With virtually no fanfare, Procter & Gamble quietly released three new eau de colognes in what it has loosely referred to as its "Signature" range, naming them Forbidden Woods, Midnight Moon, and Obscure Ocean, which is the one I have.
The psychology here is difficult to figure out. With Old Spice enthusiasts openly yearning for P&G to reissue lost treasures like the original formula milk-glass Old Spice and its sleek 1980s flanker, Night Spice, the question of why they chose to create three entirely new fragrances is a fair one. Forbidden Woods is supposed to be some kind of spiced amber oud, while Midnight Moon appears to be a candied gourmand. For me, that's a double no thanks. Obscure Ocean, however, piqued my interest, chiefly because P&G, for all its faults, has never released a conventional aquatic. Old Spice Fresh Scent smells like a harsh marine storm, overloaded with minerals and cold, stony notes that are impossible to identify, while Pure Sport is like a teenager's deodorant turned up to eleven. Neither fragrance is particularly wearable, yet I cannot help liking them for their quirky originality.
I view Obscure Ocean as a possible market experiment on P&G's part. It is plausible that someone in management took a close look at eBay and realized the brand could release a few "premium" fragrances in attractive packaging, place them on the shelves of Target and Walmart with almost no marketing, then discontinue them after 12 to 18 months, knowing the aftermarket would generate enough buzz to steer customers back toward the older drugstore line that remains in continuous production. I can see the future fragcomm commentary now: "Obscure Ocean? The name is strangely appropriate. It was one of those one-off premium fragrances that lasted eight or nine months before retailers stopped ordering it, then spent another three or four months clearing out the remaining stock. Almost nobody knows what it smells like because almost nobody knew it existed. Now eBay sellers are asking $100 a bottle, which is oddly making it far more desirable than when it sold for a quarter of that price."
How does it smell? Frankly, a bit cheap, but not bad. Spending $50 on it is unwise unless you're a collector like me. I actually think the packaging is beautiful, with a subtly textured illustration of old seafaring adventures pressed into the background behind a bold sky-blue band bearing the fragrance's name and Old Spice in gold lettering at the top. The box even includes the classic milk-glass ship graphic on the outer opening flap. They also printed a batch code on it, which is, of course, completely meaningless, but still fun. The bottle has a plastic cap, though it is at least finished in chrome gold, and the glass bears the familiar ship in matching gold. This is a strong nod to the Shulton tradition, the first time in two decades that I have seen P&G reach back to those roots for an entire product line. I fully expected the fragrance itself to be as pedestrian as anything else released over the past year, but I was pleasantly surprised by what I got instead.
Obscure Ocean is, for all intents and purposes, a Dior Sauvage EDT clone. It's not a 1:1 copy, nor is it trying to be. The semi-sweet salted melon and citrus opening is distinctive, supported by a strong linalool "lavender" effect that guides the fresh, fruity, and ozonic top notes into a Sauvage-like salty Ambroxan accord, along with what smells like a touch of Cedramber draped over a very 2000s suede-style base. I suspect it contains something akin to IFF's Suederal LT, dressed up with a surprisingly restrained hint of Calone and whatever that extra salty material happens to be. It smells competent, and I readily admit that it smells good, albeit slightly dated. The entire structure of Obscure Ocean, however, is paint-by-numbers woody aquatic, the sort of fragrance that, in 20 years, will probably be dispensed from perfume vending machines in Yokohama train stations to budget travelers who forgot to pack deodorant. It smells like the textbook definition of Western "guy fresh," viewed through the restrained lens of a 1990s Asian designer fragrance. It is not high quality, but it is interesting enough to justify its existence.
I suspect, however, that the fragrance itself is not really the point of Obscure Ocean, or of its two siblings. Once Obscure Ocean disappears from store shelves, the very name "Obscure" will appeal to collectors, and the unusual attention it attracts on eBay and other secondhand marketplaces will drive prices and hype high enough to strengthen the broader Old Spice brand. If that happens, it will give P&G executives one more reason not to release the fragrances that longtime fans actually want, in keeping with their true (and truly unfortunate) tradition.