Creed Viking is £310 for 100ml. That is £3.10 a millilitre, which means one generous spray costs you roughly what a coffee does.
Two 50ml bottles of Norseman give you the same 100ml for £80. That is 80p a millilitre and £230 left in your account.
One thing to get straight before anything else, because it trips people up constantly.
This is Viking the Eau de Parfum, not Viking Cologne
Creed sell two different fragrances with Viking on the bottle. They are not the same juice and they do not smell alike.
Viking Eau de Parfum arrived in 2017. It is the spicy, minty, herbal one built around peppermint and absinthe, and it is the one people argue about online.
Viking Cologne came later and is a lighter, fresher, easier release. Plenty of shoppers buy one expecting the other and are surprised.
Norseman is our take on the 2017 Eau de Parfum. If you wanted the Cologne, this is not it.
What Creed Viking actually smells like
The opening is loud and cold. Bergamot, lemon and orange give you the citrus, then peppermint arrives and changes everything.
Peppermint in a masculine Eau de Parfum is rare, and it is the reason this fragrance splits opinion. Some people get a crisp herbal blast. Others get toothpaste for ten minutes. Pink peppercorn and absinthe, which is bitter wormwood, push it further from anything safe.
The heart calms it down. Allspice and clove bring dry warmth, lavender and jasmine soften the edges, and Bulgarian rose sits underneath adding body rather than flowers.
Orris is the expensive part. It is iris root, it takes years to prepare, and it gives the middle that powdery, slightly waxy quality that makes the whole thing feel costly.
The base is cedarwood, vetiver, tonka bean and white musk. Dry wood, green earth, a touch of sweetness, and that is where it settles for the rest of the day.
The note breakdown
| Top | Bergamot, Lemon, Orange, Peppermint, Pink Peppercorn, Absinthe |
| Heart | Allspice, Clove, Jasmine, Lavender, Orris, Bulgarian Rose |
| Base | Cedarwood, Tonka Bean, Vetiver, White Musk |
Who it suits, and when to wear it
Masculine, clearly. This is one of the few fragrances where the gendering is not just marketing, because the spice and wood combination is traditionally built that way.
Autumn and winter, day or night. The mint keeps it from feeling heavy, which is why it works better in the cold than most spicy scents do.
It is office-safe once the opening burns off, roughly twenty minutes in. Spray before you leave the house rather than at your desk.
How Norseman is built
A fragrance is oil in alcohol. The percentage of oil decides how long it stays on skin, and it is the number almost nobody in this market will publish.
Typical high street dupes run 10 to 20 percent. That is why they open convincingly and then vanish before lunch, which is particularly obvious on a mint and citrus opening like this one.
Every Aromara spray is 35% Extrait. We publish that number in writing, on the site and in the refund policy. It is the highest disclosed concentration in the UK.
That oil load is why Norseman carries a 7+ hour guarantee rather than a vague line about longevity.
Can you tell? £230 says try
We will never claim this is identical to Viking. We will say it is our take on the same scent, at 80p a millilitre instead of £3.10.
Test it in public. Wear it for a full day near people who know the original, and see whether the question comes up.
If you can tell, send it back inside 60 days for your money, opened bottle and all. No other UK dupe brand goes past 30 days, and most will not take an opened bottle at any point.
Start with the £6.99 tester
Do not buy 50ml of a mint fragrance on faith. Peppermint is the single most divisive note in mainstream men's perfumery and you will know within one wear which side you are on.
The 5ml tester is £6.99. If it lands, the 50ml of Norseman is £40 and the 60 days still applies.
More from the house: our full list of Creed alternatives, including the Aventus one everybody starts with. Or see the best perfume dupes in the UK across every house.
Common questions
How much is Creed Viking in the UK?
Around £310 for 100ml, which is £3.10 per ml. Norseman is £40 for 50ml, or 80p per ml.
Is this a dupe of Viking or Viking Cologne?
Viking Eau de Parfum, the 2017 release. Viking Cologne is a separate, lighter fragrance and Norseman is not built on it.
Does the mint calm down?
Yes. The peppermint and absinthe opening settles within about twenty minutes and the spice, orris and cedar heart takes over for the rest of the wear.
