The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
CityTower takes its name from the modern architecture found along the shores of Dubai, glass towers rising from blue sky and sea, their clean lines and bold contrasts defining a new urban grammar. The 2008 release translated that visual language into scent: transparent opening notes, a textured heart, and a dense, permanent base that reads as commanding as the structures that inspired it. The Jacques Bogart house, which had spent three decades building a masculine fragrance culture rooted in directness and durability, found the skyscraper a natural metaphor for what men want from a scent: presence that holds through the day.
The composition pairs two material languages that rarely share a sentence: bright citrus-fresh top notes (bergamot, pink pepper) and dark, resinous base materials (oud, labdanum, leather). The bridge is spice, nutmeg, cardamom, geranium, that keeps the transition from feeling abrupt. Frankincense handles the vertical lift throughout, present from opening to drydown, threading the whole thing together like rebar through concrete. The result is a fragrance that stays coherent across its arc rather than folding into a completely different scent by the end.
The evolution
The opening minute is the clearest, brightest moment, bergamot and pink pepper arrive clean and sharp, frankincense lifting above them like smoke rising from a distance. Within ten minutes, the spice heart begins to assert itself, and the fragrance starts reading warmer, denser. By the second hour, the top notes have largely settled; you're in leather and oud territory now, with labdanum adding a balsamic sweetness that keeps the base from going purely dark. The drydown is intimate by design, moderate sillage means this one stays close, a skin scent rather than a room-filler. Lasts a full workday on most skin types, with quiet presence that lingers into the evening.
Cultural impact
Jacques Bogart the brand draws its identity from the legendary French film star Henri Duvivier, whose screen presence in classics like 'Casablanca' defined mid-century masculine sophistication. The fragrance line carries that cinematic weight, positioning itself as an olfactory counterpart to the golden age of Hollywood glamour. CityTower specifically taps into the urban mystique of metropolitan skylines, appealing to men who see themselves as architects of their own success. The frankincense note grounds the composition in a tradition of sacred perfumery, bridging ancient ritual with modern ambition.
