Cologne of the Week: Maison Margiela’s Replica ‘Jazz Club’

Few industries can compete with fragrance for its price gouging, misleading marketing, and focus on packaging over product. These are bought and sold as luxuries — as smelling nice, courtesy of a spritz from a chic bottle, is hardly a life essential — but that doesn’t mean they should be treated flippantly. Au contrare, the high price tags mean that customers deserve a cologne that smells great and lasts long on the skin, which isn’t always true. This series will help with that, reviewing and recommending a cologne every week, across various categories, from small and large brands alike. Whether you’re looking for a gift or a treat, this will help your purchase.To start then; a cologne I’d been lusting after since I was a teenager and finally bought recently to mark my birthday, which has more than lived up to its reputation: “Jazz Club” from Maison Margiela’s Replica line.The line gets its name both from their famous “Replica” sneakers — named as such as they were modeled after the German Army’s bog-standard sneakers — and the thesis behind each bottle, where they try to match the smell and ambiance of the title location. Maison Margiela’s “Replica” line includes the warm, cozy “By the Fireplace,” the fresh, citrusy “Under the Lemon Trees,” and the petrichor-rich “When the Rain Stops” — and “Jazz Club,” first released in 2013, tries to capture that warm, rich honey smell of cigars, malt whisky, and leather chairs.It’s nostalgic, warm, and masculine without being brash and works excellently as a winter cologne. The top notes are this bright lemon and pink pepper; the heart notes are of rich, boozy rum, accented with vanilla bean and tobacco; and then the base is smokey vetiver and various notes. Not only does the warm suit the feeling of winter, but the light top notes aren’t projected as strongly in cold weather, meaning you notice those deep notes more. If you want to layer it with fragrance oils — which I’ll write about more in the future — I would stay away from anything citrussy and instead stick to oud if you want to bring out the base notes more, or a vanilla and tonka bean oil, to round out and add creaminess to the heart notes. Given its longevity and how well it wears over time, layering is not so much an improvement on the sprayed cologne but an alteration for the interested. I will note that it excellently pairs with 18.21’s Sweet Tobacco hair styling paste.It lasts between six and eight hours on the skin, which is solid if not impressive, and it’s among my favorite tobacco-centric colognes on the market, going toe-to-toe with Tom Ford’s heavier, sweeter Tabacco Vanille, despite having a far lower price. It is worth noting that the Tom Ford is an Eau de Parfum rather than an Eau de Toilette — meaning it’s more concentrated, so theoretically lasts longer with less use — but the Tom Ford is $445 for 3.4 oz, whereas the Margiela is $165. This is for the bottle, which is simple, beautiful, and refillable. Their fills cost $130, with a 1 oz bottle costing $85, and a point 0.3 oz tester going for $35.

Cologne of the Week: Maison Margiela’s Replica ‘Jazz Club’

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