Tonka Cola 
Mancera (2022)

This is my first wearing of Mancera Tonka Cola, a 2022 release that, for me, is fortunately as described, as I enjoy the taste and smell of cola, though it’s proven to be a bit difficult to capture in fragrance, the balance of the citrus and caramel in particular being the most elusive. The fragrance seems to have yielded some mixed responses, which I at least partly attribute to the difficulty of capturing cola but also that ideas about cola can vary somewhat.

I’m really delighted by this fragrance, which does have some of the brightness and citrus that are required to round out the cola concept, particularly in the opening, though it leans little more to the dark, caramel, spicy side of things, of course with a pinch of the sweet/nutty/sharp tonka to round things out, though the fragrance does not scream “tonka” to me at all, really.

Additionally, it performs well and has a very subtle evolution, predictably a little brighter and sharper in the opening, becoming a little darker and smoother during the dry down, while essentially remaining mostly the same fragrance throughout. I’m not familiar with many cola-themed or cola-dominant scents but this and Hendley Cola are surely my favorites as of now, and I’d recommend looking into this one. It does not appear to be for sale yet in the US but I’ll have to keep an eye out.

8 out of 10