With that in mind, their Replica line of perfumes has its flagship masculine, Jazz Club. There are a few things I like about Jazz Club, and a couple I really don't like. Let's start with the good stuff, and work from there. What I do appreciate about this 2013 quasi-retro composition by Alienor Massenet is how it incorporates a slightly bizarre top accord of pink pepper and fig into a stolid support structure of green tobacco leaf and smooth, semisweet rum. Pink pepper has fruity nuances, as does under-cured tobacco leaf, but hiding a nineties-era fig in there is both imaginative and effective; Jazz Club smells lively and inviting, as a true jazz club should. I hear trumpets every time I press the atomizer.
I also like that the heart notes maintain their friendly balance of spices, greens, and booze without ever devolving into aching sweetness or chemical noise. While the rum lends a hint of sugar, the tobacco remains lucid and staves off the cavities. There's a resinous undergirding of styrax and vanilla with just a touch of tonka bean, and if someone told me it was a fougère, I'd believe them. So all in all, a good fragrance with a surprising degree of everyday wearability and versatility. When you're looking for something that is both "safe" and "fun," your options can narrow considerably, but here the boxes for unimposing nonchalance and quiet authority are all checked off in kind.
Now, the bad stuff. Here's the thing: this isn't a cheap fragrance. You're looking at over a hundred bucks for three ounces. All fine, were it reminiscent of top-shelf Chanel. Sadly, it smells more like top-shelf Avon. I bought a little bottle of something called Hot Spice from Dollar Tree that smells as good as Jazz Club, and maybe even a little better (I use it as a room spray, it's that good). Quality of JC's materials is high, but not that high. Quality of blend is excellent, but with all the A.I.-enhanced blending techniques available today, the smoothness of a fragrance is less and less impressive. I am not about to claim that Jazz Club isn't worth your money. Only you can make that call. But I'm hard-pressed to spend more than a Ben for a full bottle. Me? I'd spring for it at fifty or sixty. It's middle-shelf designer, at least to me, but your mileage may vary!
Another thing that I'm not wild about with Jazz Club is that it attempts to sublimate the late nineties fruity-floral aura into a late fifties bay rum vibe, and winds up smelling a little soggy on both ends. The unusual stealth fig in the top only lasts about five minutes, and I don't see it mentioned by anyone anywhere on any of the social media boards or review videos. It's probably because the whole affair is a little washed-out and weak. Likewise, the tobacco and woodsy-rum drydown is pleasant and well arrayed, but never really feels like enough of something. A bit more of a spicy rum thing might've steered it into a wetshaver territory, which is really the inevitable destination for something with these notes, yet it doesn't get there, and instead remains more transparent and "modern" in tone. You could use it after a shave, but why spend that much for kinda-sorta bay rum?
Maybe I'm being unfair to the fragrance, and there are devout fans of Jazz Club who would beat me into a pulp for going where I've gone here, but what can I say? It's a very good fragrance. It smells very nice. I could wear this all the time and it would probably garner the occasional compliment. But I have Trumper's Bay Rum, Pinaud's Bay Rum, and Ferragamo Pour Homme for a woody-spicy scent with its own spin on sweetness and freshness. I'm not convinced that I need Jazz Club to round them all out.