L'Homme Idéal Cologne Forte
Eau de Parfum, Guerlain (2025)

Guerlain L’Homme Idéal Forte is almost identical to the old, discontinued L’Homme Idéal Cologne from 2015. If you have that older version like I do, this can serve as a backup. They are about 90% similar. Yes, there is a slight “twist” in this Forte version—almost like a tonic with a bit of gin in play—even though nothing in the note breakdown suggests that.

L’Homme Idéal Cologne is brighter and more “sunny,” while Ideal Forte feels a bit “damp” and cooler. Personally, my favorite among these fresh releases was L’Homme Idéal Cool, and I regret not getting a backup bottle in time. You won’t get the Cool flanker effect here, but you will get a return of the Cologne version.

A limited release, I’d say for economic reasons. You pump out a few million bottles, raise the price (it’s quite expensive at retail), distributors grab it, and then it sells out within a year or two—then you move on. Suitable for spring, autumn, and maybe even winter as an office fragrance. Although it is fresh, summer heat will unfortunately ruin it—that’s my personal assessment based on experience with L’Homme Idéal Cologne. It simply performs better between +10°C and +22°C. Above that, the heat starts to dilute the molecules and the scent dissipates.

Originality: 5/10 – not groundbreaking, but the return of a discontinued scent in a slightly different form earns it a solid 5
Scent: 7/10 – very nice citrus, almond, vetiver, though incense doesn’t stand out much
Longevity: 8/10 – lasts quite well, but only in moderate conditions; humidity combined with high heat will quickly “kill” it on your skin
Projection: 6/10 – not a projection beast, but noticeable from time to time in milder temperatures
Overall impression: 8/10 – a pleasant fresh fragrance in line with the spirit of the line, without an aquatic freshness profile

L'Homme Idéal Cologne Forte by Guerlain (2025) is somewhere between two discontinued and over-hyped varieties of the original L'Homme Idéal by Guerlain (2014). These varieties are L'Homme Idéal Cologne by Guerlain (2015) and L'Homme Idéal Platine Privé by Guerlain (2023). Seems a smart decision to look at the two most-talked about late flankers of the range, and combine them into a single fragrance, but not very smart to discontinue them in the first place, unless Guerlain has some really convoluted psychology behind what they release and why. It's above my pay grade to really analyze this stuff in-depth, so I'll just say they probably discontinued them both because the shareholder value wasn't generated fast enough, then saw what idiots were willing to pay for the surviving stock on eBay and realized they were premature; but Guerlain didn't want to release them as they were a second time, so they instead created an optimized mix of the two, which is all likelihood will be discontinued too, within a year or so when once again, it fails to sell in unreasonably large numbers.

All that aside, this is nice. If you don't like the cherry almond carnation thing that this line is basically all about, then you also won't like this one either, but I have a feeling most people reading a review about a L'Homme Idéal flanker and not the main fragrance already know the basics of what to expect, so there's that. The opening is zesty with some dry citrus notes before heading into the starring act of the almond accord. Like Platine Privé, this uses a bit of smokiness and neroli to make it feel green and sharp, although the smokiness is now from some norlimbanol incense note and birch rather than vetiver. Cologne Forte does its own thing with a bit of dry cinnamon in the base with the usual transparent musk materials to make it sufficiently "cologne" in style, and overall feels the least sweet of the bunch I've tried in this line so far. People complaining about sweetness will like this entry in the range if they like any; but again, I would not try to force yourself into L'Homme Ideal if you have any friction with the main entry, as you're just better off wearing something else. Performance is good, but not good enough for the TikTok overachievers seeking chemical warfare as fragrance.

I do find some tangential connection with Futuros by Aubusson (1987) here too, because of that sharp "cherry" carnation over woodiness, and perhaps to a lesser extent Ho Hang Club by Balenciaga (1987), although I'm not saying vintage heads who obsess over those would have any tolerance for the modernity on display here otherwise. In total, L'Homme Idéal Cologne Forte by Guerlain seems an adequate replacement for L'Homme Idéal Cologne, and less so as a replacement for L'Homme Idéal Platine Privé, and carves out another niche within the already-niche style of the L'Homme Idéal range. I think it's fun that Guerlain keeps playing around with this range despite its failure to really capture mainstream success, and I know it will never be respected by the cognoscenti the way Guerlain Vetiver (1961) or Habit Rogue (1965) are, although I'd be lying if I said I actually wanted it to be. I think this brand might be doing its best work (at least for men) to stick with a modern style that has some classic materials interwoven, and then explores the boundaries with taking little incremental risks here and there, just maybe without so many discontinuations so people get a chance to fall in love with something. Thumbs up