# Mercedes-Benz — Mercedes Benz Club Extreme

> Club Extreme is a 2015 (rolled out 2016) woody-oriental flanker of the 2013 Mercedes-Benz Club, composed by Olivier Cresp and announced by the house as the "more intense" version of the original. Its 

## Essence
Club Extreme is a 2015 (rolled out 2016) woody-oriental flanker of the 2013 Mercedes-Benz Club, composed by Olivier Cresp and announced by the house as the "more intense" version of the original. Its entire reputation in wearers rests on one comparison: it is widely regarded as a softer, more wearable, vastly cheaper relative of the discontinued and now-pricey Mugler A*Men Pure Malt - a warm, boozy-leaning, patchouli-and-leather woody scent. It's a "hidden gem cheapie" in enthusiast shorthand: a designer-priced (often clearance-priced) fragrance that punches into niche-adjacent territory. Now itself discontinued, it has acquired minor cult status among fans of dark, woody-boozy winter scents.
## Scent Profile
Club Extreme opens with a brief, restrained sweetness over citrus (mandarin/bergamot) and a barely-perceptible lotus, but the top is short-lived. A wearers described it well: it "begins with a distinct, but not overwhelming... sweetness" that "quickly fades away, making room for a pleasingly arranged composition of leather, spicy woody notes, and musk." The heart is the core identity: a dry-to-warm leather, creamy sandalwood, and amber, with a malty/boozy nuance that triggers the Pure Malt associations. The base settles into a soothing, slightly chocolatey patchouli with dry woods and musk.
There's a real split on how sweet vs. dry it reads. Some find a "little boozy, sweet, and woody"; others insist "this one is dark, dry and resinous, there is very little sweetness here... done in the same style as Nuit d'Issey EDP or Bvlgari Man in Black." That contradiction is itself the signature: Club Extreme sits at the crossroads of the boozy-sweet A*Men family and the dry-woody-leather Nuit d'Issey family, and which way it tips depends on skin and dosage. Most agree the leather is the "key" element that adds a note of mystery in the drydown, distinguishing it from a pure gourmand. The progression is moderately linear once the top burns off, holding a harmonious leather-wood-amber-musk accord for most of the wear. The wearers praised its blending: "at no point do you get the impression that anything is working alongside or against each other."
## Performance
Sillage and longevity are most consistently described as "average" - the wearers states flatly "Sillage and longevity of Club Extreme are average." wear reports skew positive for a designer at clearance pricing: good (not enormous) projection, several hours' longevity, with one batch-code-citing user (batch 6340, 2016 tester) reporting "on skin 6+ ... on clothes 24+ ... project moderate, not safe for office or closed space." It is repeatedly flagged as "not office safe" - strong enough on initial application to potentially offend in closed spaces - and best suited to cooler weather. The house and reviewers both position it as an evening/darker-season scent. Practical strategy: go light (one or two sprays), lean into autumn/winter, and treat it as an intimate-to-moderate projector rather than a room-filler.
## Wearing Context
This is a fall/winter, evening, cool-weather fragrance by near-unanimous agreement. documented coverage: "suitable for stylish outings in the evening, and more so in the darker than in the warmer seasons," with one reviewer specifically endorsing it as "wearable with a tuxedo" - a warm leathery-woody scent for dressed-up cold-weather occasions. It reads mature and masculine - "business manager vibes," "a wealthy European gentleman" - rather than youthful or sporty. Where it feels wrong: hot weather, the office, and any setting demanding freshness or restraint in close quarters. It's a date-night/dinner/evening-out scent for someone who wants warmth and a touch of mystery without going full niche-oud.
## Comparisons & DNA
The comparisons here are unusually specific and consistent:
- **Mugler A*Men Pure Malt (2009):** the single most-cited reference. Users call Club Extreme a "clear clone of Pure Malt," just "a bit more subtle and softer," with slightly less longevity and sillage. This is its primary reason for existence in collectors' eyes - a far cheaper stand-in for a discontinued, resale-inflated cult scent.
