Purple Label
Ralph Lauren (2003)

Purple Label by Ralph Lauren (2003) has been the Spruce Goose or Maltese Falcon (depending on how you see it) of the Ralph Lauren range for over twenty years, released as an expensive and exclusive boutique-only fragrance to accompany their Purple Label sartorial line. Therefore, you originally could only buy this scent where Purple Label suits and accessories were sold, locking out a lot of standard Ralph Lauren fragrance fans from ever trying or owning the scent. Eventually, the brand's view on Purple Label (the scent) softened, and it started turning up at luxury department stores like Bergdorf Goodman, or flagship locations of department store chains, like Sak's Fifth Avenue, Macy's in Manhattan, Barney's New York, the original Texas location of Neiman Marcus, and most recently the flagship Nordstrom in Seattle. This ever-so-slight democratization of the scent probably has to do with overall falling sales of fragrance in the US (leading some European luxury brands to trim selections or pull out of the US altogether), so being based in the US as Ralph Lauren is, probably necessitates making their stuff in general more available, breaking from the tradition of exclusive deals Lauren has had. Ergo, Macy's isn't the only game in town to have Ralph Lauren fragrances at counters anymore, because it seems people with the cash to spend there aren't shopping there like they once did.

In the same spirit, Purple Label is now available directly from Ralph Lauren online too, if you don't want to find one of the select locations that have been allowed to sell it beyond the 100 original boutiques that had it since 2003. However, you're not in for a religious or revelatory experience with Purple Label, just a smooth, fruity, somewhat forward-looking fresh signature-worthy scent that some see as having laid the bedrock later niche rockstars like Bleeker Street by Bond No. 9 (2005) and Creed Aventus (2010) would build their empires upon. I can't say for certain how close the Bond gets to Purple Label, but I can say Aventus is not super close, at least not until very late in the dry down, once all of the fruitier materials have gone. Purple Label opens with a fruity but somewhat dry blackberry note, made more aromatic with judicious applications of coriander and sage. Purple Label is not a complex fragrance, and basically dries down to some woody-amber compounds (not scratchy ones though), transparent musks like ambroxan, and a sliver of oakmoss. The finish reminds me more and more of Montblanc Explorer (2019) than Aventus as the sage compares more to the latter's sclarene note. Performance is not loud, and eventually you have a light aromatic bubble that follows you around for about eight hours, discrete and refined as the clothes I guess are supposed to seem. You can daily-driver this, but I'd assume you may go noseblind to it eventually due to it's simplicity and sheer base.

The idea of quality-over-style perpetuated by old-money luxury concepts, with purple being a historical color for royalty is not lost upon me when smelling Purple Label; and the fact this scent slightly reuses the bottle from the ill-fated Monogram by Ralph Lauren (1985), sans the logo and blue glass switched out for purple, is also not lost upon me. For a second time, Ralph Lauren reaches for the Millionaire's Club segment of buyers, since their polo shirts and khaki shorts can only get them so far in terms of clout with the luxury buyer, and the aging country club aesthetics of their brand overall wasn't going to be appealing for much longer with ivy league collegiate professionals that avoid the fustiness of Brooks Brothers, and don't want to come across "nouveau riche" by sporting more-boisterous French fashions. That said, if you paid extortionate eBay prices getting a bottle outside the exclusive distribution footprint, you might have felt either underwhelmed, or successfully gas-lit yourself into believing it was worth it. Either way, Purple Label is good but not great, and had an eye on the future of male luxury fragrance that can't be denied, as seen by today's MFK Baccarat Rouge 540 (2015), Roja Parfums Elysian pour Homme Parfum Cologne (2017), or Ganymede by Marc-Antoine Barrois (2019), and yet still doesn't cost $300-$550 a bottle. Thumbs up

A watered-down take on the classic RL accord. Safe, unassuming, and barely there. Not even the presence of a skin scent. The perfect fragrance for the man who doesn't want to offend or call attention to himself. The homeopathy fragrance.

This nonsense (as well as the newish Brioni) is a relatively expensive waste of time. Fruit pastil freshness with no backbone. A pleasant inoffensive cleanliness especially the Brioni- and faithful customers will just add a bottle to their sale purchases. The rest of us can safely ignore this and rest assured in the knowledge we aren't missing out on much. Lazy brand reliance at its head shaking worst.

Ralph Lauren Purple Label is the longstanding exclusive fragrance of the house--that is, most retailers don't sell it. I only see it online at the RL website and Barney's. It lingers between the main collection and the high-end collection, and to many, conjures Bond No. 9 Bleecker Street.

While I wasn't a fan of Bleecker Street, I'm a fan of Purple Label. It's a great floral/fruity bouquet on top of a woody base, with notes of blackberry, coriander, citrus, woods, and musk factoring most prominently for me.

It's unfortunately not much of a performer but lends itself to light and casual wearing, particularly in warmer weather. Pricing isn't bad, either, at $105 for 125ml, surely cheaper at retail than Bleecker Street on discount, if nothing else.

There have been rumors over the past couple years of its discontinuation but it remains available online at Barney's and I've seen it in my local RL store where I bought my bottle.

It's a nice grab, a reasonable casual option for light wearing that is by no means cheap but still agreeable and much more affordable than niche counterparts, performance notwithstanding.

7 out of 10

A subdued but highly enjoyable fragrance. Yes, it is sweet, but is also slightly dusky from the tobacco, thyme and oakmoss. I have thoroughly enjoyed this fragrance all day long. The sweetness from the blackberry note in the opening has lingered all day, but does mellow during the wear. The mandarin note also lingers and is a big part of the dry down. It's definitely not a sillage beast, but what a pleasant skin scent! I've found another Ralph Lauren fragrance to love. Original Polo will always be my favorite from this house, but I really do love this one too! And, purple has always been my favorite color to boot! Seriously though, this is a refined and enjoyable fragrance and I'm so happy to have it in my rotation.

Smokey, spicy/woody and unmistakenly masculine. And not in the old school macho way, just not feminine or fruity/floral in any way.

This actually projected very well on my skin and lasted the entire workday.