Polo Red Extreme (2025 version)
Eau de Parfum, Ralph Lauren (2025)

Polo Red Extreme by Ralph Lauren (2025) is not a re-issue of the original 2017 fragrance, so those who have come to worship that scent due to YouTuber hype or "grail chasing" will be disappointed here. In fact, many may be disappointed by the new Polo Red Extreme, as it doesn't follow much of the Polo Red by Ralph Lauren (2013) convention at all, feeling less like a flanker, and more like a unique scent they just wanted to tie into a pre-existing line so as not to waste R&D. Now, I only say "unique" in regards to Ralph Lauren, as this is really more of a kissing cousin to another stablemate in the world-devouring panoply of corporate parent L'Oréal; and in this case particularly, I am referring to Luna Rossa Ocean Le Parfum by Prada (2024). This isn't identical to Ocean Le Parfum, but it does feel wrought from the same exercise.

For those who haven't smelled Ocean Le Parfum, it is a rather sweet and spicy cinnamon amber scent that has literally screw-all to do with any other member of the Prada Luna Rossa Ocean (2021) range; I liked Ocean Le Parfum, despite thinking its vastly over-priced and too much like a half-dozen other things I own, and I also to a degree like Polo Red Extreme 2025, but markedly less. The big thing with this, and the clear reason why it might have been a rejected mod from the Luna Rossa Ocean Le Parfum brief, is it goes very heavy into this smoky suede accord layered thickly with vanilla and patchouli. There is still that spicy cinnamon and ambery goodness, but this big sweet smoky leathery thing under that vanilla glaze and some sharp ginger just comes across as a bit too much.

An absolute beast on paper, and mildly less weapons-grade on skin, this is extreme in ways the original 2017 scent could never hope to be, as evidenced by the weirdly 2000's-nostalgic X-Games logotype on the bottle. For me personally, I wouldn't wear something like this, fighting in the same overstuffed-elixir-type space as Bleu de Chanel L'Exclusif Chanel (2025) or Dior Sauvage Elixir (2021). All of these ultra-dense masculine-market fragrances have one glaring flaw in them, and it's that with all the synthetic sweet, spice, heavy woody-amber and vanilla accords blurring into slurries of brown in the base, they end up smelling like "cologne smell" the same way; the modern equivalent of an elevator after six different guys all juiced up on the way out from the office. Neutral