Our take
What does Polo smell like?
Launched in 1978 and composed by Carlos Benaïm, Polo gave a smell to Ralph Lauren's equestrian, preppy world, bottled in the now-iconic emerald glass. The opening is frankly aromatic: artemisia, basil and thyme draw a dry, almost medicinal greenness. The heart thickens with pine, patchouli and oakmoss, a resinous, earthy chord that recalls a damp forest as much as an old study. The base of leather, tobacco and musk adds the patina of a well-oiled saddle and a smoky armchair. Everything is dense, shadowy and powerfully diffusive; Polo belongs to a generation of masculines that did not aim to please everyone but to project character.
When to wear it
Save it for cold months and heavy fabrics like tweed, wool and leather; it appeals to fans of green fougères and pre-aquatic masculines.
The story of Polo
Ralph Lauren had never sold a fragrance before 1978. That year he launched two at once, Lauren for women and Polo for men, both meant to smell like the clothes he was already known for. Carlos Benaïm, then at IFF, built Polo as a dense green fougère at a time when American men's scents leaned toward sweet spice or barbershop splash. Pine, dry herbs and a heavy dose of oakmoss pointed somewhere else entirely: tack rooms and wet woods rather than bathroom cabinets. The dark green bottle with its gold cap became the template for the whole line. The name came from the menswear label Lauren had started in the late 1960s. Later flankers pushed the brand toward other colours. Polo Sport followed in the mid-1990s, Polo Blue in 2003 and Polo Black in 2005, with Polo Red in 2013. None of them kept the resinous greenery of the original, which still stands apart from the rest of the family and from most department-store masculines released since.
Our detailed review
The first ten minutes are the toughest. Artemisia and thyme come off dry and almost medicinal, with pine right behind them like fresh sap. We kept thinking of a mountain cabin cupboard opened after winter. An hour in, oakmoss and patchouli take over and things get darker and damper, with a grain of soil. Leather and tobacco only really show after three or four hours. That's when Polo turns handsome: rounder, with the smell of an old tobacco pouch. What works is the single-mindedness. There is nothing sweet here and nothing decorative. The flaw is just as obvious. One spray too many and the opening turns aggressive, especially in a heated room. Recent bottles also seem a little thinner to us than older ones, which makes sense now that oakmoss is restricted. Polo will suit people who love classic chypres and fougères, and anyone who lives in wool. Those raised on sweet amber woods will find it old and stern.
Polo vs its rivals
Drakkar Noir shares basil, leather and oakmoss with Polo, but lavender and rosemary make it cleaner and soapier. Polo is woodier and earthier, and its pine is missing from Drakkar entirely. If you want an 80s fougère that won't frighten an office, Drakkar is the easier pick. Kouros is a different animal, literally. Artemisia and leather overlap, yet civet, honey and vanilla make it sweet and skanky in a way Polo never is. Choose Kouros to provoke and Polo to smell like a forest. Jazz borrows artemisia and oakmoss too but dresses them in carnation, rose and tonka. It is the most polished of the three and the least loud. As a first green fougère, we'd start with Jazz. For the full pine-and-leather experience, nothing replaces Polo.
Longevity, projection and use
This eau de toilette behaves like something much stronger. Expect eight to ten hours on most skin, and longer on wool, where the base can still be there the next morning. Projection is big for the first couple of hours before it tightens. One spray is plenty for the office. Two is the ceiling outdoors in cold weather. Spray the chest under your shirt rather than the neck, since fabric warmth softens the herbal opening. We'd skip it in summer, when pine and moss turn stifling. It is at its best from October to February, day or night.
It belongs to the Fougère, Aromatic family. Polo is one of 3 creations by Ralph Lauren in our encyclopedia.
