In this article, we have listed the 12 best patchouli colognes for men and women. We have found the top fragrances for every budget, taste and style.
Patchouli is frequently seen in perfumes nowadays, some more than others. You can even find patchouli aromas in scented products like paper towels, air fresheners, soaps and detergents.
Patchouli is an aromatic flower with white and pale purple shades. Its scent is quite strong and sweet with an “earthy” feel to it. It smells very natural and kinda musky. It’s a perfect scent for colognes, candles and soaps.
Best Patchouli Cologne
We have gone through the most popular patchouli colognes and filtered out the bad ones.
We have carefully categorized each perfume, to help you find the fragrance that suits you, your personality and your needs.
Here are the best patchouli perfumes on the market today.
1. Bentley Intense
Time: Night
Season: Winter, fall
Signatures: Woody, warm spicy, balsamic, rum
Keywords: Classy, expensive, masculine, dominating
If you hear that there’s a cologne by Bentley, the same company that makes exotic automobiles, then you’d be right to expect a scent that is equally exotic or classy.
There’s a lot that they threw into this. There’s a total of 13 notes listed in its composition, but the complexity pays off.
Bergamot, pepper, and bay leaf are at the top, giving a warm spiciness to the opening. Things start to get classier as you move down.
Rum and wood are part of the middle, and they give it that classy vibe, with the image of a man in his study swirling a tumbler filled with rum. Incense, leather, and patchouli are included in the base, adding to the masculinity.
Pairing this scent with the dominating performance, this will easily make people think of you as the boss in the room. Well, that’s if you can pull it off. It is strong, and unapologetic with its scent.
It’s classy, and wealthy, and you need to move with an authoritative step to finish the image. This is perfect for older men looking for a top-notch scent for formal occasions and business meetings.
2. Etro Patchouly
Time: Day, night
Season: Winter, fall, spring
Signatures: Balsamic, woody, warm spicy, patchouli
Keywords: Complex, radical, attractive, different
You’ll find few flacons that are as artistic and colourful as this one. Etro Patchouly is one of the most beautiful cologne bottles we’ve seen, with a blend of colours shifting seamlessly into one another, and gold lines smoothly drawing shapes.
The bottle aside though, you get citrus and wood as top notes, and patchouli and sandalwood in the middle. The base consists of vanilla, amber, tonka, labdanum, and tolu balsam.
The opening to this is rather earthy, most likely thanks to the sandalwood and wood notes. That strong masculine tone cools down as the cologne does, coming in with something a bit sweeter and slightly flowery. As it rests a bit longer, there is a complexity that is hard to decipher, but it absolutely amazing.
This is a powerful performer. It blends so many different notes to achieve something radical and brilliant.
Patchouly will last the whole day, easily, and it projects quite confidently. Not enough to fill out a room, but more than just a cloud hugging you.
3. Calvin Klein Obsession for Men
Time: Night
Season: Winter, fall
Signatures: Balsamic, warm spicy, woody, aromatic
Keywords: Classy, safe, masculine, inoffensive
Calvin Klein Obsession is a complex fragrance in terms of its formulation. The top of the fragrance depends a lot on citrus notes, such as bergamot, lime, mandarin orange.
Cinnamon adds a sweet spiciness to this level as well.
The middle is a balanced mix of floral and spicy, with carnation, jasmine, nutmeg, sage. The base is more heterogeneous, including patchouli, vanilla, sandalwood.
The mix of the aromatic spices and florals in this fragrance gives it a sweet masculine scent. The cologne tilts towards being manly, but not excessively.
The opening is fresh and spicy, thanks mostly to the citrus elements, making it great for the colder months of the year. Rosewood and vetiver give a little dry woodiness to the fragrance, which give it a soft masculine base.
Once you give it time to rest, the warm spicy notes come out, with a little sweetness. It’s not an intimidating scent, and it’ll work quite adequately as an everyday fragrance.
It’ll do really well in winter and fall though, because of how warm and aromatic it can be. It’s not particularly unique, but it is very safe.
This will last about 5 hours on skin, and it’ll project more than an arm’s length around you for most of its lifespan. This is a classy perfume for men that is inoffensive and safe, and is definitely a strong contender for a blind buy.
4. Tom Ford White Patchouli for Women
Time: Day, night
Season: Fall, winter, spring
Signatures: Woody, patchouli, floral, white floral
Keywords: Pure, casual, attractive, linear
Before we get started on the actual cologne, can we just say that the flacon for this is absolutely beautiful?
It’s mostly white, with vertical striations in the bottle, and then gold accents for the label and ribbon around the neck. It’s quite a looker, and when you spot a cologne as fine as this, you can only hope the actual fragrance does not disappoint.
It’s Tom Ford though, so if you have faith in them, your faith is well placed. This women’s cologne depends a lot on florals and aromatic notes like spices, patchouli, and bergamot.
