Sebastian Jara's review of this fragrance is what prompted me to buy a bottle, as his resentful dislike of Drakkar Bleu borders on hilarious. He goes on a tangent about how people diss him for liking old-school fragrances, like the original Drakkar and famous flanker Drakkar Noir, and then said this new "blue" flanker of Drakkar (or Drakkar Noir?—can a flanker be flanked?) smelled way too basic, unoriginal, synthetic, and juvenile for him. If he were talking about any other fragrance, I might've just finished his video and forgotten about it. It's not like it's the only thing Mr. Jara has openly disliked.
But smelling Drakkar Bleu, released in 2025 and formulated by anonymous, I immediately pick up on a boomerang effect of Guy Laroche copying something that copied Drakkar Noir. This makes sense, because the something that copied their flagship masculine embellished its New Wave fougère structure in a way that was, for lack of a better phrase, simply genius. Combe Incorporated, makers of Aqua Velva products, released a humble little plastic-bottle aftershave in 1994 called Aqua Velva Ice Sport—Drakkar Noir in hard candy blue raspberry flavor. I still think about it today, 32 years after its initial release (it was discontinued for a brief while, then brought back). That silly little $3 aftershave smells better than some of my $40+ perfumes. It stands to reason that the dihydromyrcenol and menthol accords of faux lavender and mint would work wonders when combined and carefully balanced with the fruity esters of banana, pineapple, and cherry.
Drakkar Bleu opens with a blast of spiced menthol and pineapple juice, which is rapidly joined by a fairly restrained ethyl-maltol sugar rush that threatens to turn the whole affair into another dismal designer cotton candy for Gen-Zombies. Fortunately, this stage remains restrained, almost to a fault, and I'm able to discern that the perfumer behind Drakkar Bleu wanted to copy Ice Sport, but not be obvious about it. As it all dries down, it reveals an abstract raspberry haloed in a wonderfully malted lavender so big that it's actually scarily easy to miss, as it looms over the entire fragrance evolution like a big blue eye-in-the-sky. The Drakkar Noir idea that became the Aqua Velva Ice Sport idea has now come full circle as a fully fleshed-out modern fougère in eau de parfum concentration, and ironically Drakkar Bleu dials back the sweetness by reducing the fruit candy to a background hum. I actually like this stuff, and I really didn't expect to.
Ignore the YouTube reviewers who, in true NPC fashion, all blather about "mint mint mint" and "apple with patchouli." It's a fool's errand to try to discern spearmint or peppermint here. It's just sweetened menthol, and it's all the better for it. There's hardly any apple, and the patchouli is merely a lithe dose of Akigalawood. These people just imitate each other; if one person says "mint," then everyone feels safe saying it in their video. None of them have any clue what's really going on with this fragrance, and I doubt they're familiar with Aqua Velva Ice Sport. All I can say is, if you're stepping into the Drakkar arena, know your barbershop frags. I expect Bleu will be discontinued by the end of 2027, by which point prices will skyrocket to Drakkar Essence levels.