Review: Les Parfums Louis Vuitton Men's Collection

Compared to other fashion houses, Louis Vuitton is relatively new to the fragrance game. At least it would seem that way to most, since the brand only launched its first major collection of perfumes — Les Parfums Louis Vuitton — two years ago.

Louis Vuitton did create fragrances before 2016, but the last one was released almost 90 years ago and none of them are known to exist anymore. A pity, but the seven largely floral women's fragrances created by master perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud have more than made up for it since then. 

And now, Louis Vuitton is upping the ante with five more beautiful fragrances also by Jacques Cavallier Belletrud in its first ever perfume collection for men.

Packaging-wise, the new juices are housed in the same clean and chic glass bottles as the women's perfumes, but with one difference so subtle you might miss it. On the cap of each men's perfume bottle, the LV logo is engraved in cold galvanised silver metal — as opposed to the gilded brass stamp on the ladies' scents. 

As for the fragrances, they are very much in line with Louis Vuitton's spirit of travel and all pay homage to the adventurer. But each scent is distinctly different from the next, so there's really something for every man (or woman). 

See what we thought about all five fragrances in the Les Parfums Louis Vuitton collection for men below.

When we visited a Louis Vuitton boutique on the day the collection launched, this was one of the two more popular scents that the first few customers were buying. And it comes as no suprise, because L'Immensité is the most classically sporty, masculine fragrance of the lot.

We like that it's not overpowering like some sports fragrances tend to be. It has a freshness to it thanks to the ginger notes and contains bright, bitter grapefruit that's softened by an addictive and sensual amber note. 

The idea for Nouveau Monde came to Jacques Cavallier Belletrud one evening in Guatemela as he sipped on Mayan chocolate, a milk-free mixture of cocoa, spice, water and honey. 

His interpretation of these flavours translate into a composition constructed around a natural cocoa resinoid produced on the Ivory Coast and transformed in Grasse. The raw cocoa beans are combined with an extremely rare oud assam from a small family-run farm in Bangladesh, as well as saffron. 

While the recognisable oud definitely hits the nose first, the cocoa rounds it out with a soft sweetness and warmth. When we tested it on our skin, Nouveau Monde was also the most long-wearing scent out of the five in the collection. 

Inspired by stormy skies, taking a whiff of Orage is like getting a deep breath of mountain air. It's cool and sharp, but also woody. More than just a scent, it's a feeling and it's almost addictive. 

At the heart of Orage, the intensity of patchouli meets the elegance of iris. As the scent settles into the skin, the earthy, slightly sweet vetiver notes start to come through. It's a wonderfully crafted fragrance and one of our favourites. It is also one of the two customer favourites so far next to L'Immensité, especially among the ladies. 

Citrus fragrance lovers will adore Sur La Route. It's zesty and optimistic, with the freshness of an aftershave only much sexier. 

Jacques Cavallier Belletrud blended two types of citrus: cédrat and bergamot, to which he added freshly cut grass for a raw, green accent. Delicate floral notes from Peruvian balsam and spicy pink peppercorn add complexity to the perfume which wears as a great day to night fragrance. 

We have a thing for mysterious fragrances with notes we can't quite put a finger on and Au Hasard is just that. 

Louis Vuitton calls it a "olfactory UFO", a scent that's disarming, disconcerting and difficult to discern — all adjectives that coincidentally also describe the kind of men we like. So rather expectedly, this is our top pick from the collection.

The perfume is based on creamy, milky sandalwood from Sri Lanka, mixed with ambrette seed that first evokes pear liquer and then a cottony musk. Cardamom shakes the fruity, woody notes up with a little spice. When worn on the skin, the scent is completely captivating in the way that leaves you wanting more.