Absolu Aventus
Creed (2023)

I considered giving this a neutral rating because, on its own—just as a scent, without factoring in price—it’s fine. It’s not terrible, but it’s also not groundbreaking. If this had come out as a lite, entry-level version of Aventus, I might have rated it neutral. Giving the average person an affordable option isn’t a bad idea. Price it around a normal designer, $150 and use it as a way to cut into the sale of all the clones. People can then say that they are wearing Aventus and it's a win-win scenario.

The problem is, this is priced higher than Aventus, and it smells like the average of all the Aventus clones out there. That’s just not acceptable. But let’s be honest. This wasn’t made for fragrance enthusiasts. As Varanis Ridari points out, it feels more like a gimmick or a capitalist-driven release aimed at investors and collectors. Do yourself a favor: get CDNIM, or if money isn’t an issue, stick with the original Aventus. For a fun spin that’s actually worthwhile, go with Cedrat Boise, which is miles ahead. If someone tested me blindly, I’d have pegged this as a $30 Aventus clone.

Smells a lot like Aventus and Aventus Cologne. The only difference is Absolu has a citrus note added. I'm an Aventus fan, so of course I like this one. But I feel if you have Aventus or Aventus Cologne, there is not much of a need for Absolu (unless you can find it for a great price).

Smells worse than any Aventus clone I have tried. Not sure what they were trying to do here. Go after Sauvage fans perhaps.
Nothing good here.

Excellent fruity Aventus opening. Plenty of spice and zing from the ginger, it has some sparkle and bubbly qualities. Dries down quickly and seems to disappear when you smell it up close but I can still smell it in the air for a few hours.

This smells great I'm surprised at the performance that I'm getting off my skin. It seems to fade quickly and go away after a few hours. I even asked my wife if she noticed it or could still smell it and she said no.

It is an overall worse interpretation of Aventus that adds Sauvage Elixir's spices to the mid and drydown. It also smells very low quality - worse than CDNIM EDP for over 10x the cost. It does NOT smell like Sauvage Elixir, it just steals some of the drydown. This honestly smells like some mall shop "twist" fragrance.

Considering the fragrance and ignoring the price gouge, this is a solid neutral. But if my rating is answering "should you buy this" it's two thumbs down.

Aventus plus ambroxan, like Sauvage et al mixed with Aventus then dialed back a few notches unless you overspray.
Not worthy of the name - in fact it is something I would expect from a copy house trying to make a pleasing fragrance based on what is popular.