Creed Millésime Impérial Decant

Millésime Impérial is the fragrance people mean when they say something smells expensive without smelling like anything in particular. Lemon and bergamot open it, but the heart is where it gets strange and good: a salty, slightly sweet melon note wrapped in iris, sitting on Creed's signature ambergris. The salt is the trick — it makes the fruit read mineral rather than juicy.

It is quieter than Aventus and considerably more grown-up. Six to eight hours of wear with a sillage that stays polite, which has made it a long-standing favourite for warm-weather formal events and summer weddings where something loud would be a mistake.

This one confuses people from a paper card and makes complete sense on skin after twenty minutes, which is the definition of a fragrance you should decant before buying.