Santana Bay
Jacques Bogart (2019)

Santana Bay by Jacques Bogart (2019) is a decent fragrance, and a rare bird outside of France and the Middle East, to the point that US enthusiasts of the brand think it's already discontinued; the reality is that it has never officially reached North America, although some grey market cachets have from time to time turned up here. A lot of more-recent Jacques Bogart flankers to popular lines like One Man Show by Jacques Bogart (1980) and Silver Scent by Jacques Bogart (2006) have also just failed to see release in North America, telling me the brand doesn't officially support this market anymore, and what you see lingering on discounter sites is just the usual case of old return to vendor stock. Bogart doesn't really drop too many original stand-alone scents anymore in this day and age, with everything being a flanker to something, or a part of a series like the 'Bogart Story" line, so that drew my eye right away.

I remember when this stuff first dropped in 2019 across social media that everyone suspected it of being a Creed Aventus (2010) clone, because of the fact the note pyramid listed pineapple. Obviously, pre-pandemic late 2010's was the peak for Aventus Madness, so anything with pineapple was accused of being an attack on the honor of the king, blah blah. Turns out, this is more of a take on La Nuit de L'Homme by Yves Saint Laurent (2009), at least in the abstract. The brief pineapple gives way to a sweet and round lavender, with a big cardamom and labdanum, just like the YSL. Patchouli, vanilla, cedarwood, tonka, and just the slightest touch of bubblegummy orange blossom give this all the hallmarks of a modern "compliment bro" scent, cranked up to the usual Bogart levels of power. Should have been a modern hit that revived the brand in the eyes of the current-day TikTok and YouTube generation right? Wrong.

Sadly, Bogart is Bogart, and this means the cheap sleazy brand everyone's old uncle wears to try and pick up on chicks half his age, or the forever-discounted stuff seen at every high street shop and shopping mall kiosk that sells it alongside an assortment of Armaf, Lataffa, and Lomani stuff. That something could come out from this brand which actually appeals to the somewhat young, somewhat hip, somewhat conventionally-relevant professional male consumer trading in last decade's "drip" for this one's "rizz" is just totally most folks, and the kind of market that would eat this up is exactly the one Bogart has seemingly given up on, as mentioned back at the beginning. Sad, a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure is Santana Bay, and the awkward name surely doesn't help either; Carlos Santana already had a scent line years before. If you can find it, or are willing to import it, and want a Bogart alternative to the usual modern "club banger", this is worth a shot. Otherwise, it really isn't all that special without the strange context. Thumbs up