The top notes are bergamot, peony, coriander, and white floral notes. The middle is rose, jasmine, and ambrette. The base comprises patchouli, incense, and woody notes.
The fragrance is a very fresh smelling one. It is clean, smelling like expensive floral soap, and has a little earthy background to it.
There’s not much of a dynamic to it, as it stays rather linear, but it is a pleasant scent throughout. It’s a pure, beautiful cologne.
It’ll make it through a work day, but that’s about it. It’ll make a little cloud around you, but don’t expect it to reach out at an arm’s length. Performance is our major criticism of this otherwise gorgeous fragrance.
5. Christian Dior Patchouli Imperial
Time: Night
Season: Winter, fall
Signatures: Balsamic, woody, warm spicy, patchouli, aromatic
Keywords: Casual, unisex, clean, confident
Patchouli Imperial comes in a tall, modern, and classy looking bottle, with the bronze liquid within it visible. We’re a fan of the label’s font. Understated and effective.
This is a modern cologne, first launched in 2018, so the looks are fitting.
The fragrance is rather base heavy. The top is citrus, with bergamot and mandarin orange. The heart is cinnamon, coriander, and rose – for a sweet spiciness.
The base includes patchouli, amber, cedar, and smoke as dominant elements.
If you love patchouli, this is going to excite you. It is the most dominant note in the fragrance. The cologne itself is linear, with the titular note taking the lead. There is some woodiness from cedar in the back, but it’s a clean, non-earthy wood.
Longevity is great, and this will last you about 8 hours at a go. It also projects confidently, so if you are looking for a patchouli cologne with solid performance, this I a solid option.
6. Givenchy Gentleman for Men
Time: Day, night
Season: Spring, fall
Signatures: Aromatic, floral, powdery, fruity, sweet
Keywords: Refined, gentlemanly, masculine, mature
For the ultimate gentleman, Givenchy gives us this cologne in a stylish monochrome bottle. It blends together a rather diverse array of notes to produce what we expect to be a modern formulation.
The top is pineapple, pear, and cardamom. The middle is purely floral, with iris, lavender and geranium. The base calls on patchouli, leather, and vanilla.
When you apply this, the opening is fresh and natural. The sweetness from the fruits is not artificial in its delivery, and is not excessive nor cloying. It gets more green and floral as it begins to settle in, with some creamy vanilla in there.
The leather and patchouli give an earthy edge that makes this a very modern and classy masculine cologne. It smells like a true gentleman, someone older and refined, so we might say this won’t fit most younger people.
This is a stunning choice for formal or semi-formal occasions, like dinners or the office. It’s hard to think of anyone hating this, and it is likely a good blind buy for older men. The performance is better than average, and it’ll last upwards of 7 hours.
7. Van Cleef & Arpels Moonlight Patchouli
Time: Night
Season: Fall, winter
Signatures: Woody, patchouli, leather, rose
Keywords: Dynamic, unique, calm, attractive
Van Cleef & Arpels produced this unisex fragrance for those perfume-lovers that lean more towards patchouli scents, as the name is unafraid to show.
Patchouli sits in the top, so you expect it straight from the opening, along with cacao and woody notes. The colourful floral tones of rose and iris make up the heart, while leather, suede, and fruity notes are the base.
When you apply this from its dark black bottle, you get the strong earthiness of patchouli straight from the onset, with rose adding that characteristic soft sweetness of its to the mix.
As it begins to dry down, the patchouli calms, though still present. The fruity notes and a blend of leather and suede then creep in.
The overall tone of the cologne is natural and clean, though the leather and suede add a bit of a synthetic lean to it, though far from offensive.
The performance is average, so we can’t find ourselves complaining too much about it. If you’re looking for something a bit different, for dinners and late gatherings, this is a premium option.
8. Christian Dior Sauvage Eau de Parfum
Time: Day, night
Season: Spring, summer, fall
Signatures: Fresh spicy, amber, citrus, aromatic
Keywords: Sexy, masculine, smouldering, dominant
You’ll be forgiven if you think this is a vintage perfume, as the original Eau Sauvage was launched in 1966.
This originates from that, however, and Dior Sauvage was launched in 2015, quickly becoming an extremely popular cologne.
It’s made to evoke images of nature and the wild, such as rocky and desert landscapes.
Sauvage is very heavy on its middle notes. The top is bergamot and pepper, so there’s a very fresh spiciness afforded to it by those.
The base is cedar, labdanum, and ambroxan. The middle is bloated with a variety of ingredients, with geranium and lavender, Sichuan and pink pepper, patchouli and vetiver, and elemi.
If you’re looking for a scent that will augment your sexiness, and make the ladies flock to you, this is one of the easiest choices.
Dior Sauvage is such a classic, masculine cologne, and its formula is hard to hate. It’s hard to say this is a unique cologne, but what it does, it does best.
This is a definite compliment-getter, and we’ve never been more sure of that.
The best part is that the sexy, manliness of this performs magnificently. Any time of day, pretty much any time of year, Dior Sauvage is a killer choice no matter the occasion.
