Tom Ford is one of the most influential designers in modern times. Through his journey, he put a lot of emphasis on colognes and perfumes as an essential accessory to anyone who wants to step up his fashion and grooming game and take it to the next level.
In the following paragraphs, I’ll take a closer look at the House of Tom Ford, and I’ll pick the best Tom Ford colognes for men from his broad and high-quality cologne collections.
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Tom Ford – The Man, The Legend
His full name is Thomas Carlyle Ford. He is an American designer and film director. Tom Ford was previously the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. He launched his own company in 2006 as a luxury and sophisticated brand.
The Tom Ford brand is specialized in menswear, beauty, eyewear, and accessories.
Tom Ford wrote and directed two very successful and critically acclaimed films, A Single Man (2009) and Nocturnal Animals (2016).
He’s been recognized by important design and cultural councils worldwide with many awards and nominations under his belt.
Tom Ford – The Cologne Collections
There are different cologne and perfume collections under the Tom Ford brand. Still, two main categories classify the majority of the scents, Private Blend and Tom Ford Signature Collection.
Private Blend
This is the most luxurious and high-end collection in Tom Ford’s cologne line. He launched it in 2007 as part of his own brand. The Private Blend collection is Tom Ford’s unique take on specific fragrance notes like Tobacco, Amber, Leather, and Oud.
This collection is not for the average consumer who just wants to smell nice at an affordable price. It’s for the cologne connoisseurs who are willing to explore new and different territories in perfumery and aren’t afraid of being bold and adventurous in their fragrance selection.
Most of the Private Blend perfumes are marketed as unisex. The Private Blend also comes with an expensive price tag.
The Signature Collection
The Signature Collection is like the typical designer releases but with twists distinguishing Tom Ford’s elegant and unique style. It’s more crowd-pleasing than the Private Blend colognes and is more accepted by the general consumers.
Although this collection is more affordable than Private Blend fragrances, it’s still more expensive than the average designer colognes in the market.
Best Tom Ford Private Blend Colognes
Tobacco Vanille
Tobacco Vanille is one of the most well-known colognes in the Private Blend collection and Tom Ford colognes in general. As the name implies, it put a lot of emphasis on two specific notes, the Tobacco and the Vanilla. The opening is like spicy Vanilla with a hint of tobacco in the background.
The vanillic pipe tobacco will take the front stage with some chocolaty vibe and a little fruity touches from the dried fruits when it dries down, which gives it a warm and cozy vibe. This scent could be perfect for the holiday season.
This cologne’s performance is nuclear, with huge projection and sillage, and the longevity is more than 12 hours. If you overspray, you will definitely choke everybody out, so watch out for your sprays!
- Seasons: Winter.
- Notes: Tobacco Leaf, Spicy Notes, Vanilla, Cacao, Tonka Bean, Tobacco blossom, Dried Fruits, and Woody Notes.
Tuscan Leather
This cologne is one of the most creative scents in the Private Blend. You will either love it or hate it; there is no middle ground. When you first smell it, you will be shocked at how creative its composition is.
Of course, the prominent note is leather, and it’s not any leather. It’s pure and rich leather like the interior of a new luxury car or a new high-quality leather coat. A raspberry note also adds some welcoming sweetness to the scent.
The opening could be too much for some due to the animalic leather smell. But after the dry-down, it becomes a smooth leather-suede scent with a touch of woods, Amber, and sweet raspberry. The performance is powerful, and it keeps kicking from start to finish with more than 12 hours of longevity and a strong projection and sillage.
- Seasons: Winter.
- Notes: Raspberry, Saffron, Thyme, Olibanum, Jasmine, Leather, Suede, Woody Notes, and Amber.
Noir de Noir
With a combination of rose and chocolate, Noir de Noir is considered one of the darkest and sensual colognes in the Private Blend collection. The fragrance starts with a Black Rose and a touch of Saffron. After this initial phase, it becomes this bizarre combination of rose, Oud, and chocolate, which is not listed as a note.
This cologne is perfect for intimate and romantic situations and special occasions but not as a day-to-day scent. The performance is excellent, with a strong projection in the first few hours. It goes without saying that this perfume is strictly a winter scent, and it definitely doesn’t suit the warmer months of the year.
- Seasons: Winter.
- Notes: Saffron, Black Rose, Truffle, Floral Notes, Patchouli, Vanilla, Agarwood (Oud), and Oakmoss.
