Reviews of Upper Ten (new) by Lubin

The musky, leathery notes keep it masculine and a little "sweaty", tempered with several sweet and spicy notes. It's nicely blended, quite sexy even, evoking a single man in his prime and out on the town. A little too "animal" for day-wear, but would be great on Saturday nights.

Solid fragrance all around. Starts off dry and woody, like a sauna. The drydown reveals some slightly sweetened spices and florals. There is also a Javanol-pepperiness that reminds me of Wonderwood. There's a heaviness to it that feels like it's best for cooler weather.

With only a few sprays, this performed well with sneaky good projection that keeps coming back to your nose without effort. Longevity is also good, lasts all day.

Reading the notes, I initially thought this would be a train crash. They hit the brakes on this one. I get a slightly spiced wood with a fruit note in there somewhere. The leather makes it darker than I thought it would be. Kind of earthy in a nice way.Not bad, just not for me.6.5/10

Upper Ten's marketing backstory about the 10,000 powerful visionaries who made America great is a lot more interesting than the scent itself which on first few impressions felt somewhat derivative, reminiscent of 1980s' designer masculine blends of floral talcy-musky woods and fresh spices. Like a tamer (lamer?) version of Drakkar Noir or Anthracite pour Homme.

Overall I thought it smells and performs decently enough to wear but for a Lubin, it inevitably falls short of critics' expectations. Neither did it win points for spinning a historic yarn to mask its clear lack of originality and cheap, synthetic construction.

In case anyone wishes to convince themselves of this fragrance's superior'quality', I have the taken the liberty to list down the official notes. But in my humble estimation, Upper 10 fails to register any higher than 6 or 6.5 out of 10. I suppose that means we'll have to wait longer before anyone makes America great again.

TOP:
Italian bergamot, bay rose, saffron, juniper berry

HEART:
Cinnamon, cardamom, peach, orange blossom,
geranium

BASE:
Cedar, sandalwood, leather, patchouli, white musk, dry amber