Three notes, and only three, make up Black Walnut Cologne entirely, and Banana Republic clearly wanted something intimate rather than complicated for this particular understated release. Cognac alone carries the top, warm and immediately rich, the kind of opening that reads more like a study than a typical perfume counter. Tobacco shapes the entire middle next, dense and smoky, before Virginia cedar grounds the dry down in dry, quiet warmth that lingers for many long hours. Evening wear and the cooler months both suit this woody Eau De Toilette especially well, minimal rather than showy about its own considerable restraint throughout. Restraint here reads as genuine confidence rather than absence, three careful choices doing all of the necessary, considerable work.