11 pre-1990 classics that still beat modern releases

Eleven fragrances launched before 1990 still do something no bottle from the last decade does as well, and every one is still on the shelf. Kouros is the most argued-about, Eau Sauvage the oldest of the men's, Shalimar the oldest of all. Each entry says what it does better than its modern descendants and what the current bottle is like.

How we judged "still holds up"

Old is easy. Old and still good is the test, and it has three parts:

• Still in production, in a formula people accept. Every bottle here has been reformulated at least once. The current version has to be one that long-term wearers say is fine or better, not one they tell you to avoid in favour of a vintage bottle.
• Still wearable, not a costume. A classic can smell of its decade. It cannot smell like a fancy-dress version of it. Antaeus passes; some of its 1980s neighbours do not.
• Still doing something modern bottles do not. Real oakmoss chypres, animalic bases, violet-leaf petrol, a tuberose with nothing held back. If a 2020 release does the same thing better, the classic is out.

Three Niche, five Designer and three Budget. The Budget tier holds three rather than four because only three pre-1990 bottles at that price are named by the people who still wear them.

$$$Niche picks

1. Creed Green Irish Tweed

The pick this list is built around, a 1985 launch that people buy in the current formula without a second thought. A dewy field at six in the morning, cut grass and violet leaf, a clean sea breeze behind it. Then a salty wood that lasts a full day. Every green-fresh men's scent since descends from it, and Davidoff Cool Water is the Designer copy that made the idea famous. It is a crowd-pleaser in our data. For the office and formal daytime, if you want the original.

2. Robert Piguet Fracas

The oldest bottle in the Niche tier, launched in 1948, and the loudest flower on the list. A vase of tuberose and gardenia in a warm room, peach jam beside it, creamy and faintly rubbery, with nothing held back. It has smelled the same for decades, and a bottle bought this year is as strong as an old one. It lasts a full day and fills a room from one spray, and it blooms in warm weather. For dates and nights out, if you want the tuberose all others are judged against.

3. Knize Knize Ten

The oldest men's bottle here, launched in 1925, and still the leather other leathers are compared with. A tailor's fitting room in old Vienna: clove and carnation in the air, a leather blazer on the chair. The first quarter hour is harsh. Then a smooth, sweetened, faintly animalic leather arrives and stays all day. It is polarising in our data, and the current version is still named in every leather thread. For formal evenings, if you want to smell what leather meant before Tom Ford.

$$Designer picks

4. Yves Saint Laurent Kouros

The most named bottle in every thread about classics that still work, launched in 1981. A bar of white hotel soap with a warm, honeyed, slightly dirty animal note under it, so the soap smells like a person. The current formula is cleaner and soapier than the original, and still good. It lasts a full day and fills a room from two sprays. Half the people who smell it call it captivating, the other half a public toilet. For formal winter evenings, if blue bores you.

5. Dior Fahrenheit

Nothing released since 1988 smells like it, which is the whole case for it. A leather jacket in a petrol station forecourt on a cold morning, violets growing through the concrete. The violet leaf reads as petrol for a quarter of an hour, then a warm floral leather takes over and lasts a full day. Current bottles carry less petrol than the first ones and still hold up. An acquired taste in our data. For weddings and formal evenings, if you want to be the only one in it.

6. Dior Eau Sauvage

The 1966 bottle most of the fresh genre descends from, and the quietest thing on this list. An expensive lemon squeezed over a marble bathroom shelf, herbs on the windowsill, a suit jacket on the door. Then a dry mossy floor that stays close. The current formula is fine, lighter on oakmoss than old bottles. It lasts most of a workday at arm's length, by design. It is a crowd-pleaser in our data, and it is not Sauvage. For the office, if you want the classic nobody notices.

7. Guerlain Shalimar

The oldest scent on the list, launched in 1925, and the one every modern vanilla owes something to. A spice stall in a covered bazaar, incense burning, an old rich woman in a fur waiting for her driver. Bergamot, then iris and a smoky, creamy vanilla that lasts a full day. It is sweet without being a dessert, which separates it from the gourmands that followed. It reads powdery at first, and most people who love it disliked it for a few days. For special occasions and cold evenings.

8. Chanel Antaeus

The classic that survived reformulation best, and the 1981 masculinity most people can still wear. A herb garden after rain, then a leather armchair in a wood-panelled office. Sage, thyme and basil over a warm, animalic leather-chypre, smoother now than the first version and better for it. It lasts a full day and fills a room. It is a crowd-pleaser in our data, where Kouros above it is an acquired taste. For formal evenings and cold weather, if you want the white-collar version of the idea.

$Budget picks

9. Ted Lapidus Lapidus pour Homme

The loudest bottle on the list at the lowest price, launched in 1987. A pineapple dipped in honey, a cigar, and a night club where everyone is wearing too much of it. Honey, caraway and pine over a sweet, animalic amber that lasts twelve hours in the current bottles. It is the dirtier, sweeter cousin of Kouros and smells like nothing released this century. It is an acquired taste in our data, harsh for ten minutes. For winter nights out, as the powerhouse that still is one.

10. Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel

The cheapest real classic on the shelf, launched in 1975, and the green one. A crushed violet leaf and cut grass on a wool suit, then a soapy, powdery floor that smells of a barber's shop. The galbanum opening is sharp enough to be confrontational, and a new bottle smells harsh for the first few days. Then it is clean and lasts a full day. It is the rough cousin of Green Irish Tweed at a fraction of the price, an acquired taste in our data. For everyday daytime wear.

11. Jacques Bogart One Man Show

The quiet Budget classic, launched in 1980. A pine forest at the edge of a car park, incense smoke from somewhere, a man who works with his hands. Basil and galbanum open it sharp, then frankincense, cedar and nutmeg settle into a dry, resinous wood that stays close for most of a day. It is a crowd-pleaser in our data, and a new bottle smells the way the first ones did. Fewer people name it than the two above, so smell it first. For everyday wear, as a drier Polo.

Common questions

Are old fragrances still worth buying after reformulation?

Yes, when the current version is one long-term wearers accept. All eleven here pass that test; Antaeus and Fahrenheit are named as good or better in the new formula. The ones the threads only recommend in vintage form are not on this list.

Which classic fragrance is the safest first bottle?

Green Irish Tweed for daytime and Eau Sauvage for the office, both crowd-pleasers in our data. Kouros, Fahrenheit and Fracas are the ones to smell before buying.

Why do so many classics smell "old"?

Because modern bottles dropped what they are built on: oakmoss, animalic bases, big florals, violet leaf. The first hour of a classic reads as the past. Wear one for a day and the drydown reads as a scent nobody else is wearing.