Polo Crest
Ralph Lauren (1991)

Polo Crest by Ralph Lauren (1991) is a missed opportunity in my book. It was a great lighter and more-summery take on the original Polo by Ralph Lauren (1978), but it wasn't marketed that way. Instead, Polo Crest was sold to the youth market, or at least that's what Ralph Lauren tried to do; more specifically marketing Polo Crest as a youth market version of Polo is what Cosmair tried to do, thinking anything resembling the original Polo whatsoever is what young guys wanted. What was sporty in 1978 seemed almost fusty by 1991, what with all the aquatics and fresh fougères ushered in by Drakkar Noir by Guy Laroche (1982) and Cool Water by Davidoff (1988); deep forest-like fragrances for men were out, unless those men were already over 30 by 1991 (or just didn't keep up with fashion). The actual collegiate-style crest on Polo Crest says it all, and the idea was the upper-class types who unknowingly fancied themselves as a caricature of British old money would give this and the associated clothing line to their ivy league trust fund spawn; but even the "daddy wants to get this man fired" types weren't really having it, thanks to a collective love of street wear and more-minimalist fashions that transcended class (including fragrance), and things like Mtv were to blame for that. At the end of the day, more people bought Polo Crest as a clearance item

Polo Crest has a lot in common with things either from Italy or styled after Italian fragrances, like Armani Eau pour Homme (1982) and Aramis Tuscany per Uomo (1984), in that it focuses on bergamot and labdanum mostly, shaping sharp herbal aromatics around that core to make a rather traditional citrus aromatic chypre the lineage of which can be traced all the way back to Monsieur de Givenchy (1959), one of my absolute favorites. Of course, what Polo Crest does differently than either of them is marry the fat patchouli, oakmoss, and pine base of the original Polo to it all, sans the heavy tobacco, which is how it manages its lightness. Polo Crest doesn't really play with anise like Tuscany does, but it has a smidge of lavender, however unlisted in the notes, which is blended into the rest. Bergamot, lemon, basil, carnation, all the staples of a good aromatic chypre are here. Artemisia and juniper make Polo Crest a bit sharper than its Italian peers; but overall, if you've smelled anything like them, you're three-quarters of the way there with Polo Crest. Ralph Lauren effectively "Polo-fied" this style in the same way they tried to sneak the "Polo DNA" into the short-lived Monogram by Ralph Lauren (1985). I think the results here are better than they were with Monogram, as that had a jarringly-high amount of styrax and white musk in it to try and create this sterile sense of urban elitism, removing all the agrestic qualities that made Polo great.

With Polo Crest, we keep that agrestic nature, but move it from the forest to the Mediterranean coastline. Oakmoss is a bit more naked here because of the chypre format, but I don't think there is necessarily more in it than Polo original, it's just that the old green one is much darker, smokier, and mustier. Again, I think this was marketed all wrong. Instead of trying to be "Junior Yuppie's first Polo", this should have just been dad's summer option; Cosmair should have seen that the high school and college kids wanted blue bottles stuffed with calone, ambroxan, and linalool like what Calvin Klein was making gangbusters selling at that time. Ralph Lauren would eventually give that to them in the form of Polo Sport by Ralph Lauren (1993) a few years later, but had they retooled Polo Crest's marketing to have been more in line with Armani's imagery for Eau pour Homme, it might have stayed around much longer. It's not like Cosmair didn't also have Giorgio Armani's fragrance license too at the time, so it would have been easier than one might think. Instead, young guys bought neither the Polo Crest clothing nor its associated fragrance, and all of it would be blown out through outlet stores in a few years time, gaining the usual discontinuation hype in later years. At least Ralph Lauren didn't take all the bottles back and incinerate them this time. Thumbs up

This yuppie Polo
Better than I remember
Just like the 90s

Mod wife says “No way!”
It smells like our distant past
It’s time to move on

Times change, as do we
But remembrance is no sin
This Aqua de Red

Lighter by design
But still authentic Polo
With no smoky rooms

Clean, fresh and herbal
With jasmine’s bright radiance
On this cloudy day

Once my signature
Now a scrapbook memory
Thank you, Ralph Lauren

She still loves your clothes
Which neighbors find amazing
At our garage sales.

Quite awesome, it really makes sense why this discontinued fragrance is so legendary.  Polo Crest has the basic sense of original Polo, but it was made more modern in a way that didn’t go too far, like Modern Reserve.  Polo was made for the smoky bars of the 70s and 80s, and it seemed too heavy as smoking was declining in America during the 90s.  Polo Crest was perfect for that new environment.  A bit more herbal, a bit less balsamic, much less smoky.

Now I understand why the Ralph Lauren outlet store was out of OG Polo, but was pushing Crest very hard - it was the right fragrance for the times.  At first I thought Crest wasn’t “Polo enough”, but soon I came to prefer the new juice.  Thankfully, I saved a few mLs for the future, and I’m wearing it now.  Such a great fragrance!

Polo Ralph Lauren and Polo Crest were outfitters and sponsors of the America3 (pronounced "America Cubed") 1992 America's Cup yacht racing team. This was during my executive officer tour in USS LEAHY CG-16 in San Diego where the trials and finals were held. I became somewhat involved with the America Cubed effort - but not deeply enough to get me any free stuff (swag, not "schwag").

Polo Crest was a chypre that struck me as being as a lighter, step down from green bottle Polo, with a greater emphasis on citrus and florals in the top notes and less emphasis on patchouli in the drydown. The persistence and sillage were average. While I enjoyed wearing it at the time, its being discontinued didn't affect me one way or the other.

All this - the affiliation with America Cubed, the lighter fragrance, strength, and sillage, and probably the connection with San Diego combined to make me consider Polo Crest as a Sunday-go-to-meeting (church) fragrance. I can't recall ever wearing Polo Crest dressed any more casually than khakis, an OCBD, and a tie and blazer.

I am Crestfallen over Polo Crest...
With great expectations and anticipation I received a 2.5oz bottle of Polo Crest EdT Spray. First spray and it quite obvious this is a clone of its own big brother, Polo Green. All the same DNA, except PERFORMANCE. This juice is perhaps the weakest performing scent in my collection. Two hours later and it's all but gone. TWO HOURS...OR LESS!!
I paid $80 for this dud. I love my Warner and Cosmair Polos, but Crest is a complete waste of money. Go to FragranceX and just buy the latest iteration of Polo green and you will have spent your money much more wisely than I did.
DO NOT buy into the hype. It's all B.S.

I can't always smell this as I'm wearing it, which is a drawback, but when I can smell it, I love it. Sometimes it comes across as almost too similar to original Polo, but other days it seems like the perfect flanker.

One of my all time favorites. Polo Crest is essentially the daytime or summer version of Polo Green.

In my mind, RL never intended for this flanker to be more than a “limited edition” as they weren't going to directly compete with themselves. Upon release in 1991, Crest's big brother Polo Green was the undisputed heavyweight of the RL men's line.

That wasn't going to change and RL either didn't know how to market Crest to its consumers, or more likely, intended it to be a limited run.

Lurking in development, a new heavily marketed flanker, Polo Sport, would go on to dominate the aquatic side of the pond in 1993.

Dollars and scents.

Polo Crest has an excellent composition with a very similar DNA to Polo Green, minus the tobacco, with an emphasis on the herbs / florals in the heart and cedar in the basenotes.

Make no mistake, Polo Crest is an unparalleled treasure of masculinity in the world of fragrance. 5 stars!