Dior Homme Sport (2022) 
Christian Dior (2022)

Effectively, this is a more lemony, more intense version of Dior Homme (2020 version), which I quite enjoy. I realize that many were displeased by the new direction Dior took with the 2020 release as it moved away from iris dominant formulations. I do like the previous Dior offerings, owning Dior Homme Cologne 2007, Dior Homme Intense 2007, Dior Homme Parfum 2014, and Dior Homme Eau 2014, but don’t begrudge Dior the initiative it took to target new noses and new markets with the 2020 release. My complaint with the 2020 Dior Homme was its relatively weak sillage.

The 2022 Dior Homme Sport fixes the sillage part of the 2020 equation without moving into room fumigating territory. The added lemon is certainly not overbearing, not overly sweet or candied, and not juvenile in anyway. It provides an airy touch to the deeper woods of the base where it coexists without conflict. Longevity is good as well. Had Sport been available when I bought the Homme 2020, I would have purchased Sport instead.

Due to the elegant woods under pinning the fragrance, the balanced and not overbearing performance, I find this to be an all-occasion scent, equally at ease in the office or on the court, and one of my best summer finds of 2022.

Dior Homme Sport [2022] by Christian DIor (2022) is the fourth vision of Dior Homme Sport (2008) we have received since the original was penned by Demachy when he was still just a contracted perfumer for Dior and not its house perfumer. This newest and last-by-his-hands is arguably closest to his original vision, which did not have iris in it either, although he would reneg on this in 2012 - and again in 2017 - with versions that had differing amounts of the star ingredient in the original Dior Homme (2005), created by Olivier Polge for Hedi Slimane, kick-starting the line. Demachy tinkered with this scent in 2012, but never again touched it, focusing instead on other flankers that he would toy with, but never to the extent of Dior Homme Sport. The original 2008 sport flanker was a citrus and woods melange that starred ginger in its core, while this 2022 version is more in line with the reimagined Dior Homme [New] (2020) that replaced the outgoing iris masterpiece from Polge. If you are still up in arms about that replacement scent, you're better off leaving this one be as well. However, if you do in fact love the "new" Dior Homme and want a version that wears better in summer, with even more of a mid-century homage structure, look no further.

The opening of Dior Homme Sport [2022] is fresh and vibrant, but not sweet or aquatic at all. Francois Demachy is old enough to remember what sport scents and flankers used to be: lighter and more lively takes on the original pillar if flankers, or just basically more-bracing and bouyant scents that didn't have the deep musk notes or amber-heavy bases of men's fragrances at the time. Dior Homme SPort [2022] returns to that 1960's-1980's take on the sport scent, offering a lighter and brisker Dior Homme 2020, with elemi and cashmeran over Iso E Super "cedar" staying the star of the show. Bergamot and lemon mix with piercing aldehydes that recalls mid-century citrus chypres, similar to but more airy than the opening to DIor Homme 2020, with pink pepper and olibanum as new inclusions in place of vetiver and patchouli in the rebooted pillar. There is still some of that sour bracing musk profile from Dior Homme 2020, but it is drier here. Performance is good, and projection is far better than any sport scent can rightfully lay claim to, so this may not seem so "sporty" if you're thinking it will wear like a classic Lacoste. Still, it is good for the gym or outdoor use aesthetically, and very resolutely masculine. This last tidbit is something the older sport flankers could never claim to be.

I feel like this was the parting shot for Francois Demachy that we all thought Dior Homme 2020 was, when he recently announced his retirement and replacement by Francis Kurkdjian (whose own house MFK is also under LVMH like Dior). Guys who didn't dig the iris will love this so much more than the outgoing Dior Homme Sport [2017] by Christian DIor (2017), which didn't get much love from the iris fanboys either because it wasn't intense enough of an experience in that department. Those guys had their shot at a fresh iris scent with Dior Homme Eau by Christian Dior (2014), but not enough of them bought it to keep it on the books, and it was gone before anyone realized what they had. On the same token, if you already own something like K by Dolce & Gabbana (2019), you probably don't really need this, although it isn't super similar, just covering the same purpose territory in my mind. A classic sport scent with modern construction isn't going to have many fans in the subdivided-by-snobbery online fragrance community, but this isn't for the usual self-styled "colognoisseur" types anyway. Sample and if you like it, buy it now and not later, before Francis Kurkdjian makes his own. Thumbs up