Aventus

Overview
Aventus eau de parfum is a fruity-chypre fragrance produced the French niche house, Creed. The fragrance was released in September 2010 as part of their 250th anniversary celebration.

Olivier Creed, the sixth-generation perfumer for Creed, claims that his inspiration for Aventus was the French military and political leader, Napoleon Bonaparte. As a result, many of the scents found within the fragrance have a link to Napoleon. For example, Blackcurrantsfrom Corsica (where Napoleon was born), and Birch from Louisiana (which Napoleon ruled over for 4 years), are used.

As of May 2024, a 100ml bottle of Aventus is sold for $495 and a 50ml bottle is sold for $365.

Scent
Aventus is an example of a fruity-chypre fragrance, featuring mainly citrus top notes and animalic base notes, like as oakmoss and musk. Olivier Creed has stated that, unlike the majority of perfume houses, the Creed brand focuses more on the base notes, rather than the top ones. The reason for this, they claim, is that focusing on the base notes means to fully appreciate the fragrance the wearer must take their time in order to fully understand it. The full note pyramid is as follows:

Flankers
The original, Creed Aventus, was released in 2010. In the years since, several "flankers" (variants of the original scent), have been added to the Aventus product line.

2016: Aventus For Her - A feminine version of the scent, with prominent notes of musk, green apple, bergamot, and blackcurrant.

2018: Aventus Cologne - A new masculine version with an emphasis on freshness, with prominent notes of mandarin orange, birch, ginger, and vetiver.

2023: Absolu Aventus - The latest version, a limited edition release, aimed at wearability during cooler weather with heavier notes like cinnamon, patchouli, and pink pepper.

Criticism
Aventus has faced criticism for inconsistencies in both scent and longevity between batches, with some alleging particular batches to smell fruitier and others smokier. While these inconsistencies have not been concretely proven or addressed by the company, the number of online reviews suggest that there is some variation between batches. Additional critism has been drawn in regards to the performance and longevity of modern Aventus batches compared to those prior to 2020. This is believed to stem from IFRA's ban on the aroma chemical Lyral, a lily of the valley raw material to which many fragrances attributed some of their high performing and long lasting quality.

Reviews
Aventus garnered critical acclaim from fashion critics and the general public alike and has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars on the fragrance website Basenotes based on an average of 1312 votes. In terms of awards, Aventus won the Best Ever Men's Fragrance award in 2013 from Basenotes, as well as Best Niche Fragrance at the Shortlist Grooming awards, in addition to the Best New Male Fragrance in Limited Distribution prize at the 2011 COPRA (Cosmetic & Perfumery Retailers Association) Awards. 2021, the Fragrance Foundation Austria awarded the prestigious perfume prize DUFTSTARS at a festive gala in the Museumsquartier in Vienna.

Such was the success of Aventus, that Creed bill it as their most popular fragrance in their 250-year history, whilst Erwin Creed would go on to say in an interview that without Aventus, Creed wouldn't have opened their boutique in Madison Avenue, New York City.