Cuba Royal by Cuba (Fragluxe) (n.d.)

by: Dr. Marlen Elliot Harrison

This is another in a series of bargain fragrance reviews, scents that may be found online or at discount stores for US $25 or less. Leave a comment below for your chance to receive a sample, shipped anywhere in the world, free!

Summary: A bargain fragrance of surprising quality and longevity from the Cubabrand, part of Fragluxe, Royal focuses on leather, citrus, rose and patchouli and is a quite obvious sniffalike of Paco Rabanne One Million for Men at a fraction of the cost.

Perfumer: N/A, please tell us in a comment below if you know.

Try this if you like: Sweet fragrances, mild leather notes, pipe tobacco, cola/cherry soda, cinnamon.

Pros & Cons: A kitschy presentation of a cigar bottle in a metal cigar canister; a low-price alternative to a famous designer scent; impressive longevity and sillage; easy to travel with; and the scent is like a fizzy cherry cola with a light leather undertone. Many folks might find that Royal lacks the louder punch of One Million.

Notes: “This fragrance combines blond leather and blood orange with notes of mint, grapefruit, rose, and patchouli. The result is a subtle yet masculine fragrance that's perfect for any occasion.”—Fragluxe.com

Reminds me of: One Million for Men by Paco Rabanne; Halloween for Men by del Pozo; Antonio Banderas The Golden Secret; Lomani AB Spirit Millionaire, Yang by Jacques Fath (current version).

Designer’s Description: N/A

Number of times tested: 10 times over the last 2 months.

Number of sprays applied for this review: Two sprays to the back of my hand from a 35ml bottle I purchased online (ca. 2015).

Fragrance strength: EDT

Development: (Linear / Average / Complex): Not much change or progression here.

Longevity: (Short / Average / Long-lasting) I found that Royal stuck around for about 8-10 hours with only a single spray.

Sillage: (A Little / Average / A Lot) Whereas One Million creates a tremendous sillage akin to scents like Gaultier Le Male or Mugler Angel, Cuba Royal starts powerfully and quickly quiets after one hour. As such, this might be an office-safe alternative to One Million.

Note about the packaging: While I found One Million to be clever though slightly tacky, Cuba Royal follows suit with its standard “looks like a cigar” glass bottle and plastic cap. What I love about this though is the metal canister housing the bottle, perfect for travel and discreet carrying.

Where can I buy it? A 35 ml EDT spray is as low as $5 USD on online auction and discount sites.

The Bottom Line: For years now I have been wondering about the Cuba line of fragrances. I had always assumed, and wrongly so, that they were low quality, dollar store scents reminiscent of cigar and tobacco aromas. After reading up on the reviews here at Fragrantica, I decided to take the plunge and spent about $10 on two different 35 ml bottles. From what I gathered, each Cuba scent is a sniffalike of another scent, usually contemporary bestsellers. Not having ever owned One Million, I was curious to see what it was like to join the other one million people who own and wear it.

At first sniff, Cuba Royal is a rich, sweet and thick fragrance with all major players immediately present. My first thoughts before remembering that this was supposed to smell like One Million (I’d forgotten) were “rich spices infusing cherry pipe tobacco cola spilled on an old leather jacket that doesn’t smell so much like leather anymore.” LOL. My thoughts then immediately turned to del Pozo’s Halloween for Men, though Cuba Royal doesn’t have the fresh fruity vein of Halloween. The longevity is impressive and I quite like the drydown which arrives just a bit earlier than One Million.

I am now intrigued and curious about the rest of the rather numerous offerings; I also quite liked my other Cuba scent and will write about it for a future article. To close, I can safely recommend this considering its cost as a great way to a) save money, b) gift a kitschy bottle and c) smell like a Dr. Pepper.