The 12 Best Woody Colognes for Men 2024

This one is a classic, with earthy notes of rare oud wood, sandalwood, and Chinese pepper. If you’re new to the woody fragrance side, it’s a simple starter; if you’re a seasoned pro, then you already know and love it.

This is a more minimal scent that calls to the sea rather than the earth. Still evoking nature, though, the scent is rooted in minerals, with notes of ambrette seeds, sage, and sea salt.

Surely, you’ve seen—if not tried—Santal 33. The unisex fragrance appeals to almost every nose, with a rich, spicy scent that has warm notes of cardamom, violet accord, iris, and ambrox, and a base of cedarwood, sandalwood, and leather.

Chanel bottles the woodiness of the earth in a refined, elegant way. This scent is fresh and masculine, with aromatic cedar and New Caledonian sandalwood.

Be the hero. In this tale, he smells like conquered woods: cedarwood, pine needle, and benzoin.

Maison Margiela captures the sweet, comfortable woodiness that comes from lying by the fire, warmth on your face. A memory in a bottle, this scent has decadent, rich notes of clove oil, chestnut accord, and vanilla accord, making it sweet and earthy.

Bold, sensual, and mysterious, this is the woody cologne for the man who wants something unexpected. Burnt wood and caramelized sugar characterize the scent, which is deliciously warm and spicy.

Penhaligon’s is a king in the fragrance market (or a royal of some sort, being that it was Princess Di’s go-to perfumer). Babylon bottles woodiness to a T, with long-lasting notes of saffron, nutmeg, and coriander complemented by base notes of sandalwood, cedar, and vanilla.

This warm cologne celebrates sandalwood in a major way. One of the most iconic woods in men’s perfumery, sandalwood can be smooth, earthy, smokey, spicy—and this fragrance is all those things and more. Punched up with notes of ambrette seed and other woods like balsam and cedar, this deeply seductive juice is woody on all levels.

Inspired by a walk through an imaginary desert garden (think: the Garden of Eden), this exotic scent leans on notes of balsam to mimic the trees that protect the other rich flora of the garden. There’s a lot going on here—sweet immortelle, crisp petitgrain and bergamot, warm sunlit amber—but what lingers on your skin is an earthy woodiness that’s impossible to ignore.

Inspired by islands in the Adriatic Sea, this cologne is a unique take on a woody aquatic. Not watery in the traditional sense, it’s more about the idea of an island. Woods like Mediterranean pine tree and cypress are intertwined with fig, wild herbs, olive oil, and pine needles. The effect is subtle yet deeply layered, just like walking through an island forest.

Perhaps one of the most overtly sexy fragrances on this list, this heady combination of woods, Turkish rose, jasmine, and oud is all about nighttime. It’s the type of scent you wear to an intimate dinner party under the stars, not necessarily a rager (though it would fit in there, too). It’s bold and sensual, but not overly aggressive, and mixes with the scent of your skin to develop a unique quality that keeps everyone around you wanting more.