The famous perfume brand Nautica, is all about the adventurous spirit that’s inside by luxury, sport yachting or just enjoys being by the sea. Since 1983, they’ve been involved in the work of creating apparel and fragrances along this nautical theme. In term of perfumes, particularly men’s colognes, Nautica has enjoyed a lot of successes, with the Nautica Classic and the Nautica Blue among them. We’ve compared the two to see the difference.
Nautica Blue EDT
Launched in 2006 in a glass bottle with a grey cap as a fruity, woody EDT.
Base
Cedarwood and Musk
Top
Bergamot, Pineapple, and Peach
Heart
Water Lily and Jasmine
We found a lot of complaints online about how Nautica Blue was synthetic, or that it had a very generic smell. But, in our opinion, Blue is very underrated and is an amazing scent – yes, it is a very simple blend, but in a way that can be appreciated. In fact, Blue is a common favorite for warmer climates.
It opens up on a sweet, fruity smell that’s fresh and filled with very distinct notes of pineapple, peach with aquatic accords. So it’s not exactly all beach notes, but an interesting mix that reminds one about heading off to the beach during summer.
This zest dies down to a smoothness owing to the sandalwood. Projection wise, it remained strong for around an hour then turns into a pleasing skin scent that stayed for six more hours. It gets a high score here.
But, Blue is something that we’ve smelled before – Azzaro Chrome and Acqua Di Gio come to mind here –and like most other aquatic scents. So here, it loses out when it comes down to originality.
Nautica Classic EDT
Launched in 1992 in a glass flacon with a silver cap and is a citrus-aromatic blend EDT.
Base
Musk, Sandalwood, and Amber
Top
Lemon Oil and Bergamot
Heart
Sage
Classic tends to lean more towards the fresh, clean aroma that’s similar to Davidoff’s Cool Water. It reminds us, however of the typical 90’s aquatic scents. It was first introduced simply as Nautica, but later on as Classis. The opening notes are rough, bitter citrus that feels somewhat closer to spices, dry fruits, fierce lemon, and grass notes.
The deeply floral, woody notes come in later and are more bearable than the opening notes. We got a lot of jasmines, a note that might not suit guys who wear Classic. The sandalwood and musk come in later and lasts as long the fragrance does. Again, some fragrances smell good when it’s in the bottle, but wearing it is an entirely different thing. On the plus side, it’s mild but doesn’t have much longevity or projection throughout the day. We were able to get, at best, four hours of wear out of Classic
So, we have to say that it’s a pleasant fragrance but may not have the uniqueness that you’re looking for. It might come in handy for after the gym, a nice aftershave to pick up your mornings that can be pulled off any time of the year.