my lunch break, and I am happy to report this masterpiece has been a powerhouse all morning. Funny, not in a literal powerhouse, but gentle, but clearly there type. Fantastic, alluring, unique scent. The notes are there. Very nice. So glad, because so far, ALL of my Ralph Lauren fragrances are bangers. Yep, I'm a fan boy. Money well spent."
