Taxi
Cofinluxe (Cofci)

Taxi by Mark Buxton...talk about an underrated/never talked about retro gem....this is the epitome. Anyone who knows about Mark Buxtons resume understands hes underrated as well. Dropping in 1984, this MUST of bombed due to the name and the bottle. What a marketing cluster f#&@ this was. Taxi? Are you kidding me? Nevertheless, it is like my poor man's Rive Gauche more than it is like Drakkar Noir. Its barbershop done right and the oakmoss is beautiful in this, wet and sparkling. Yes, the OAKMOSS. Here's what you need to know about Taxi...seek out the formulation from the 90s into the early 2000s. Easy find, $20-$40. The ingredients clearly say Oakmoss extract and Treemoss extract and they are high up on the list. Only buy Taxi if you can see a pic of the ingredient list! The most surprising element of Taxi is the clear quality of the ingredients in this formulation. The lavender, the oakmoss and the star anis are really turned up, and I'm a huge fan of star anis. One of my favorite vintage daily drivers for Spring and Fall, Taxi has outstanding projection and longevity(cant speak to current). Taxi is friends with Tuscany per Uomo as well, but to a much lesser degree. I also think that Ceasars Man Legendary(vintage only, not China trash) is a better comparison than Drakkar as well. As retro vintage cologne comes back and is pursued more, this will jump in price if word gets out. Friends, seek out the vintage with Oakmoss and thank me later. Velvety invigorating barbershop masculinity here...two thumbs up😎

I bought this because I heard that it's very similar to Guy La Roche's 1982 classic, Drakkar Noir.

Now, I love Drakkar Noir's top notes. But when it dries down on my skin, it becomes it smells cheap, crude and dirty. Since then I've tried as many DN clones as possible to find a similar smelling scent that's a little bit lighter and more agreeable to my skin chemistry:

LOMANI: DN-like opening that lasts longer, but then it eventually dries down to this basic, weird spicy soda smell.
CLASSIC MATCH: A very accurate clone of Drakkar Noir except the Lemon Pledge-aspect is prolonged and there's even less soapiness in the dry down than the original.
AKTHAR NOIR: Opening is just like Drakkar Noir, doesn't have the warm raunch middle notes, it's much smoother. But it further dries down into this cheap plastic, $3 smell. No good.
DAKAR: Smells just like shaving cream. Not a bad scent at all, but hardly any similarities to DN.

So how does Cofinluxe's TAXI compare?
The opening is definitely reminiscent of Drakkar Noir but with a *hint* of something sweet. Licorice maybe.
However, here's no warmed up, raunchy middle notes like Drakkar Noir has. It goes straight into the basenotes which smells like tobacco and that that hint of licorice that's in the opening.
Whereas Drakkar Noir is only really suited for winter weather and chilly nights, Taxi is lighter and much smoother. It's not a summer scent, but you could easily wear it in Fall or Spring weather.

CONCLUSION:
I like this fragrance.
I can't pull off many 80s fragrances because they're usually too dirty in the dry down and/or far too pungent.
Despite this one's dry down being clearly in the same vein as Polo and Drakkar Noir, it's so much smoother than those two.

It's a shame this has such a cheap sounding name and cheap looking bottle design. If this stuff came in a black crocodile skin flask with a gold cap and had a name like Carrozza L'Uomo I think it would be held in a higher regard and probably go for a little more.

As the first to review Taxi by Cofinluxe this fragrance was created in 1984.I took an interest in getting a bottle as others claim this akin to Drakkar Noir as an alternate or 'for fans of'.I don't see that.You know what Taxi has in common with? Azzaro Pour Homme.

Here's the notes I get:lavender,anise,spearmint,moss,tobacco,and musk

On spray I get a very soapy blast which at first struck me on the level of Quorum or Sung Homme.The soap quickly settles down to a mild state and a lot of warm anise and spearmint comes right out. Moss comes out under the spearmint delivering lightly bitter undertones. Lavender keeps this fragrance clean and the spearmint enhancing freshness from it's clean side while keeping the hefty amount of anise tame and cool. Over a few hours this lavender/anise/spearmint trio creams down to a softer state, the moss becomes stronger, and a little musk and tobacco blossoms out. Cigarette tobacco not pipe tobacco. The combination doesn't really dive towards delivering a sensual quality...just a masculine 'guy vibe'.

As a $10 fragrance Taxi is definitely a daily casual or work wear fragrance.It's projection is light at 4-6 hours so I don't think you'd have to worry about the anise being too heavy or bothering people around you...but it is rich.This is definitely a modified but inspired take on Azzaro Pour Homme.I really like this hidden gem..thumbs up in my opinion!