Can you expand on this? I find the openings of Tsar and Safari very similar, so perhaps that is what I am sensing.
You might check this out in order to test my supposition: look for scents released during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s…
Safari for meni, 1992
VC&A’s Tsar, 1989
CK’s Eternity, 1989
PR’s XS, 1993
Smell the top notes: according to their pyramids, Safari, Tsar and XS share bergamot in their top notes, in the case of Eternity, it is mandarin (if memory does not fail me). If you want to overindulge in this same note, check O pour Homme (1997), it is precisely the same top note I notice in these four taken to the extreme.
I assume it must be the usual mechanism: a big corporation specialized in essences releases their last aromachemical and then implements sales efforts among the big corporations manufacturing scents for licensed brands. Presto, there you got the rendition of blends revolving around common notes.
Take calone, dehydromircenol and iso e super, as well as esences replicating fruits, ginger, chocolate and caramel, there you got the reason why releases smell so similar.
Anyway, of these four, Safari is the best one, IMHO, for the mid and base notes depart from their common denominator.
