Racer-X
Eau de Parfum, Clandestine Laboratories (2025)

I was excited to test this one out after loving Silver. The first blast of this reminded me of a sharp lemony house cleaning product such as windex and now I realize it smells a lot like a car after getting professionally cleaned. I am not able to pick up other notes, But it gets "softer" almost creamy but not quite, as time goes on..It then morphs into a pleasant room spray sort of scent. This isn't bad, But it does not remind me of any Men's sport cologne. I wasn't a huge fan of Silver at first either, But it really grew on me and maybe this one will too.

Racer-X by Clandestine Laboratories (2025) is the first official venture into a full-fledged sport fragrance from the brand, and was inspired by not-so-mysterious sources if you have ever watched any cartoons growing up. My review of the fragrance is probably going to be a bit different from most people who get to try this stuff, as I had a sample given to me from the first mixed batch, when perfumer Mark Sage wasn't yet sure he wanted to develop the idea further. I've been given many such prototype fragrances to try, and I've been respectful not to review them publicly or name them, as sometimes they die in the laboratory, and sometimes they get redeveloped and renamed. For example, the fragrance that now exists as Orpheus by Clandestine Laboratories (2022) was once named Chiron, and I have a sample under that name from years back, plus now there is a new, unrelated and officially released fragrance called Chiron by Clandestine Laboratories (2022), so one can only imagine the chaos if I had reviewed "Chiron" from 2021 instead of keeping my mouth shut until it evolved into Orpheus. In this case, Racer-X was sold privately over the course of its 6 year evolution to friends and loyal customers, so it was always "out there".

What's most important is the fragrance as it exists today; the fragrance you can buy is the one I'm focusing on here, I just also want to touch upon its beginnings later and show the journey from Point A to Point B, as it were. For the most part, this is a classic rounded citrus cologne, one that relies heavily on sour and tart lemon, bitter orange, and bergamot. There is no orange blossom or neroli to drag this toward Farina or 4711, and no dandy traces otherwise, so think more mid-century than 18th century. The rose geranium and muguet put a classical Jean Desprez vibe on this, although there isn't a huge animalic component here like you might suspect. You will get a sort of salty vibe that is popular with modern ambergris reconstructions, but I wouldn't say ambergris is a part of Racer-X either, at least not directly. Balm of Gilead, the scripture-referenced medicine of ancient times, is listed in Racer-X's official note breakdown; but for nerds wanting to know, it's a mastic coming from Populus Balsamifera, with a very slight smell. It reminds me most of lentiscus, and I enjoy lentiscus in things like Eau d'Ikar by Sisley (2011), although that's just how my nose "sees it. The patchouli and muted dry spices lend a masculine touch, while a subtle clean floral musk builds over time. Performance is outstanding, thanks to that musk.

Going back to the 2019 version, which never saw widespread release (although it was compounded for private bottling though 2022 before the formula ran out), I see a much drier and more citrus-forward Racer-X, with less of the rose geranium and white floral materials, less of the richness and less longevity, more of the woodiness, vetiver, and incense. It's certainly more austere, more "industrial" in the way many of the earlier releases were, and it is quite good; but I'm glad Mark switched up naturals and twisted the knobs, moved the sliders, and turned up the musk some, as it's clearly better this way. Older isn't always better, although the vintage purists and batch obsessives will beat down your door like a missionary to preach to you the opposite, leaving their little Chick tracts about oakmoss savior this, and perfumer's true vision that. Here, the extra time in the oven did the trick, and anyone missing fragrances like Terre d'Hermès Eau Très Fraîche (2014) now has a new hero, as this is conceptually similar, and thus can satisfy just the same, even if executed differently (think the difference between amaretto and cherry for a proper analogy). The mastic note in this especially makes Racer-X a far more daring sport scent than anything Jean-Claude Ellena ever did for Hermès, and those are fighting words. Buckle your seat belts, and take a ride with Racer-X if unorthodox takes on eau de cologne, citrus, or sport scents are your thing. Thumbs up