John Varvatos Dark Rebel Rider Fragrance – Here’s How It Smells [Review]

You may remember that one of the fragrances I got for my last birthday was John Varvatos Dark Rebel Rider, so this week I’ve tried it out to add to my aftershave reviews, and this is what I think of this one.

It was first released in 2016, so it is a fairly new fragrance. When you check out the box, bottle and even the name, you’ll know what type of scent you’re in for. Dark Rebel Rider is how it sounds, and the image on the box is that of a leather biker jacket, so it’s not a surprise that it’s a dark leathery fragrance.

But as always I will start with the bottle. It’s wrapped in a faux leather pouch type of cover, which comes with two chunky zips to the side. You can keep the bottle in it’s pouch while using it, or take it out, as the bottle top and sprayer is exposed so you’re able to use it. The spray is nice and wide, so you don’t need to have too many sprays of this to get good coverage.

As for the fragrance itself, it’s a dark, musky and leather type of smell as mentioned above. It is quite smokey and woody, it reminds me of Hugo Boss Bottled Oud, which also has a dry woody kind of smell to it, however this smells more like incense as it’s more smokey.

I would think that this scent is more for an Autumn evening, when the dark nights are closing in, it makes me think of a night by the fire in the countryside with a glass of whisky in your hand wearing a heavy jumper for the chilly nights. It’s a masculine gentleman style of fragrance.

The longevity is quite good, and it has a good range too, you don’t need to use a lot of this for it to be noticed. If you’re looking for a smokey woody type of scent, you should give this one a look.

Best season to wear – Autumn/Winter
Scent type – Woody and smokey
Age Recommendation – 25+
Best Worn – Evening, Casual, Formal

Top notes: Lemon, Bitter orange, Aldehydes, Saffron, Marjoram, Hyssop
Middle notes: Iris, Osmanthus, Black violet, Labdanum, Somalian incense, Benzoin, Tolu balsam
Base notes: Russian leather, Cocoa, Vanilla, Atlas cedarwood, Patchouli