The 20 Best Men’s Colognes to Wear This Fall
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With all due respect to winter, spring, and summer, autumn is the best time for fragrances. There’s something juuust right about the season’s offering of woody, spicy, and musky scents that perfectly matches the weather. And don’t get us wrong—the best fall fragrances for men often wear well year-round, so long as they aren’t too spicy, or too musky. They often use powdery, floral, and gourmand notes in their recipes too, providing plenty of surprises and unique options—which also adds to fall fragrances’ appeal when hunting down your new signature scent.
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But like most journeys of discovery, start with the familiar pathways before steering off. Look for the most classic autumnal notes and scent families, says Amy Rueckl, an executive at perfumer powerhouse International Flavors & Fragrances. “Generally, people tend to love fresh woody fragrances in the fall that help to transport you into the season,” she says. “But there are also some wonderful autumn spices like cardamom or cinnamon and warm ambery notes that give an extra comfort element.”
She adds that the best fragrance families to look for include fougère (ferny, green scents), woody, spicy, musky, or warm ambery. And if you’re feeling daring, don’t overlook the gourmand notes—those ones like vanilla or caramel that feel practically edible. “Vanilla might seem like a note you think you know, but it is multifaceted and has so much more to offer than the expected nuances,” Rueckl adds. “It’s spicy, sweet, balsamic, resinous, dark, light, woody, rich, and even delicate depending on how the perfumer chooses to use it, and it is definitely for everyone.”
Beyond the baking aisle? Go for spicy, woody, and even green notes. You don’t want to be in pumpkin-spice territory, but there are lots of great scents that evoke the coziness of the season: some recall a flannel-backed trek through the woods, others take on spirit-warming cocktails, and there are even verdant explorations of blustery walks through the park. A lot of perennial “signature” scents are perfect for fall, too, given the transitional aspect of the season. They play nice in summer, maybe a bit woodier than most, but feel a pinch lighter than the broodiest winter scents, too.
“Transitional season fragrances can be a good candidate for your signature scent because they often provide a fresh, clean, and transportive feeling that you could enjoy all year,” Rueckl adds.
Below, a bevy of fragrances that might just claim a new top spot in your rotation.
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Creed Centaurus EDP
Creed recently rolled out its Amber Universe with a duo of stirring and sensual woody amber scents. We’re reaching most often for Centaurus, a medley of tobacco, cinnamon, Bourbon vanilla, sandalwood, and resin. This is like your best blazer, saved for big-ticket events or special date nights. It will be on your shelf for a decade or more, reserved for the cooler half of the year, and it’s perfect for those occasions when you need a little warmth.
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Diptyque Bois Corsé EDP
We’re used to a steady rollout of Diptyque deliciousness, and after an unusual dry spell, the brand recently revealed a quintet of distinctive and colorful expressions. The collection, called Les Essences, is an ode to natural treasures like coral, moonlight, and water lilies—things that don’t have their own fragrance. With a quick shout-out to Corail Oscuro (what is that curiously spicy bite of yours?!), we have to tip our hat to the best of the bunch, Bois Corsé, a collaboration between perfumers Nathalie Cetto and Olivier Pescheux. An ode to the protective nature of bark, this grounding essence is rooted by cedar and sandalwood. It suits anyone who anchors his family, his business, and himself, and warms with rousing coffee and tonka tones—a perfect cozy-weather comrade.
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Kilian Paris Old Fashioned EDP
Kilian Hennessy’s bar cart gets better and better with age. Old Fashioned is the latest addition to his lineup called “The Liquors,” which already features industry darlings like Angels’ Share and Apple Brandy on the Rocks. This latest cocktail has wheat and bitter davana in the top notes—any bartenders see where things are going here?—plus a sweet immortelle-tinged heart, and a broody balsamic-resinous base. This isn’t just a single-malt expression, it is a singular one.
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Arquiste Almond Suede EDP
The third of three 2024 launches from Arquiste is also definitively suited for cold weather, a sweet but smooth gourmand that melds marzipan with suede. The recipe also includes honeycomb, bitter almond oil, pink peppercorn, saffron, vanilla, and pine tar. As far as we’re concerned, Almond Suede will trigger an annual hooplah for frag heads, akin to “PSL season” for coffee lovers.
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Loewe Solo Vulcan EDP
Loewe beautifully re-upped its signature Solo scent with this fresh-spicy number. It is a symphony of nuance, managing to be floral-herbaceous-fresh and woody-ambery-spicy all at once. Your nose may focus on something different with each wear: the gravity-defying lavender, the pinch of thyme, or the resinous labdanum. It has as many colors as the fall foliage and is a perfect perennial signature scent to showcase your own many layers.
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Fzotic Lampblack EDP
Nothing is normal about Fzotic’s rule-bending roster, and we mean that as a compliment: With Lampblack, this indie label reimagines an ink-splashed printmaker’s studio. Indian cypriol grips those in your orbit, while smoky, peppery, and resinous notes conspire to start conversations and punctuate memories.
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Marc-Antoine Barrois Ganymede EDP
Ganymede is an ode to Jupiter’s moon of the same name—and the largest one in our solar system—known for its radiance and salt-water seas. With a wet-mineral opening, this EDP evolves into something as expansive as the Milky Way, with spicy saffron, smooth suede, powdery violet, and uplifting immortelle. Fun fact: It was recently discovered that the moon Ganymede was struck by an asteroid 20 times larger than the one that killed Earth’s dinosaurs. (Just something to talk about when people ask what you’re wearing, since this scent will definitely get a lot of inquiries.)
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Mancera Amore Caffè EDP
You might notice a trend of gourmands on this list, and yes, they’re back in a big way of late. But this might be the most drinkable of them all: Mancera’s notes are edible top to bottom: vanilla ice cream, brown sugar, amaretto, and coffee. This will put you in a grand mood all autumn and winter—perfectly sweet, but never too.
