Mirto di Panarea by Acqua di Parma

I’m still working my way through the 100+ new post extravaganza that is being released over the next month(s) and getting back into the habit today, with a new review. This is another unisex scent offering from Acqua di Parma’s Blu Mediterraneo line, entitled, Mirto di Panarea. It was released in 2008. What does it smell like? How does it perform? Is it worth a purchase?

What does Mirto di Panarea Smell Like?

Notes include: myrtle, basil, lemon, sea breeze, juniper, cedar

Click here to try: Acqua Di Parma Blue Mediterraneo Mirto Di Panarea Eau de Toilette Spray for Men, 5 Ounce

My Full Review

The opening of Mirto di Panarea is a citrus affair. However, it isn’t the juicy citrus of the other entries in the Blue Maditerraneo line, but more of a peel type aroma. This is of course joined by the headliner note, myrtle, and some other florals.

Again, it doesn’t have a straight floral aroma either, it is more herbal and later on, woody. The basil creates an interesting dynamic of an herbal-floral fragrance.

As Mirto dries down, the perfume takes on more of an aquatic sensibility. It sort of straddles the line between aquatic and the herbal-floral kind of scent that it had been to that point. In fact, it becomes more of a citrus peel/aquatic fragrance, the deeper into the wear that you get.

This is a pretty unique dynamic, as from my experience, most of the citrus/aquatic notes in colognes usually fade into the background.

Mirto di Panarea is fresh and has an effervescent sort of energy to it. The aroma is clean and has that spring/summer warm day imagery associated with wearing the fragrance. You can definitely imagine yourself on the Italian coast and surrounded by the natural scents of the landscape.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Projection wise, Mirto di Panarea is on the softer end of the spectrum. For me, it is mostly a skin scent, and I really didn’t notice that I was wearing it most of the day.

Maybe an opening 30 minutes or so, when it has a good pop. After that, this perfume is soft and doesn’t have very much projection at all.

That could also because, it wasn’t a long lasting scent for me, either. I got about 2-3 hours out of it, reapplied, and got another 2-3 hours out of that round. Not great. It is the same problem that I had with Bergamotto from this brand, just will not stick around.

This would be classified as a casual unisex fragrance. It really isn’t sexy, more soft, airy, and pleasant. Once again, this is a spring/summer wear. It has good versatility, within that context. I guess it could be worn to the office, but it’s more suitable as something to wear outdoors or around during the day, during the warmer months.

Overall Impressions of Mirto di Panarea

Overall would I recommend Mirto di Panarea? Meh, I’m not particularly impressed with it. I think it smells good enough, but the performance wasn’t up to par. Even if it had been, I’d still be indifferent towards it because while unique, the scent doesn’t really grab my attention.

The opening with the lemon, myrtle, and herbal quality to it, is fairly nice and enjoyable. This seems to be a common style with a lot of the Italian summer fragrances. But, at least Mirto isn’t another Neroli Portofino copycat. It does have originality within the warm weather framework.

The performance is just bad, especially at the price point. For retail, you could potentially have two bottles of other scents for the same price, both of which have better performance. Is this Acqua di Parma that special, on those terms? Not for me.

I’ll pass on this fragrance. I do like the aquatic-like aroma, the floral notes aren’t bad, and I’m a fan of citrus scents. However, overall this Acqua di Parma perfume, doesn’t do much for me, beyond being somewhat pleasant. It’s decent smelling, with subpar performance.

Best Men's Colognes

Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with different fragrances, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, I have written hundreds of reviews and other pages about perfumes and colognes.