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allow me me to pile on. Ted's willingness to drop over two yards on a bottle and the fact that it has some notes (especially the elusive coconut) that have me interested and caused me to buy a decant from ebay of it (at the last second). I've constantly bemoaned the lack of anything interesting coming from modern Creed's. I do like, own and regularly wear about 3 of them, but they're not what I'm wearing when I'm looking to rekindle the love I have of scents. They're scents I wear when I want to smell good and not offend anyone. That might have changed now with this one. This is quite an interesting one. Much like the wretched Original Santal (which is one so strong that one spray caused my grandmother with a bad sense of smell tell me I was wearing too much cologne and that it was awful) it's very potent. In this case however it's a good thing. That's where the comparisons end though. It has a base that kind of reminds me a bit of Bleecher Street from Bond (ha! Creed ripping off a Bond....define irony). Again I'm not the best at identifying notes, but there are two that stand out. First is the absolutely brilliant use of coconut. I didn't think it was possible, but they found a way to make coconut a dominant note and somehow make it something a man could pull off without a second thought. Hats off gents, that's not easy to do. I love the slow warm coconut note that doesn't vary much. It's always there, always constant and always wonderful. It also doesn't come off as suntan lotiony as well (again no small feat) and the coconut simply provides a quiet theme which makes this a joy to wear. The lack of suntan lotion similarities though has a lot to do with the second dominant note. For those of you who are familiar with what Laporte and MPG does with Vetiver, Creed here does it with lime. It's an absolutely overwhelming blast of lime. You load a few bottles of this one on a ship and you could keep an 18th century pirate vessel scurvy free for a good 4 years at sea. It's got lime that on my skin hits you like a sledgehammer (not something you say everyday) and doesn't stop. In the middle it almost becomes overwhelming. It was getting to the point where if I wanted to douse myseelf with tequila and roll around in salt. However the note subsided in the dry down (about 4 or 5 hours in....this scent is STRONG). I don't know how I feel about it, and I have a feeling that much like SMW this one could behave differently in different weather. I'm looking forward to wearing this one in warm weather and seeing what goes down. For now though here's the bottom line: this is the most interesting thing they've done in recent memory and is something that is worth a try to a lot of people looking for that elusive coconut note that isn't combined with fig. Cool scent and something that has me wanting to try it again

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Excellent review, Paul. I guess I'll have to sniff it again, as the first time I smelled it
I was predisposed to think it wouldn't be very good and I didn't give it a fair test.
I kind of hope I don't fall for it, though, as I don't want to shell out that kind of cash
for it.

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Thanks for the great review and you about summed up the coconut/lime psychadelia quite nicely.
I actually really turned my nose up at this when I spotted it at Neimans - it was my partner who reached out, spritzed it and liked it. When he bought it I tested it, just to affirm that I would probably hate it...like most of the Creeds that I hate...
And then it kind of unfolded on me, like a little 'vacation to Puerto Rico-in-a-bottle' - I remember giggling at my desk at my office. Very fun scent, in my opinion.
I will say it again, my vote (this far) for scent of the year. Most definitely the signature scent of Summer 2007.

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Paul, glad you liked Virgin Island Water and also found it very interesting. I had worn it out probably only once since I bought it-- I was waiting for the weather to get warmer.
Tonight I decided to wear VIW before stopping by some friends' apartment for a few drinks. Man , this stuff was really great. I do kind of regret spending the money I did on it-- but it's over and done with. Now I can just focus on what a nice, relaxing attractive scent it is. Like Paul said, it's very much more creative and original than some of the more recent Creeds.
If you're kind of an obsessive, uptight person from time to time-- you can fool people by wearing this. They'll think you're much more easy going than maybe you are. heh-heh. It smells like a rock-star on vacation.
A summer classic.

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What's the comparison to Marc Jacobs. I like this scent but I want more coconut GEEZE!!!

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I don't like any of the Creeds and I find this one way too sweet

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First Creed I've smelled that smells so commercial to me. I'm probably the only one who thinks that there's just too much of that coconut smell to it. The smell was gone on me by the next hour...pretty sad.

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To fully understand what Creed have achieved with VIW, one would have to be familiar with the hordes of uber coconutty suntan infused island scents which have been promising to take us to a vacation to far flung islands (but instead the "vacation" smells more like a trip to the bakery) since the early 90s.

Ofcourse if one still doesn't like the scent, there are many other citruses floating around which can probably pleasure the nose come the 80-110 degree summers

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Paul, I've missed your reviews and this is a great reminder why. Keep them coming!
I still haven't given the sample I got at the Basenotes Lunch a try, but I will now.

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In a long time I have not enjoyed a review as much as this one, Paul. At the same time I feel I can believe everything you said here! Maybe there is a second Creed waiting for me. That would be nice!