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Fulton & Roark Calle Ocho
Fulton & Roark is the American fragrance house to watch. The brand’s stacked roster could compete against the legacy labels across Europe. Calle Ocho is a nod to Miami’s Little Havana, animated by a stirring blend of cinnamon, rum, bitter chocolate, tonka, sandalwood, tobacco, and musk. Its rapturous textures can be worn in two ways: through the densely-concentrated extrait, or the lighter-fare, no-spills solid wax.
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Givenchy Gentleman Givenchy EDT
Nomenclature is confusing with Givenchy: its roster of scents really likes repeating the words “Gentleman” and “Givenchy.” So let’s strip things bare: This 2017 reimagination of the iconic 50-year-old Gentleman scent is a perfect signature scent candidate, for its balance of patchouli and powder, fruits and leather, fresh florals and gourmands. Givenchy Gentleman Givenchy contains multitudes, as should the gentleman who wears Gentleman Givenchy by Givenchy.
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D.S. & Durga Deep Dark Vanilla EDP
Vanilla scents are either fantastic or abysmal, given how polarizing the note can be to many noses. And here is one of the most fantastic of them all, since its sensual vanilla only owns half of the final expression. That leaves room for a perfectly nuanced recipe, and the vanilla never polarizes. A bed of patchouli and hay balances these gourmand notes, and everything opens with a sweet-spicy mélange of mahogany and pink pepper. It’s one of the few vanilla scents we’d put in play for “signature scent” status, and is certainly going to get its play in the cooler months—at work, in the evenings, on the weekend, etc.
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Cartier Pasha de Cartier Noir Absolu
Cartier calls its newest Pasha scent a “charismatic fragrance for a successful man,” and in our time wearing it we’ve found little reason to disagree. It’s another very vanilla addition to this list, and while the first spritz makes you think it might stay in ice cream shop territory, it quickly transforms into a smoky, woody, ambrous affair with a healthy dose of spice. That last element will make it particularly attractive during the deep dark depths of winter—and perhaps its stylish, black on black flacon is a nod to the time of year when you’ll want to wear it most.
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Caswell-Massey Oaire EDP
Caswell-Massey outdid itself with Oaire, one of its most exciting launches of 2023. This resinous, musky fougère fragrance could become as timeless as its centuries-old Number Six, which was beloved by one George Washington. Oaire is designed for that timelessness too, a weightlessness like that associated with youth during their search for relevance.
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Arquiste L’Or de Louis EDP
Each year, with each Arquiste launch, we ask “what will this brand possibly do next?” They seem unbothered by the field, held only to their sky-high standards. And with 2023, that “next” is this 24-karat gold bespeckled orb. It’s like a gilded snowglobe, a centerpiece for any fragrance wardrobe—oh, and what about the scent itself? It’s a floral-forward fragrance with a bonfire base, a blend of smokey, resinous, and even powdery notes that burn brilliantly. Wear it on the day you look your absolute best, or whenever you need the slightest push to get there. L’Or de Louis will straighten your spine.
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Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle Heaven Can Wait EDP
Every fragrance spotlight needs a powdery pick, and this season that light shines on the effervescent musky-powdery Heaven Can Wait. This one is rapturously spicy, thanks to a pronounced clove topcoat, and it’ll get every hair on your body to stand up with each close-range huff.
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Aesop Ouranon EDP
You might mistake Ouranon as an ode to a certain manger in Bethlehem, because it projects a frankincense and myrrh radius (and with hay as a key expression, no less). But that spicy-resinous zeal makes for a brilliant late-autumnal aroma that will warm you like a whiskey neat. The scent will ground you with its earthiness, and give you the sageness to look ahead to your resolutions with a sound mind.
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Issey Miyake L’Eau D’Issey Pour Homme Vetiver Intense EDT
Everyone loves a good remix, which is why Issey Miyake’s L’Eau D’Issey Pour Homme Vetiver is a universal crowd-pleaser. This recipe cranks up the titular ingredient and adds a dash of ginger and clary sage. Jury’s out whether it will stand the test of time like Hermès’ similar remix, Terre d’Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver, but early prognostications are quite favorable—especially since this Miyake number has some seriously strong “signature scent” vibes. You might even say this remix is better than the original.
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Acqua di Parma Signatures Of The Sun Zafferano EDP
Acqua di Parma’s ode to saffron was launched as a Harrod’s exclusive in 2022, and the beloved floral-gourmand-ambery scent earned itself a wider re-launch last year. Here is a masterclass in layering, as it’s possible to single out many prominent notes without any one of them drowning the others: vanilla, coriander, saffron, orange blossom, patchouli. And the sum of those parts is inimitable, like your nonna’s best recipe. Zafferano is a sophisticated and approachable aroma that wears best between October and March.
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Tom Ford Myhrre Mystere
This intimate, ambrous, woody fragrance smells like a church-going update to Ford’s 2021 release, Ebene Fume, with the addition of a round and resinous dose of its title ingredient, myrrh. There’s also a delicious-smelling vanilla accord in the mix, which—along with the other key ingredient, sandalwood—made us think of having a high-end root beer float. This is one of those scents that’ll make people want to get closer to you. If that’s something you’re open to, run, don’t walk.
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Byredo Rouge Chaotique Night Veil EDP
This long-lasting extrait de parfum is part of Byredo’s Night Veils collection, so named because the scents are meant to be worn and enjoyed after the sun goes down. It’s also Byredo’s first gourmand, and it has a lot of higher-end foodie goodness in the mix. It opens with a burst of saffron that eventually gets sweetened by a praline note—but the addition of oak and patchouli keeps things fairly masculine.
