Paco Rabanne 1 Million

Paco Rabanne trained as an architect and made his name in 1960s Paris with dresses built from metal discs and plastic, so a fragrance presented as a solid gold ingot was entirely in character for the house he founded. 1 Million launched in 2008 and became one of the best-selling men's fragrances in the world, and while it has been mocked as often as it has been praised, the composition is more considered than its reputation suggests. It is commonly attributed to Christophe Raynaud, Olivier Pescheux and Michel Girard; the brand's own site, which now trades simply as Rabanne, does not present a perfumer credit in a form that could be read for this write-up.

The widely published pyramid runs blood mandarin, grapefruit and mint on top, cinnamon, spice and rose in the heart, and amber, leather, woods and Indian patchouli at the base. The opening is genuinely fresh, a cold mint and citrus blast that lasts around fifteen minutes and is nothing like the rest of the fragrance. What follows is the part people recognise from across a room: a sweet, warm cinnamon and rose accord over a leather-amber base, with patchouli giving it a dark, almost sticky depth. It is loud, deliberately so, and the contrast between the icy opening and the heavy drydown is the reason it worked.

It is a night fragrance for cold weather. On a Highveld winter evening it is superb; in summer humidity it becomes overwhelming fast, and this is a fragrance where two sprays is the maximum for anyone standing near you.

Honest performance and history: eight hours plus with heavy projection is normal, and it survives on fabric for days. After more than fifteen years on the market, long-serving wearers describe current bottles as sweeter and less leathery than the earliest, which is consistent with reformulation over that period; the house has announced nothing. The name has also spread across many separate releases, including 1 Million Lucky and a 1 Million Parfum, which are distinct compositions and not stronger versions of the original eau de toilette.