- **Mugler A*Men / Angel Men (1996):** repeatedly invoked for the patchouli-chocolate-amber backbone; described as "a more wearable A*Men," "Angel's revenge as Cresp finally gets to do a masculine version." (Cresp's connection to the original Angel DNA is part of the lore.)
- **Issey Miyake La Nuit d'Issey (2014):** named by the wearers as "the direct competitor," but with key deltas: Club Extreme is pleasing from the top, whereas "the wearer of La Nuit d'Issey must first endure the cacophonous opening phase before the Japanese fragrance reveals its qualities," and "La Nuit d'Issey is also significantly leatherier in the base note than Club Extreme."
- **Bvlgari Man in Black** and **Armani Code Profumo** are cited as adjacent dark-woody/sweet references, with Club Extreme positioned as less intensely leathery than Man in Black and less sweet than Code Profumo.
Within the Mercedes line it's the dark, woody-leather counterpart to the sweeter, vanilla-incense Club Black and the fresh/aquatic Club Fresh.
## Reception
Strongly positive among those who've found it, with a recurring "underrated/overlooked" framing - it's perpetually in the shadow of the more popular, sweeter Club Black. Common praise: niche-like quality for a designer/clearance price, harmonious blending, masculine and elegant, excellent cold-weather character, and the Pure Malt resemblance. Common criticism: average performance, not especially original, and "another generic" take to detractors. The polarization axis is sweet-vs-dry perception and originality (gem vs. derivative). There's a persistent wearers lament - "Why was it discontinued?" - that signals genuine affection. **Blind buy verdict:** for fans of dark woody-boozy-leather scents and especially anyone who missed Pure Malt, it's a widely endorsed low-risk blind buy at its discounter prices; less so if you want freshness, projection, or summer versatility.
## Versions & Reformulation
Club Extreme launched alongside Club Fresh as the two 2016 successors to Mercedes-Benz Club (2013), all by Olivier Cresp under the INCC Parfums license. It came in 50ml and 100ml EDT, in a dark-grey version of the futuristic Club bottle (Club Fresh used bluish metallic shades). It is now discontinued, which drives its hidden-gem status. No reformulation is documented; users report normal batch variation only. Note the catalog year (2015) reflects the announced/composition date, while retail rollout and much packaging cite 2016.
## Acquisition Notes
Pricing is the headline: although a designer release, it has been found at deep clearance - one UK reviewer scored a 50ml plus deodorant for £9.99 at a discount store, and $30-50 range purchases are common. Post-discontinuation, discounter restocks (e.g., FragranceBuy) are described as "clutch," and some sellers/listings now treat it as a semi-rare collector item around $50/100ml. Common sizes 50ml and 100ml EDT. Decants are available. Authentic buying channels: reputable discounters and remaining authorized stock; given discontinuation, verify sellers as resale prices climb. A clone-market note: with Pure Malt itself discontinued and pricey, Club Extreme is sometimes recommended as the affordable alternative - and Fragrance World's Star Men Nebula is floated in the same conversation as a Pure Malt substitute.
## Notable Facts & Lore
- The defining lore is the Olivier Cresp throughline: Cresp composed the early Mercedes-Benz men's line (the 2012 debut, Club 2013, Sport 2014, Club Extreme/Fresh/Man) and is the creator of Mugler Angel - so Club Extreme reads to enthusiasts as Cresp revisiting the boozy-patchouli-amber DNA he helped pioneer, this time in a masculine, leather-laced, designer-priced form ("Angel's revenge").
- The other persistent thread is its role as a Pure Malt surrogate, which has only intensified as Mugler's A*Men flankers were discontinued under L'Oreal and shot up in resale value.
- No major celebrity tie-ins or viral moments; its fame is grassroots, built on "cheapie hidden gem" word-of-mouth.