QotD: Cologne

I hit Bath and Body Works, which provides the various Scent Profiles for my life, and discovered that the overpriced C. W. Bigelow line has added "Bay Rum" cologne and aftershave balm. I tried some. It's manly. It's damn manly. Makes Mr. Peepers feel like Hemingway, it does. It's a real alpha-male smell, but in the old-school sense. At some point the alpha-aroma became associated with musky bilge or pungent Hai-Karate type scents that indicated dominance — but only because the possessor obviously had no subordinates or associations who dared point out the fact that he had overclocked his smell-chip. Even those guys, however, respect the Bay Rum. It has that classic hats 'n' gats connotation. It's the kind of smell that says "I shot a Marlin with Bogart then kissed Bacall when he wasn't looking. And she liked it."

James Lileks, The Bleat, 2006-12-13