Top notes: bergamot, lemon, lime, mandarin, neroli. Heart notes: marine notes, calone, jasmine, rosemary, peach, freesia. Base notes: white musk, cedar, oakmoss, patchouli, amber. Perfumer: Alberto Morillas, Annick Menardo, Christian Dussoulier. Year of release: 1996. Acqua di Gio is the scent of the Mediterranean Sea as Giorgio Armani remembered it on the island of Pantelleria: sun on the skin, salt on the lips and a cool wind from the water. The citrus opening sounds bright and clean, without excessive sweetness, and the marine heart with calone and jasmine makes the fragrance transparent and airy, like a breath of breeze. The woody base with musk and patchouli adds calm masculine warmth to the composition, without weighing it down. This fragrance became the benchmark of fresh aquatic compositions and still remains the most recognisable men’s perfume of its genre. It is equally appropriate in summer by the water and in the city, when you want lightness and confidence without loud declarations. Acqua di Gio does not shout about itself — it simply smells of clean air, sea and sun.