My love/hate affair with Monocle continues. As I previously wrote about Monocle’s City Guides, I love a lot of the stuff they do, but they can be equally annoying and pompous. So what do I do? I buy a bottle of their cologne, Scent One: Hiroki. The cologne is a team up with Comme des Garcons, created by their perfumer Antoine Maisondieu.

The bottle came with a card that describes the scent:

“The inspiration for this fragrance comes from a perfectly still, slightly chilly spring morning spent soaking in an indoor/outdoor tub at the Tawaraya in Kyoto. It pulls together our memory of the mosses and trees outdoors, and sharp notes of the boxy, hinoki tub.”

Gag me with an F’ing stick.

That being said, it is one of the most amazing smells I’ve ever encountered. It’s a unisex cologne, but I’d say it’s extremely masculine smelling. It’s very woodsy, but thankfully you don’t smell like your grandpa. The other ridiculous thing about this cologne is that it costs around $150. I know, insane. But it’s honestly amazing, so if you ever have the chance to sample I highly encourage you to do it, because it’s hard to smell a cologne being sold in a magazine.

Bobby

P.S. I took that photo on my dining room table, though it may not look like it. I just thought that was funny.