Valor

Valor takes the sweetness of Imperial and drags it through a fire. Pink pepper and clove open it sharp and hot, with chestnut adding a roasted, nutty body that is an unusual choice and the thing that gives the fragrance its signature. Very few fragrances at this price attempt a note that specific, and it pays off. The heart is where the smoke arrives. Benzoin brings a sweet balsamic resin, orange blossom lifts it with a brief floral brightness, and the smoky accord the brand lists sits across both, giving the middle a charred, slightly bonfire quality. It is the most atmospheric stretch of any fragrance in the collection. The base then softens everything: vanilla smooths the burn, guaiac wood extends the smoke into something drier and more woody, and cashmeran provides a warm musky cushion underneath. Performance is strong, seven or eight hours with solid projection in the first two, and it leaves a noticeable trail in cold air. This is a winter fragrance almost exclusively. In warm weather the clove and benzoin turn heavy and the smoke reads acrid rather than cosy. Wear it in December, in a coat, in the evening, and it is excellent. Wear it in June and it will be a mistake. Judged for what it is, it is arguably the best value of the nine.