Nautica Classic
Nautica (1992)

Very interesting early 90's "fresh" fragrance. Nautica very much in line with two types of 1990's men's scents. It is green aquatic aromatic foguere in line with say Cool Water, Polo Sport, and Aspen for Men but with the spice of spicier aromatic fougeres like Eternity for Men. If you combine say Aspen and Eternity, you pretty much will get Nautica.

The open is green, neroli, and aldehyde heavy. There is some citrus but it is mostly green notes, aldehydes and neroli. The scent goes spicy as it goes into the mid as the aldehyde / neroli gets followed up with a strong coriander and jasmine. The base is mostly cedar and some musk and amber. Overall it gets less sweet but retains the freshness as time goes on.

Decent concoction of Bergamot, the faintest of fruits and a Musk ending that is nothing ground breaking but quite good for a casual scent. I tried this years back and did not like it. Just purchased recently at a bargain price and find that it's quite nice for Spring and Summer.

OMG, have they REALLY discontinued Nautica classic??? What the heck is going on at Nautica (or whomever manufacatures it)? I purchased Nautica when it first came out and I love it to this very day. There have often been times when I've smelled this on other men and asked what they were wearing because it smelled so GOOD. You can imagine my surprise when they say Nautica. I am taken aback and say, "I own Nautica!" Yes, it's an aquatic with a very rich quality. I can't believe they've discontinued it because there is absolutely NOTHING else out there in cologne world that smells anything close to Nautica. Why don't they discontinue many of the Nautica iterations that have been released (and there have been many)??? They should keep their namesake fragrance because there are a LOT of us that still love the original classic version the BEST! I suppose I'm going to have to stock up while it's still available online (...and before I see it on e-Bay for $300.00 a bottle after it becomes rare and hard to find)! NOW, if Fendi would please bring back, or relaunch, Fendi Uomo and Fendi for Women. Those were two classic Fendi fragrances I was REALLY sad to see go. Not to mention Balencia Pour Homme by Balenciaga and Cristobal (both men's and women's) and Talisman and Rumba, both for women. I've seen Rumba online for sale, but it's apparently made by Ted Lapidus now. I also loved Creation (a beautiful intense white floral similar to Balenciaga's Rumba) and Creation The Vert (which smells almost identical to Light Blue by D&G). Again, I'm so saddened that Nautica "Classic" is being discontinued. :(

Nautica Classic is an adequate scent for an office environment. During the morning it has a fresh, mild, slightly bitter citrus tone that will not bother co-workers. You will not get compliments but no one will complain about the guy wearing obnoxious cologne at the next desk. In the afternoon, it fades away so that only you can notice it. It is boring, but boring can be the right choice in a conservative work setting. And, it is very inexpensive.

Its sibling, Nautica Voyage is a much more interesting scent that resembles expensive competitors. Some guys might wear Nautica Classic at work and wear Voyage in the evening.

Nautica Classic has been a real favorite not only when I wear it, but upon most other men who can sport it.

Nautica Classic is clean, fresh, masculine goodness that is in league with Davidoff's Cool Water. Whenever I smell it now, I get flashbacks of my younger years and truly appreciate its simple, memorable construction. Bergamot and lemon oil meshing with minty sage, sitting atop a nice amber/sandalwood/musk foundation that need not say anymore to make its point.

Nautica (1992) may very well be the Brut (1964) of the 90's. It had all the key ingredients that trending male scents had at the time, and had an enormous ad campaign to push this stuff onto every impressionable teen and relevance-chasing 20-something on the block, just like Brut. A key difference here was that Brut begat a shaving and toiletry dynasty as it aged from hip into conventional, while this stuff ended up becoming a parody of itself that resulted in it's reinvention in 2006 (with Nautica Blue), and the "classic" tag added to this stuff so the guys who would now be in their late 30's or 40's could spritz this on and relive their glory years. The huge sub-label Nautica has become is also laughable as each new scent just tries to reinvent the charm of the first. It's off-topic but kinda funny that nostalgia has a much faster turnover than it used to, whereas something had to at -least- make it past 20 years to be considered classic, while this stuff was getting that treatment only after little more than a decade. As I said, it was the Brut for Generation X, and it worked to that end. I personally associated this scent years ago with "too-cool-for-school" borderline sexual predators that were too busy trolling for dates in their Ray-Bans and BMW's their dads bought them to see how cliche and gross they were, but my opinion has since softened.

