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Stronger With You is a series that keeps marching on for Emporio Armani. Among the two highly rated and sought after versions of this formulation are: Intensely and Absolutely. Each has some memorable aromas and comes with great performance.
However, the question is, which of these colognes is better? Which lasts longer? Which one should you buy? I’ve tested and reviewed each of these scents and will break down the competition below.
Quick Overview
🏆 My Verdict
Stronger With You Intensely wins on opening, projection, and overall scent, while longevity and versatility are basically tied.
Buy Intensely if you want the sweeter, smoother toffee-vanilla-sueded scent with slightly better sillage and the stronger full-wear experience.
Buy Absolutely if you prefer the glazed chestnut middle act, rum, elemi, and a more resinous nutty profile.
| Category | Stronger With You Intensely | Stronger With You Absolutely | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening | Pink pepper, cinnamon, sage, toffee, caramel sweetness, and spice | Bergamot, sweet fruity notes, rum, cinnamon, elemi, glazed chestnut, and resinous warmth | Intensely |
| Projection | A bit more powerful with slightly better reach and sillage | Very good projection with room-crossing reach, then a 4–5 foot scent bubble | Intensely |
| Longevity | Excellent, around 11–12 hours | Excellent, around 11–12 hours | Push |
| Versatility | Autumn/winter, nightlife, casual wear, and date nights | Autumn/winter, nightlife, casual wear, and date nights | Push |
| Overall Scent | Sweeter, smoother toffee, vanilla, suede, spice, and lavender with the better full wear | Great glazed chestnut middle act with cinnamon, rum, elemi, and later lavender | Intensely |
| Best For | Those who want the sweeter, smoother, better overall pick | Those who want glazed chestnut, rum, and a nuttier profile | — |
Tale of the Tape: Stronger with You Absolutely vs. Intensely
Stronger With You Intensely
Notes include: pink pepper, cinnamon, toffee, lavender, sage, suede, amber, violet, vetiver
Click here to try: Intensely
My Full Review: Stronger with You Intensely
Stronger With You Absolutely
Notes include: glazed chestnut, rum, lavender, cedar, vanilla, elemi
My Full Review: Stronger with You Absolutely
Opening
The opening spray of Absolutely provides the short-lived citrus burst of bergamot and some other sweetish and fruity background notes, that I believe are apart of the initial lavender accord.
This is met with some spice and warmth. Not overly so, however. Arman’s description mentioned pink pepper being here, I think that may be a part of this initial mix, since that is in Stronger Intensely as a note also.
But, this one also strikes me as being quite resinous from the get go. Elemi or the ‘glaze’ of the chestnut note is something that really sticks out after that top blast.
Notably, there is cinnamon in addition to the rum accord. Yes, there is some warm spiciness and booziness , but this is a lot smoother composition than a heavily spiced boozy rum note. It never really hits that level.
With Intensely, starts with its spiciness. Here, it is warmer and doesn’t last long (like the bergamot in Absolutely). The pink pepper is now the stronger note, joined by cinnamon and sage.
I get a sweet influence earlier with Intensely. The toffee accord with the cinnamon and caramel notes really gives Intensely a more dynamic feel. It is much less resinous and doesn’t have the same ‘glazed’ aroma as Absolutely.
Which do I prefer? I consistently have favored the opening of Intensely. Absolutely is nice, but I think once its chestnut note gets fully going, that’s when it is at its best. However, that’s not entirely in the opening act.
Intensely, gives me a better blend of sweetness and spice initially, and that’s what gives it the win in this category.
Edge: Intensely
Projection
The projection of Absolutely really good, able to reach well across a room. Then, it’ll become a 4-5 foot scent bubble, and finally a skin scent. Not the heaviest or most beast mode projection out there, but I wasn’t disappointed.
Intensely, is a bit more powerful than that. Now, it isn’t completely overwhelming either.
However, I do notice it further away from Absolutely, when I tested each on clothing and walked to the other side of the living room.
Not a convincing win, but Intensely does have the edge. It’s not going to be the reason I’d buy one versus the other, however.
Edge: Intensely
Longevity
The longevity of both of these scents are really great, on my skin. But, there’s also no distinction between them, and they perform equally.
Both Intensely and Absolutely, outperform the original EDT. Total longevity is 11-12 hours, which is great for this sort of mainstream fragrance.
No winner here, just awesome performers.
Edge: Push
Versatility
Another category in which they are equals. Autumn and winter wears. A bit more mature than the original EDT, but still suitable for younger men as well.
Each is great for the nightlife, casual, or date night. Neither is something that’s completely formal or going to be an office scent for most folks.
Edge: Push
Overall Scent
Overall, this is a pretty evenly matched competition. I enjoy both of these fragrances and they are among my favorites from the Stronger with You lineup.
But, which is the cologne that I actually prefer to wear?
With Absolutely, the opening is enjoyable, but I really like the glazed chestnut middle act that it provides. It’s one of the nuttier versions in this line and that core ingredient is really done well with Absolutely.
The cinnamon, rum, and elemi all give it further depth but is mostly limited to the opening. The dry down, though, comes on stronger with lavender.
It’s not terrible, but Absolutely really starts to lose a lot of its distinction from the rest of the series and the lavender doesn’t do much to boost it.
Even at that early stage, which with the heart of the fragrance is my favorite part of SWY Absolutely; it doesn’t hit the same level for me, as does Intensely.
With Intensely, I love the toffee, vanilla, and suede with periods of spice and lavender. Great, just without the same chestnut note, but also the vanilla reminds me of the EDT (just blended way better)
It’s sweeter, smoother, and gives me slightly more sillage than Absolutely. So, it’s my pick in this contest. I enjoy it from start to finish, even with Absolutely’s enjoyable middle act.
I would select it over Absolutely, unless you can find Absolutely for significantly cheaper for some reason. Maybe if you’re a bigger lavender fan, you might also want to go with Stronger With You Absolutely.
Winner: Intensely
Who Should Buy Each?
Choose Stronger With You Intensely if:
You want the better overall fragrance in this comparison
You prefer toffee, vanilla, suede, cinnamon, pink pepper, and amber
You want the stronger opening blend of sweetness and spice
You care about slightly better sillage and projection
You want the version that stays enjoyable from start to finish
Choose Stronger With You Absolutely if:
You prefer glazed chestnut, rum, elemi, cedar, vanilla, and lavender
You like a nuttier, more resinous Stronger With You style
You want excellent 11–12 hour longevity
You enjoy the middle act more than the opening
You can find it significantly cheaper or prefer lavender-heavy dry downs
Stronger with You FAQ
What is the best Stronger with You fragrance?
What I consider to be the ‘best’ of this line or maybe just my favorites are: Intensely, Leather, Absolutely, and the original EDT. I haven’t tried every single edition as of yet, but here’s my list and rankings: Best SWY Colognes.
Does Stronger With You Absolutely project more than Intensely?
No, not in my testing of it. There isn’t a huge gap between them, but Intensely does have the edge in terms of its strength.
Are Intensely and Absolutely very similar?
They are quite similar, but still different enough. To me, the main difference is the stronger use of the chestnut note in Absolutely. The rum note also distinguishes it, though that isn’t super strong in the mix.
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Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with the different fragrances that I’ve owned, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, that new hobby grew into a consistent passion, helping millions of readers along the way. I have personally written reviews for well over 800 perfumes and colognes for both men and women. This is along with writing hundreds of other in-depth fragrance guides. You can also follow me on: YouTube, Instagram, and Tiktok!