Yesterday, I touched on Bond No. 9 New York’s new mass-market eau de parfum, “I Love New York For All”. Unless you read that entry, I’m not going to provide plot spoilers for that review. For All is clearly unisex in all views of that term: It lacks the extremes that you might find in either masculine or feminine scents, despite those walls slowly coming down and the wider adoption of certain niche fragrances by both genders.
On so many counts, this is an area in which Bond does so well as a house, and there are multiple examples of that in their niche lines (refer to our review of Bleecker Street as a very good example, Cooper Square potentially another). That’s why creating a gender-specific line seems incredibly out of character for Bond since they’ll let the wearer decide their preferences. Apparently, someone didn’t get that memo when Bond No. 9 I love New York For Men was created. That said, let’s examine the fragrance in more detail.
I Love New York For Men by Bond No. 9 New York: In case you haven’t guessed via naming convention, this is a men’s fragrance. I say that from both a “stereotypical” standpoint, and one sampling will tell you immediately that no woman would normally wear this unless they enjoy smelling like Aqua Velva. All is revealed in the opening notes of grapefruit zest, ginger and juniper berry — a very normal, typical, sharp citrus opening and a somewhat harsh awakening to the fragrance. After a short yet seemingly long-enough time, this transitions to a heart of geranium, lavender, patchouli and leather, the leather being only somewhat noticeable though we’ll get there momentarily in the review. After some time, we have a very traditional combination of amber, sandalwood, labdanum and musk, the musk incidentally bleeding through toward the top the entire duration, which was — again — long enough.
Projection is moderate, longevity the same. All of this gives you the background to the scent, which for my nose is unremarkable and seemingly just ordinary. It makes no strong or subtle statement other than projecting as a normal men’s scent. If that doesn’t for a complete picture, let’s move on to my impressions.
The grapefruit/ginger opening was far too harsh, and it’s the sort of scent you’d swear you’ve experienced many times before. Too many. Were it not for the severity of the opening, the remaining notes into heart and base wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t so…well, bad. The geranium seemed an odd pairing in the heart of the fragrance, and the dry-down into amber, sandalwood, labdanum and musk would be fine if it weren’t already such a staple of men’s fragrance. The leather notes were a complete miss as they came across as too subtle to make any difference in the transformation. I would have enjoyed the leather if it were more prominent a fixture in the dry-down, but I was left with sandalwood and musk to take over.
There are only a few adjectives that I can offer about the experience: Ordinary. Unremarkable. Common. Still expensive for what it is. Unimaginative. Yes, all are fairly negative, but to understand why, consider the price-point for the fragrance: 50ml for $105, 100ml for $175. While a lower price than all other Bonds, and lower than most niche fragrances, this doesn’t strike me as the quality I would expect of a “niche”, much less a Bond. As explained in the review of “For All”, this is Bond’s attempt to create an off-the-rack-chic fragrance.
This is as chic as your father’s after shave. It’s a safe, tried-and-true pairing of scents that seems all too familiar from other fragrances with that sharp citrus opening. In fact, if you compared the notes from “For Men” to “Aqua Velva Ice Blue”, you’d find the same elements, probably why this seems to conjure that image. Of course, Aqua Velva is in almost any drugstore for the princely sum of around $5.
Rating: 1/5. Not recommended.
Bottom-Line: This was not Bond’s finest hour, nor does it seem to capture the essence of New York in the same ways that the other fragrances in the Bond line have done (in most cases) fairly well. It’s the fragrance equivalent of the souvenir t-shirt with the iconic logo, and at such a lofty price point as to be a non-starter. While I don’t want to be completely negative, it’s difficult to appreciate this when I was looking forward to the experience.
I may love New York, but sadly there’s no place in my heart for this scent.
I'm Andrew Buck, the man behind the words. I'm a published author, project management practitioner for over 20 years, work on Wall Street, and am a fragrance aficionado. I've had a passion for fragrance for 30+ years, and enjoy trying scents and adding to an expanding and rotating collection for some time now. 