Nautica does get a point of merit in that it strove to be nothing like the other aquatics on the market. Cool Water (1988) set a very high-quality bar that others struggled to surpass, and is probably the only aquatic that really nails "ocean water" vibe. Polo Sport (1992) was soon to follow with a deeper and richer blue, while this came along in the same year and said: "Forget the water itself, what about the rest of the beach?" Nautica is an apparel company first and foremost, with a huge maritime lean just like the older Sears-owned Land's End label, so naturally the "boater culture" would be tacked onto everything, including this debut male fragrance original marketed by Paul Sebastian (owned by Halston now Coty). The scent is surprisingly lacking a lot of synthetics for an aquatic, which is perhaps why it doesn't have such a resounding watery accord like the others, instead using a traditional amber/musk base with some hedione, light woods, neroli, citrus, and herbs on top to approximate the smell of sand, sea foam, and ocean air. It's like a 90's approach to what the old 60's and 70's maritime-themed fragrances tried to do: capture the feeling of being by the water rather than the direct impression of it. I wouldn't say this makes up for it's conventional construction, but since we're dealing with merit and not innovation, it's worth mentioning. In execution, all this leads to is a scent that rings out the belfry then goes silent, since the mostly traditional base can't be made heavy enough to hold it down without ruining it's cool vibe. Wear time is at least long, and this is the epitome of forced casual demeanor, so use wherever.

This whole craze would come to an apex with Giorgio's Wings for men (1994) a few years after this, with a couple of also-rans coming in from Max Factor and the like to try and get a slice of the money being made on the genre in its infancy, and that's how it would sit until the 2000's saw a second wave of aquatics (which Nautica Blue was a part of), and thus give the need to re-brand this poor soul as "classic" before it really even was. It's definitely the most unique of the 90's aquatic craze, but I always dug ozonics like Claiborne for men (1989), Tommy by Hilfiger (1994) and L'eau de Issey Pour Homme (1994) a smidge better for workday use since they took the same nostril tinge and did much more complex things with it than just simulate water, but at least with Nautica you get the entire beach. My previous negative bias with this is based purely on it's associations: every dirtbag with something to prove wore this in the 90's (because it was so ubiquitous with all the advertising), and the actual performance of the original Nautica is just average so they'd over-apply like crazy. If you want to relive the era of grunge and the Ford Probe, reach for this as your daily driver, but for my purposes Nautica has found a home as a simple after-shower or after-shave refresher, since it wears so light and has that nice hedione clean. For a true classic from the 90's that doesn't feel like an episode of "Where are They Now?", look elsewhere. Thumbs Up

Reformulated and stripped down by Coty. Coty is MURDERING classic fragrances.

One thing I'll never forget about Nautica Classic is just how much it was advertised.A lot in department stores and probably commercialized on TV more than a Skin Bracer commercial.Time has made this scent very affordable,back then it wasn't though

This stuff was the gift to upper middle class kids by parents who bought them what was in vogue at that timeframe.Tommy Hilfiger Jeans,Reebok Pump sneakers,a Vanilla-Ice haircut,and this cologne.They weren't speaking in Ebonics yet but you see where trends go mapping whom you are through mainstream media trends.So yes Nautica Classic invokes a memory lightly smelling this on people.

It wasn't until eight years ago that I bothered to try a sample of this scent.I got an oceanic scented laundry detergent from it as the base...highly synthetic.A chemical-washed sandalwood and a bitter citrus.It smells more pleasant on someone than it does actually wearing it in my opinion.It lacks creativity though as I feel aquatics seem so elementary to design versus actual craftsmanship in perfumery.Ice Blue by Aqua Velva smells richer than this stuff...but not as airy or windy like Nautica captures.On myself it doesn't seem to hang on more than an hour with low projection.No love lost there since I have no intention of buying it.On a side note it's crazy how pricey this cologne by Nautica used to be back then versus how cheap it is now.Amazing how trend can make people overlook scent quality.At least it's cheap now for those who like it.

This is more suitable for a Insect Repellent spray. Synthetic, cheap and horrible.

Still one of my most enjoyed fragrances and body spray. Among all that I own, this one never fails to elicit awesomeness. No need to analyze this as I thoroughly enjoy it. Always have. So natural and easy to wear. It is enigmatic and alluring with a cleanness unparalleled by most. Very unique.

Is this dated? Yes!
Are there better aquatics out there? Yes!
Is the projection and longevity sketchy? Yes!
Do I love this? Absolutely!

I first encountered this scent (and/or Joop!) in the early 1990s when I was in high school, and it brings back many fond memories of my teenage years. I would douse myself with this scent and go hangout at the mall with my buddies where we would strut around and try (in vain) to pick up girls. WE thought we were hot stuff, despite the fact that we had to call my mom for a ride.

This scent is pure 90s in it full aquatic glory. This and Cool Water are my coming of age scents. There are much better frags out there, but this is cheap and does the job. I just picked up a 3.4 oz bottle at Mrshalls for $16. For this price, I say it's a steal! Even if I only wore it one or twice, it is woth it!

I like it. It's a true aquatic (duhhh it's called nautica lol). Perfect for everyday use or when you don't wanna use your good stuff I suppose. Good for any age really. Nautica Blue is better and lighter.