Question:
Your right. Which is why it can be split into two categories.
option1: "Ooh that smells damn good" (overall)
vs
option2: "I like a guy that smells like.." (very specific, based on a girl).
Percentage wise, you will get more compliments by more women by going for a option 1 than going for option 2 and praying the girl in question actually like amber and leather notes.
Do a poll in your workplace and see..put up a great scent like M7 vs some cheapo aqua di gio rip off..the results can be surprising

Answer:
Wood is good: Creed BdP is great. And the CdG incense series is divine; especially Kyoto and Avignon. Also, I may have to be physically restrained if I smelled Hermes Vetiver Tonka on a man.

Answer:
I like wood/spices on men. Also fresh/marine is fine, too. Polo (Green, original) while probably considered old-fashioned is a beatifully constructed classic, I feel. Also, S. Lutens Amber Sultan has a delirious effect on me.

Answer:
I LOVE clean smelling orientals. Anything fresh with a bit of tonka bean or patchouli peeking out from the base drives me wild.

Answer:
Gucci Envy and Polo Blue are what do it for me....Mmmm, makes me weak in the knees! (hahaha, I'm a poet and didn't even know it)

Answer:
Originally Posted by bigsink bottom line is 99.97% of the time a girl will not opt for woodsy,cigarretey, leathery,oriental, teaish, ambery, scents.
. Ooh, I beg to differ! I prefer almost everything you've listed there to florals and the sort of fragrance you can buy in candle form...that said, the fact that you and I disagree so much on this just goes to show the original poster that there's absolutely no definitive answer to his question!
My current favourite on a guy is Art of Perfumery #6, which is a lovely leathery, lapsang souchong thing with lots of wood and tea and smoke.

Answer:
Originally Posted by Squeezeweasel Ooh, I beg to differ! I'm with you, Squeezeweasel!
My favorite on my husband is Tabarome Millesme by Creed (tobacco, anyone?). It actually reminds me of old leather.

Answer:
This is kind of creepy really. Last week I had lunch with my former Hebrew professor, who is around 70. When he hugged me good-bye I thought he smelled SO good. It was slightly fresh, but there were some green spices there too. I really wanted to ask him what he was wearing, but it seemed inappropriate...so I'll have to sniff around a bit.

On my husband, I love Bleecker Street, Hamptons, and Wall Street.

Answer:
Count me in on that .03% too.
I wouldn't try to generalize from my experience, but I've been doing extensive trials on my in-house masculine fragrance model (that translates to one, if not long suffering, at least bemusedly tolerant husband) and although I've found a lot to like, and most of it pretty woodsy, I was dropped in my tracks by Divine's L'Homme Sage. It set new records in how fast I can say yes.

Answer:
Originally Posted by Kyra ...I was dropped in my tracks by Divine's L'Homme Sage. It set new records in how fast I can say yes. I've never had such positive reactions from females (ok, my girlfriend accounts for 95% of my fragrance feedback, so this does not represent a good cross section of women) as I have from L'Homme Sage. I'm actually on the fence about it lately, but something about it is apparently intoxicating to the female nose.
Other than that, it's all about how you pull the fragrance off and how well the smell fits your personality.
To be honest, I'm pretty sure that it doesn't matter what guys wear, as long as it isn't too horrific. Most women (and people in general) can't tell the difference between a Creed and something from Walgreens.
In my experience, women seem to appreciate the idea of a guy who cares enough about grooming to want to smell good in the first place, not the quality of the fragrance itself. Hence the compliments on crap like Adidas and Axe. But as I said, L'Homme Sage is steadily proving me wrong.