Dior Homme Cologne (2022)
Christian Dior (2022)

If one was to lob any complaints at the outgoing version of Dior Homme Cologne (2007) from 2013, simply known by most as Dior Homme Cologne (2013) since it was technically around longer than the light and lively take on the original Dior Homme (2005) that was the 2007 version, those complaints would be squarely in the realms of performance, and not having a lick of anything to do with the original Dior Homme DNA. With the 2022 version of Dior Homme Cologne (2022), which will likely also be known just as Dior Homme cologne to those who will barely notice (if at all) the changing of the guard, we see not a complete reinvention like the transition from 2007 to 2013, but a further refinement; and arguably Dior Homme Cologne from 2022 now feels more like a complete version of the fragrance from 2013 it is replacing. For those who don't know, Dior Homme from 2013 was a citrus-dominant affair with white musks and some ambroxan underpinning it, making for a refreshing if briefly-lived fragrance in a true cologne style. For 2022, all outgoing Dior house perfumer François Demachy has done is give it a slightly-heftier woody backbone that gives the rest more skin retention, plus given Dior Homme Cologne a bit more "broadcast power" to feel like a proper eau de toilette, even if barely so.

The opening of Dior Homme Cologne is still purely vacuum-distilled bergamot beefed up with some ozonic zippiness and trace herbs, giving you a feel just shy of being aquatic, although "aquatic" enough to compete with something like Acqua di Giò pour Homme by Giorgio Armani (1996) if need be. The heart is also much the same as the outgoing 2013 version, with a smidge of clary sage and some juicy grapefruit to counter-balance the dry bergamot in the top. Once the white musks of Dior Homme Cologne 2013 enter the picture, we find them joined by more than just maybe a bit more ambroxan, but also some honest-to-goodness cedar notes. I say this because there is a very palpable woody cedar profile here, not the amorphous woody blob of Iso E Super, although I wouldn't be surprised if that was there in some degree too, and just evading my nose. This slight touch of sharp woodiness helps draw more attention to the aromatics of the composition, and gives the citrus notes more to "latch onto" than the white musks alone in Dior Homme Cologne 2013, meaning the 2022 version will remain light but longer-lasting, instead of simply disappearing from your skin in a few hours. Expect performance cloer to the 7 hour mark with this new Dior Homme Cologne, and slightly better projection, even if still best for summer or out-of-shower use. It also bears mentioning that I find this version maybe a tad more masculine, but still unisex.

I'm still going to say if you miss the 2007 Dior Homme Cologne, or just generally hate the re-imagining of the line away from the iris of Olivier Polge since the 2020 reboot of Dior Homme (2020), you will still likely want to keep staying away from Dior Homme Cologne in its 2022 iteration as well. If you liked Dior Homme Cologne after its frosty 2013 makeover, but weren't happy with how ephemeral it was on skin; and maybe too you expect a "cologne" these days to be so in style rather than strictly substance, then maybe this Mark III version of the Dior Homme Cologne flanker will be the one that finally hits your spot. I'm not going to lie, I thought this might simply a package refresh like with the best-selling Dior Homme Intense (2007) because of popularity; but seeing how Demachy took one more shot at a Mark IV of Dior Homme Sport (2022) after delivering remarkably different versions in 2008, 2012, and 2017, I chose to second-guess myself and give this a sniff, comparing a tester of the 2013 juice the DIor rep at my local Nordstrom still had tucked away into a drawer. Sure enough, this isn't a radical shift from what we had before, although it is in my opinion a clear improvement. Whether enough of an improvement to replace an existing bottle of Dior Homme 2013 some of you may have in your collections already, I leave up to you. Thumbs up