The Scented Devil

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Gucci Guilty Intense pour Homme by Gucci (2011) is the little-mentioned bigger-brother to Gucci Guilty pour Homme by Gucci (2011), both composed by perfumer Jacques Huclier, who created Angel Men/A*Men by Thierry Mugler (1994) decades back. Just as Huclier introduced the design language of “gourmand” to woody semi-oriental fragrances for men back then, he introduced the bubblegum ingredient ethyl maltol to fresh aromatic fragrances for men with the release of Gucci Guilty pour Homme, which is a design language we’d see oft-repeated by imitators high and low. Maison Francis Kurkdjian released Amyris Homme by MFK (2012) the very next year, while Paco Rabanne Invictus (2013) would double-down on the bubblegum sweetness and had heftier masculine notes like bay leaf to the core, making a much more-extroverted populist take on the DNA that itself would be copied ad infinitum, ad nauseum. Gucci Guilty Intense pour Homme was meant to be Gucci’s more-extroverted alternative to the somewhat quieter original sauce, to take out at night or I suppose in cooler weather, although it really doesn’t feel more “intense” per se, which is perhaps why it didn’t sell super well and eventually was surpassed by Paco Rabanne Invictus for that purpose. What I find most surprising though, is that this stuff stayed in production between the switch from P&G to Coty, and was only finally axed in 2019, so I guess someone was buying it.The biggest fundamental difference between Gucci Guilty Intense pour Homme and the standard Gucci Guilty pour Homme is the lack of transparency. Huclier made sure to double-down on thickening notes such as amber and coriander, removing much of the transparent semi-ozonic and aquatic elements and lowering the ethyl maltol quantities too. Slightly sharper, more resinous, and thicker in the opening, Gucci Guilty Intense pour Homme only continues down this road into the heart, with neroli and lavender counter-balancing as they do in the original, although with a bit more spiky/powdery amber nuance and what feels like some extra-tartness from more lemon tossed in. The patchouli and cedarwood base share space with benzoin (unlisted), and a more-compressed display of musks, lacking ambroxan in any great degree like it was found in the standard Gucci Guilty pour Homme. The final result is a decidedly more-nineties approach to the Gucci Guilty pour Homme structure with less sweetness, more richness, but still not feeling natural in any real way, much like many of the semi-oriental clubbers from the era focused on orange blossom and sharp woody musky profiles. In all likelihood, this was a mod for the standard Gucci Guilty pour Homme that ended up being recycled for an impromptu intense flanker, since it feels more like an alternative approach to the same brief than a fragrance conceived separately. Best use for me is basically as another shade of Gucci Guilty, as overall performance doesn’t seem to vary much from the original, or the other flankers made under Frida Giannini, including Gucci Guilty Black pour Homme (2013) or Gucci Guilty Eau pour Homme (2015).So evidently this one had some fans, meaning that when Alessandro Michele had it discontinued in favor of Gucci Guilty pour Homme Eau de Parfum (2020), prices on this intense iteration skyrocketed in no time; although truth be told, Gucci masculine fragrances have a tendency to become “unicorns” in record speed because of the hype surrounding the brand in general. In my opinion, Gucci Guilty Parfum pour Homme (2022) is more of an ostensible replacement for this erstwhile intense flanker than the eau de parfum iteration, as it feels closer in style, just done better. The addition of labdanum, more spiced florals, and vanilla really transform the Gucci Guilty pour Homme DNA in the Parfum into something you’d not feel embarrassed to wear out in a black tie, whereas Gucci Guilty Intense still has a Steve and Doug Butabi effect of feeling “out looking for action”, which is not the vibe you want at an expensive restaurant. All told, the style of Gucci Guilty Intense pour Homme isn’t such that you should run out and pay the finder’s fee, which can get as high as several hundred dollars now, as you’re really just getting richer/stronger Gucci Guilty pour Homme that loses something in the transformation from youthful genre-defining daily driver to slightly-throwback 90’s nightlife scent (without the sillage). This is doubly true since the Parfum does everything this means to do but better than it. As a heavier variation on the Gucci Guilty pour Homme theme released concurrently with the original, it was definitely worth the original purchase price to increase versatility, until better options came along. Thumbs up