Oud Wood
Oud Wood is a classy and elegant cologne. The combination of Oud and woods gives the impression of a strong and intense scent. On the contrary, this fragrance is calm and quiet, a smooth operator that envelops you with a delicate smell of Oud, woods, Vanilla, and Cardomom.
The Oud in this cologne is not prominent and is definitely not dirty or barnyardy; it’s relatively light and subtle.
What you really get from Oud Wood is a soft, creamy, and delicious woods smell. The drawback of this fragrance is the performance, which is moderate at best. However, this weakness makes it wearable almost all year round.
- Seasons: Fall, Winter, Spring.
- Notes: Oud, Rosewood, Cardamom, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Tonka bean, and Amber.
Best Tom Ford Signature Colognes
Grey Vetiver [EDT]
Grey Vetiver is something different from other Tom Ford creations. It’s a Vetiver based scent that stays fresh and clean throughout its life on the skin. The opening is bright and fresh from the lemon and grapefruit. After it dries down, the Vetiver comes to the front without losing much of its initial freshness.
Grey Vetiver is an elegant and classy scent that easily fits most situations, including the office or work environment. Despite its light composition, the performance is good, and it is more suited to the warmer months.
Important Note: There is an Eau de Parfum version of this cologne that is heavier and has less freshness than this one, so make sure to try both of them before making any buying decision.
- Seasons: Spring, Summer, and Early Fall.
- Notes: Iced Lemon, Grapefruit, Bergamot, Basil, Orris, Orange Blossom, Sage, Artemisia, Vetiver, Oakmoss, Musk, and Amber.
Ombré Leather [2018]
This cologne is the designer version of Ombré Leather (2016) from the Private Blend, but with new packaging and a more affordable price. It was added to the Signature Collection in 2018. When you first spray it, you will be reminded immediately of Tuscan Leather from the Private Blend. However, This cologne is a more wearable version of Tuscan Leather if you don’t like Tuscan Leather’s animalic and in-your-face leather note.
The leather note in Ombré Leather is toned down, and it goes in another direction with the added Jasmin note but without losing the gorgeous and authentic leather smell. This fragrance is sweet, elegant, sexy, and crowd-pleasing for sure, and expect to get a lot of compliments.
The performance is also great, with long-lasting longevity and above-average projection.
- Seasons: Fall, Winter, and Spring.
- Notes: Cardamom, Leather, Jasmine Sambac, Amber, Moss, and Patchouli.
Noir Extreme
Noir Extreme is undoubtedly one of the sexiest colognes in the Signature Collection of To Ford. It has prominent notes of Kulfi – which is an Indian dessert – and Vanilla. Noir Extreme starts somewhat spicy and deliciously sweet with a slightly powdery smell. It dries down into a creamy Cardamom and Vanilla combination with a touch of woody notes and Kulfi.
Noir Extreme is playful and youthful but very sophisticated and refined at the same time. It makes an excellent choice for a date night or an intimate situation.
This cologne lasts a reasonable amount of time, but the projection is above-average, which is sufficient for this kind of scent. The scent profile also leans more towards the colder weather.
- Seasons: Fall and Winter.
- Notes: Cardamom, Nutmeg, Saffron, Mandarin Orange, Neroli, Kulfi, Rose, Jasmine, Mastic or Lentisque, Orange Blossom, Vanilla, Amber, Woody Notes, and Sandalwood.
Black Orchid
Black Orchid is marketed initially towards women, but more and more men, over time, were drawn to this gorgeously complex and mysterious scent, so it eventually became an unofficial unisex masterpiece.
With a massive amount of notes, this perfume is dark, boozy, spicy, earthy with a fair amount of sweetness. What you will get from this fragrance is mainly dark florals with chocolate and some earthiness.
As for the performance, this fragrance is a beast, with hours upon hours of neverending longevity and huge projection and sillage, which makes it definitely a winter-only cologne.
However, of all of Tom Ford colognes for men, this scent is NOT FOR EVERYONE, so make sure to try it from a sample before you commit to an entire bottle of this magnificent juice.
- Seasons: Winter.
- Notes: Truffle, Gardenia, Black Currant, Ylang-Ylang, Jasmine, Bergamot, Mandarin Orange, Amalfi Lemon, Orchid, Spices, Gardenia, Fruity Notes, Ylang-Ylang, Jasmine, Lotus, Mexican chocolate, Patchouli, Vanille, Incense, Amber, Sandalwood, Vetiver and White Musk.
