# Acqua di Parma — Note di Colonia II

> Note di Colonia II is Acqua di Parma's centenary luxury take on a classical citrus-woody cologne, conceived as part of a trio of opera-themed Colonia reinterpretations released in September 2016 to ma

## Essence
Note di Colonia II is Acqua di Parma's centenary luxury take on a classical citrus-woody cologne, conceived as part of a trio of opera-themed Colonia reinterpretations released in September 2016 to mark 100 years of the original 1916 Colonia. Where the standard Colonia line aims at brisk Italian-barbershop freshness, Note di Colonia II reaches for something more ceremonial: a cardamom-basil-grapefruit opening that lifts into a soft, dry sandalwood and guaiac heart, with a transparent vetiver-musk base.
## Scent Profile
The opening is the part everyone agrees on: a fast, bright surge of bergamot, sweet orange and grapefruit hit first, with cardamom and basil cutting in within seconds to keep the citrus from reading sugary. reviewers describe it as "extremely fresh… slightly sweet… balanced by a slightly spicy-green cardamom-basil combo" — the basil here is reasonably prominent and gives the top a herbal-aromatic angle that several wearers commenters compare directly to the basil note in Amouage Interlude Man. There is no neroli or lavender to soften the citrus the way Colonia does; the result is drier and more spice-forward than the classic. The transition is fast. Within roughly the first half hour the citrus thins out and the sandalwood–guaiac heart takes over.
The sandalwood is read by some as creamy and by others — notably on wearers — as having a distinctly briny, dill-pickle facet, which has prompted repeated comparisons to Le Labo Santal 33. Other reviewers reject the Santal 33 reading, arguing that without 33's chemical-musky cucumber-violet cluster, II reads as a more natural woody composition with guaiac doing most of the smoky work. Guaiac is what gives the drydown its grey, slightly sooty undertone — Acqua di Parma's own copy calls it "smoky grey tones," which is accurate enough as a descriptor. The base is the thinnest part.
## Performance
This is the area where reviewer consensus is most damning. Multiple wearers writeups describe a strong, attention-getting first 30 minutes followed by a sharp drop. One reviewer puts it plainly: projection is "okay for the first 30 minutes, but then drops massively," and longevity is "in the lower mid-range, just the general problem of AdP.
## Wearing Context
Best in transitional weather and warm days — spring, early summer, mild autumn — where the citrus-cardamom opening reads as crisp rather than aggressive. In deep heat the top notes can feel slightly screechy on first spray, though they calm quickly. Cold weather flattens the woods. Daytime is the obvious slot: office, business meetings, lunches, weddings at midday. One reviewer captures the intended register well — "the crisp, put together feeling of wearing linen and walking down old cobblestone streets," an Italian barbershop-meets-salon image.
## Comparisons & DNA
Closest mainstream reference is Le Labo Santal 33, which several reviewers cite for the sandalwood-with-a-saline-edge effect; the differences are that Note di Colonia II opens far more citrus and herbal, lacks 33's signature violet-leaf-and-cardamom dust, and reads as more naturalistic in the drydown. The basil note draws explicit Amouage Interlude Man comparisons on wearers — same bitter-aromatic green pull, in a much fresher and lighter overall composition. Another reviewer flags Fan di Fendi Pour Homme and Fan di Fendi Acqua as cross-references, which makes sense for the woody-citrus structure with a soft musky finish. Within Acqua di Parma's own catalog, II shares more DNA with the discontinued Colonia Sandalo Concentrée and Colonia Ingredient Collection's woody pieces than with Colonia Intensa or Colonia Essenza — the spicier, oudier members of the regular line.
## Reception
Consensus, as much as exists for a high-priced niche cologne, is positive-but-qualified. a wearer reviewer verdict is "a good, fresh, dry and spicy fragrance that has a great opening… probably less [worth buying], it's not original enough for me at that price" — that pattern repeats across reviews: the juice is well-made, the price is the problem. reviewers cluster around the same response, with the swoon contingent (one writes "if this scent was an element, it would be smokeless fire") balanced by detractors who find the sandalwood synthetic-pickle-ish or the construction insufficiently original to merit luxury pricing.
## Versions & Reformulation
Available only as 150ml Eau de Cologne in the original tall, ribbed flacon shaped after the historic Colonia bottle. No flankers, no concentration variants, no documented reformulations as of public reporting. The Note di Colonia line was expanded with a fourth fragrance (Note di Colonia IV, inspired by Puccini's Manon Lescaut) in 2017, but II itself has remained a single composition.
## Acquisition Notes
Sits at the top of Acqua di Parma's commercial range — boutique pricing at $475 USD at 2016 launch, with current retail closer to $700 for the 150ml at full department-store price; airport duty-free and authorized discounters often run substantially below that. Decants are widely available from established splitters in the 5–10ml range.
## Notable Facts & Lore
- The whole Note di Colonia project is the lore — Acqua di Parma's 2016 centenary celebration, marking 100 years since Colonia's 1916 Parma debut.
- The trio (I, II, III) launched simultaneously in September 2016, each housed in a re-interpretation of the original Colonia flacon and each tied to an Italian opera: Note di Colonia I to Verdi's "Libiamo ne lieti calici" from La Traviata, Note di Colonia II to Puccini's "Nessun dorma" from Turandot, Note di Colonia III to "Marcia Trionfale" from Verdi's Aida.
- The brand's own framing — that II "traces the protagonist's hopeful and eager mood" of Calaf waiting for dawn — is the closest thing to a documented creative brief.
- The Lebeau-as-perfumer attribution comes from *Wallpaper*'s coverage of the line ("[Note di Colonia II] also formulated by Lebeau," implying both I and II share the same nose); Acqua di Parma has not publicly credited a perfumer for II, and a wearer reviewer listing leaves the perfumer field empty.
- Treat as a credible media report, not a confirmed credit.
- There are no documented viral moments, celebrity associations, or controversies — this is a quiet luxury release that has lived primarily in the gift-shopping ecosystem of premium department stores and AdP boutiques rather than in fragrance discourse.