Visit 
Azzaro (2003)

A critic once wrote there are seven basic plots and all stories are versions of these themes.
Perfumery - being one of the lesser arts - conforms to this rule as well. Most perfumes are – after all – just variations of a story that’s already been told.

Visit, with its ginger and peppery woods, is an early and mild version of the Spiky Woods - which is a hero narrative. The Hero overcomes the Monster and gains the Riches or Princess; which is the way just about every modern masculine has been advertised.
Armani Code is a good example of this, and Ok, there aren’t any monsters in the adverts but that’s the basic idea : wear this to boost your masculinity and get the girl (or a tuxedo)...

The first minute of Visit for men is an echo of the still missed Rush for Men EAU DE TOILETTE. That freshly chopped wood-smell mixed with, what to me is the smell of Windex, and with that creaminess from the musk that is used in Gucci's masterpiece. Really good and promising. Everything seems to be replicated very well and in fine tune.

The problem starts when, after 5min, the sexy combo (musk and chopped woods) became less vibrant, interesting and enveloping. The whole thing became just a shadow or a picture, without personality and movement. My opinion is that the budget wasn't that good and Annick Ménardo had to use the best ingredients for the opening. I don't know if it was the green cardamom or the dusty fresh nutmeg, that i can definitely smell from those 5 to 10min, that make the opening so good and promising but after the naturals dissipate, the woods and musk, although pleasant, can't reach the glorious opening.

The drydown is still good, pleasant and very woody but it kinda lost interest and became a bit flat. Don't get me wrong, the fragrance isn't bad and i still recomend it for someone that wants to know how Gucci Rush smelled, but you have to know that Gucci Rush is the whole song and this is just the intro.

The fragrance lasts 6-8h and projects moderately during the first hour or so.

Not the worst Ménardo creation but a bit disappointing. It is still affable and fairly decent, specially, considering the price that you can find for a 100ml bottle. The opening is great, though.

3/5

I blind bought this fragrance because of the incense note, and while it's okay for the price, the incense note feels a bit artificial and unnatural. The nutmeg tries to give the incense some life, but the pink peppers create some rough edges that don't sit well with me.

I believe I'm smelling the reformulated version since it doesn't last more than a few hours. It just feels like a fuzzy, somewhat dry, industrial incense. If incense could be manufactured in an industrial factory, this would be it.

The sillage smells pleasant, but I'm not sure if I can tolerate it on my skin.