___________________________________
Cabochard by Grès (1959)
My review is for the vintage EDT. The opening is beyond classic, a dirty, animalic chypre comprising salty aldehydes, dark, gloomy, wet and almost rancid flowers, a subtle camphor-stale indolic aftertaste, a load of musk, a velvety balsamic breeze all over and a general, palpable funereal, austere, but at the same time vibrant, carnal, utterly sensual and self-confident personality. A humid base of herbs, woods, oak moss and leather like in the darkest male fougère complete the composition. The similarity to many fougères for man is quite bold, basically here's more about flowers, there's more woods and green notes, but the heart of oak moss, aldehydes and leather which gives that precise "austere" and dark personality is quite the same. That is why nowadays this can be clearly considered more a man scent, and even quite challenging for its boldness and its darkness – we're so used to "azure-aquatic-green-sport" bullshit. To be really honest, like some other chypres, this also smells a bit outdated to me, meaning that it is a powerful madeleine of a past era which strongly connotes the person wearing it – perfectly for nostalgic people or however to smell "like" that, but on the contrary, it lacks in the "timelessness" I personally value in scents. Other than that (which I'm not even sure if it's clear, however it's my personal opinion) it's a sure milestone for perfumery, superb from any point of view.
8,5-9/10
___________________________________
Versace l'Homme by Versace (1984)
My review is based on the early version of 1984. Must say I completely blind bought this, and I was really happy once I sniffed it, as this quite comprises all the features I was looking for in a fougère scent. The opening is already great and captivating, a modern and "young" fougère, with citrus, neroli, carnation, jasmine, fresh herbs (basil!), spices (cloves, cardamom), perhaps a drip of castoreum, on a beautiful, dense, smoky base of tobacco, hay, soft smooth leather, oak moss, a few woods. Mandatory aldehydes, but quite light and transparent. Basically an "ordinary" fougère, but quite different from the more "adult" ones: it's more tasty, soapy, almost juicy, more bright and playful, more mellow, still totally elegant and refined, just more relaxed and as I said, "younger" in a way. Extremely cozy and pleasant, dense but light, with a great persistence and a great evolution. More modern than most of his other fellows back then. Masculine and versatile. Great!
8,5-9/10
___________________________________
Montana Parfum d'Homme by Montana (1989)
Montana Parfum d'Homme smells exactly like an elegant and self-conscious man should: cozy, bold, at the same time austere but friendly, chilled, with just a hint of exoticism, slightly dark too, and above all, "good". The opening is a beautiful, mellow, flawless blend of lavender, pine, cloves, juniper, red pepper, carnation, aldehydes, woods, leather, oakmoss and tobacco, some classic fougère accords but with an overall more sophisticated floral-exotic mood if compared to other rougher and more "shouty" powerhouses (this is not, in fact: it's a classier and more gentle fougère), mostly due to flowers and the tobacco note - which is brilliant: dusty but humid, exotic, tasty, "brown". Refined, relaxed and sophisticated, with the cozy, but enigmatic natural exoticness of tobacco, and the gentle manliness of some typical eau de cologne notes – flowers, bergamot. I keep recalling the evil characters of some Hitchcock's spy movies, or more broadly other noir movies, with those secret dinners in dusty, humid and warm exotic bars and restaurants – this is quite that smell: different eau de colognes melting together, flowers, sweat, well-cut suits, cigars... a blast of flavours and aromas, with the aldehydes and the woods even providing the setting – rusty tables and woody humid furniture. Like many other well-made fougères, this is perfect all year, everywhere, with every company, without smelling generic or crowdpleasing - just terribly "good". Also still quite cheap, I got my vintage "red-boxed" bottle (new) for some 25 EUR/75 ml. Strongly recommended.
8,5-9/10
___________________________________
Nemo by Cacharel (1999)
This scent is unexpectedly hard to describe and "get". It's a sort of meditative, enigmatic fragrance built around a fascinating accord of mineral notes, slightly aquatic too, with contemporary and synthetic woody notes (Iso E, cedar, cashmeran), frankincense, violet/floral notes, perhaps bergamot and orange blossoms, nutmeg and other spices (mainly nutmeg, however), a hint of leafy notes, and a subtle white musks creaminess. It has a sort of overall slightly sticky and aquatic flawlessness which perfectly blends with the woody-incense notes, the spices and the floral sweetness, and makes the whole blend smell quite like nothing else. Plus the composition is really tight, dense, compact and harmonic, quite hard to "dissect". It has definitely a '90s vibe underneath, and honestly reminds me a bit of Le Male at some points, but all I can say is that this smells terribly good, pleasant, cozy, even captivating and haunting, in a really peculiar way. Don't know why exactly, but the blend of natural, almost "new age" notes (mineral, aquatic, incense, aromatic woods, addictive spices) with the bold synthetic feel - not plain or cheap, though - makes me think of 1990's virtual reality, that kind of exotic-natural, almost esoteric places and settings recreated with that fascinating, geometric aesthetics of primitive computer graphic of the Nineties – think of mid-90's videogames, animations, or again "new age" videos, or musical videoclips. That's a kind of heritage that has always intrigued me a lot – that lo-fi, post-modern, computer-driven "mysticism". A fascinating, and undoubtedly well-made scent. The only "con" is that it may get a bit cloying after a while (but more likely you'll crave for it, so not a problem). Delicate and sophisticated drydown. Happy to have blind-bought it for pennies.
8/10
___________________________________
Moods Uomo by Krizia (1989)
Moods Uomo opens with a blast of aldehydes, a realistic, dark and dense leather accord, with juniper and carnation notes and a massive, sulphur-ish medicinal dose of pungent cloves, a camphor note and lavender. Herbal-mossy notes, somehow transfigured, vibrant but dark and immersed in a metallic-concrete kind of ambiance – earthy and rooty like roots and branches growing out a sidewalk. Utterly modern and for that time even almost avant-garde. Quite 1980's in fact, but not in terms of perfumery style, rather in more broad terms of the images and the suggestions that it brings – sophisticated hedonism, post-modernism, a sort of gloomy elegance, the general deep metropolitan, urban mood of pollution, translucent surfaces, an already-new way of interpreting leather, which tends more on a dark and androgynous territory. Krizia's visionary, chic and at the same time, "architectural" style at its best. As minutes pass some notes vanish and it focuses on a super dry, dusty leather-woody-mossy accord. A must for all leather fragrances lovers. Simple, beautiful packaging.
8,5-9/10
___________________________________
and finally... the king of all times masculines.
Vetiver by Guerlain (1959)
My review is based on a vintage '80s bottle of the first EDC formulation of this (the bottle in the picture is mine!), although ages ago I bought a couple of vintage EDT minis too and I still sniff them from times to times (and in fact I notice quite a little difference between these two). I do not know the actual formulation of this and to be honest, I am not much interested in it, as I guess how it could smell – not saying it's worse as I don't know it. However, the EDC is simply stunning: unmistakable opening, elegant, fresh, zesty, full of earthy-rooty richness and tasty woods. A milestone for perfumery in general, for masculine "class", for vetiver scents. A totally refined, noble, elegant, cozy freshness rich in citrus, lavender, aldehydes, with an irresistible heart of great, aromatic tobacco, vetiver and cedar. As minutes pass it progressively gets more dry and a darker woody-leather base emerges. Light spices like cumin and nutmeg "fill" the higher notes of vetiver. Refined, versatile, mellow, simple but unique, cozy, pure self-confidence in a bottle. Longevity is discreet but long-lasting. Timeless!
10/10
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment