Hi, I'm fairly new to all this and only have around 10 frags and no niche ones at that.

I have sniffed Aventus on my nephew at his wedding and really liked it.
It's silly money but I have become aware of splits etc and before I pursue it too far I'd like to know a bit about the whole 'batch' thing?
I have no idea which batch my nephew has although it was bought from John Lewis around mid 2018.

Which 'batch' is the classic Aventus vibe?
Some are smokey, some are more fruity.....what's a sloth to do!
I don't think an overly smokey one would suit me but I appreciate that some smokeyness is part of the DNA.

I've been looking at a few clones and the two obvious ones are Adnan Supremecy Silver and of purse Armaf Club de Nuit Intense for Men.
The ASS is supposedly more fruity and the CDNI more smokey but which (if any) is closest to the classic Aventus vibe albeit I appreciate no clone will be exactly the same and is only a pale substitute but then again a tenth of the cost!

Finally will a decanted split into a generic bottle/sprayer be prone to deterioration quicker than a factory sealed bottle?

Thanks for any advice.

Sloth.