8 Best Colognes for Fall, According to a Fragrance Nerd
From viral TikTok favorites to underrated classics, these are the colognes I'm wearing this autumn.
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When fall comes around, I’m locking in—fragrance included. No more playful summer scents with juicy, tropical notes; it’s time for richer, spicier colognes that feel right at home with crisp weather, tailored layers, and long nights out.
As a men’s grooming writer at Good Housekeeping, I’ve been searching for the best colognes for fall everywhere from department stores and niche boutiques to nightclubs and dive bars, asking patrons what they’re wearing to get a sense of the scents defining the season. I’ve smelled hundreds of colognes to find the best ones, and my database continues to grow. So, with special attention to the dapper, spicy, ambery scents that mark the season, here are the best colognes for men to wear this fall.
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Edible notes are trending in colognes, and Notewrks Double Take merges that trend with a more traditionally masculine profile. The mix of apricot with sesame milk and ambery base notes creates a perfectly balanced fall scent that feels simultaneously high-class and cool. I can’t stop sniffing the bottle on my desk and am certain this will be the cologne I’m wearing for the entirety of autumn.
| Category | Musk |
| Notes | Apricot, orange blossom, sesame milk accord, orcanox, sublimolide, sandalwood |
| Sizes | 0.34, 1.0 fl. oz. |
To me, a sandalwood scent is a staple in a fall fragrance collection. Dossier’s take on the warm, creamy wood scent is accented with violet leaves and cardamom to perfectly encapsulate the polished city-ready scent at a price that’s much less than many similar fragrances.
| Category | Woody |
| Notes | Violet leaves, cardamom, orris, ambrox, cedarwood, cypriol, musk, sandalwood, amber |
| Sizes | 1.7, 3.4 fl. oz. |
When I think of fall cologne, this is what comes to mind: dark, spicy, warm notes like tobacco, cinnamon, and tonka bean that are somehow both inviting and dangerous. There’s also a gourmand element here thanks to notes like dark chocolate and rum that smell like dessert at a very expensive restaurant.
| Category | Spicy |
| Notes | Rum, cinnamon, chocolate, jasmine, labdanum, tobacco leaf, tonka bean, sandalwood, musk |
| Sizes | 1.7 fl. oz. |
Ouds can be polarizing, so I wanted to recommend one that’s affordable enough to try without much risk. Ouds smell quintessentially autumnal to me, and this agarwood-centered fragrance has the classic elements of a fall scent: a warm, woody opening, deep leathery notes, and a smoky, skin-like dry down.
| Category | Oud |
| Notes | Agarwood, suede, saffron |
| Sizes | 2 fl. oz. |
Afnan’s colognes have been viral on fragrance TikTok for a while, and after months of curiosity, I’ve finally gotten my hands on some of their well-loved scents. I’m starting to understand the hype. There’s something immediately classic about Lynked Freedom—it’s not trying to reinvent men’s cologne with its tried-and-true notes like bergamot, vetiver, lavender, and juniper. To me, it smells almost like the stereotype of what men’s cologne smells like, but its commitment to tradition is a welcome addition in a fragrance world that’s currently focused on unusual notes and novel combinations.
| Category | Aromatic |
| Notes | Bergamot, grapefruit, sage, lavender, cardamom, juniper berry, vetiver, caramel |
| Sizes | 3.4 fl. oz. |
I have to admit vanilla fragrances aren’t my favorite, but Tom Ford’s Noir Extreme Parfum is an exception. Notes like suede, leather, mandarin, and ginger help balance what can otherwise be a cloying note into a sophisticated old money-style scent that’s perfect for fall.
| Category | Amber |
| Notes | Neroli, saffron, kulfi, rose absolute, sandalwood, vanilla ember, leather, suede, ginger, mandarin |
For men who want to travel outside of the realm of well-trodden fall scents, Pomegranate Noir smells autumnal without being predictable. The pomegranate top note is very realistic and dominant, slowly settling into a more familiar woody-floral concoction.
| Category | Fruity |
| Notes | Pomegranate, casablanca lily, guaiacwood |
| Sizes | 0.3, 1.0, 1.7, 3.4 fl. oz. |
Wearing cologne to the office is a great way to give a put-together impression of yourself, but, out of courtesy to your coworkers, you’re best off choosing a scent that’s light and doesn’t project very much. Anthony’s One Eau de Parfum wasn’t on my radar until recently, but now I spray it on after using the gym at work every day. Lighter top notes like pink pepper and lemon give off a fresh zing that settles into a very subtle woody-ambery base that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
| Category | Aromatic |
| Notes | Pink pepper, Guatemalan cardamom, lemon, lavender, pine, Haitian vetiver, timbersilk, ambrox, cypriol, Australian cedarwood fir absolute, Moroccan cedarwood atlas, amber, musks |
| Sizes | 3.4 fl. oz. |
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