9. Zino Davidoff by Zino Davidoff
Time: Night
Season: Winter, fall
Signatures: Woody, aromatic, balsamic, patchouli
Keywords: Bold, masculine, authoritative, defined
If you love vintage scents, and you love patchouli, then Zino Davidoff is a good scent to take a look at. It was launched in 1988 to be definitively masculine, and it has lived up to that goal through the years.
Lavender, clary sage, bergamot, and Brazilian rosewood make up the top, and from that alone, we expected something amazing.
The middle is entirely floral, with jasmine, geranium, rose, and lily-of-the-valley blending together for a floral tone.
The base is rougher, with sandalwood, patchouli, and cedar keeping it earthy and woody, and vanilla just adding a bit of sweetness.
The earthy flavours are the most prominent here, leaving the florals to take up a supporting role. Patchouli, rosewood and sandalwood, stand out the most and really make this fragrance something unmistakably masculine, without being overwhelming.
The sweeter scents are present, but the mix of florals really only lend an interesting edge to this, instead of being a dominant element.
The performance is absolutely solid. It’s way above average and will last about 10 hours on the skin. It projects nicely, within about an arm’s length. This is masculine, dark, and bold.
10. Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb
Time: Night, day
Season: Winter, fall
Signatures: Floral, patchouli, white floral, woody
Keywords: Feminine, gorgeous, unapologetic, bold
Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb is one of the most acclaimed colognes out there, but some may find that it leans way too heavily masculine to work for them as ladies. Luckily, Flowerbomb might be everything that they are searching for.
Launched back in 2005, this cologne comes in a grenade-shaped flacon. As you’d expect from the name, the notes get entirely floral near the middle, but the top and bottom manage to balance it delicately so that it’s not literally just a floral bomb.
Bergamot, tea, and osmanthus claim the spots for the top tier of the pyramid here. The middle is pink and white floral, with jasmine, freesia, and orange blossom for the latter; and rose and orchid for the former. The base is simply musk and patchouli.
The dominant note in this is the patchouli. Its earthiness is the leading note, and it’s only after it that the sweetness of the flowers comes in. Orchid, jasmine, and rose, work hard among these, enough to make this a floral fragrance. It’s just that the other elements, particularly the patchouli, make it less of a typical floral.
This will last about 8 hours on the skin, and we couldn’t be happier, because this needs to last as long as it can. It really is a top feminine fragrance, and it’s hard to see this going wrong in any form.
11. Thierry Mugler Angel
Time: Night
Season: Winter
Signatures: Sweet, balsamic, patchouli, warm spicy
Keywords: Comfortable, unique, delicious, confident
You know that we just can’t talk about this fragrance without saying something about the bottle it comes in. It’s odd, and that’s a simple way to put it.
It is shaped like an uneven star, in a light blue finish, with one of the arms being the metallic segment from which you apply it. We know that the bottle is simply an aesthetic element, and we’re used to Mugler designs anyway, so we’ll let it slide.
How it actually smells is what makes a cologne, and we’d never not buy one simply for its design. This was launched for the first time in 1992, and it goes absolutely intense with the notes.
There are 28 notes that go into this, with each tier packed. The top is largely fruity, however; the middle is a blend of mostly fruits and flowers, and the bottom is less congruent, though patchouli, chocolate, and caramel feature.
This is important, because the most prominent notes in this are patchouli, chocolate, and caramel. There are few fragrances that we’ve seen incorporate chocolate, with most opting for cacao, and even less go for caramel.
This is a powerful winter fragrance, and it really shines in the cold. The patchouli mixed with the dessert-like nature of chocolate, caramel, and honey, really brings out the holiday aura.
It smells absolutely delicious in those moments, and warms you up.
It’s an absolutely amazing fragrance in how it is so different and sweet.
You don’t need to worry about performance either, because this is an absolute beast in that regard. Half a day later, you’ll still catch this going strong, and it projects without reservations, filling the space around you.
12. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle
Time: Day, night
Season: Spring, fall, winter
Signatures: Citrus, woody, patchouli, rose
Keywords: Grand, feminine, classy, elegant
When perfumes date back nearly 2 decades, it says good things. They have been able to stand the test of time purely on their own merit, and that’s the case with a fragrance like Chanel Coco Mademoiselle.
This fragrance opens up with a definite citrus aroma, thanks to bergamot, grapefruit, and orange in the lead.
The middle is jasmine, rose, and litchi. The base uses patchouli, vetiver, musk, and vanilla, to balance the composition out.
The citrus flavour is clean and natural as it hits your nose following application. Give it some time, and that’s when the floral magic begins.
It is such an elegant, womanly scent, and when you get to this point in its progression, you can understand why it’s been such a hit.
We think of an extremely confident woman when we smell this. One who has money, and understand how to be elegant, and how to be beautiful. It smells mature and classy, and we absolutely love it.
