Sandor 70's Carner 2016

As I strolled past the shelves of my local scent dealer, I was drawn to ‘Sandor 70’s’ mainly because of its name: Sandor.

Many years ago, I had a boss of Hungarian descent with the same first name. He wore ‘Van Cleef & Arpels pour Homme’ extensively and had an incredible sexual presence that intimidated me but also fascinated me. Lust and Sandor have remained synonymous for me ever since, and so I automatically reached for the bottle.
Wow, that hit hard - the scent rightfully carries its name!
(I’ve never heard of the bar ‘Sandor’, but I’ve also never been to Barcelona, which I should probably rectify soon...)
Even the old ‘VC&A op.H.’ had a pretty animalistic-erotic aura, but this scent tops it. As soon as it’s sprayed, a dark, heavy patchouli-leather cloud unfolds with intense animalic undertones. What kind they are, I don’t know; I suspect all together: civet, musk, castoreum, costus & co., probably in the form of the perfume base ‘Animalis’.

In any case, this opening immediately reminded me of Mazzolari’s ‘Lui’, which a base note described with the following, in my opinion, completely accurate description: “pantaloon-bursting-potency.” Also with ‘Sandor 70’s’, the pants are almost bursting, but above all, the opening of both scents is astonishingly similar: earthy patchouli, dark leather, and aromatic spice, permeated by sultry animalism.

Phew, one wants to rush to the window...

But no, somehow this disturbing haze is also fascinating, and the window stays closed! Because while ‘Lui’ later drifts into a urinous territory, I am thankfully spared from incontinence with ‘Sandor 70’s’.
On the contrary, after just a few minutes, wonderful floral accords like bright flashes illuminate the wild, animalistically steamy patchouli opening and create astonishing contrasts: here leather, earth, animal, and there a lively blooming jasmine/osmanthus/rose trio.
At first, it seems like they don’t want to go together, but they do, because as so often, disharmonies create tensions that in this special case keep the consumer from a comatose sinking, in light of the animalic overpowering. The floral trio acts almost as a substitute for smelling salts.

Fortunately, more players enter the stage, or rather, fill the bar ‘Sandor’, and as it was in the 70s: everyone is smoking, really everyone.
Everywhere, aromatic tobacco is charred into sweetly biting smoke and lays almost like mildew over the olfactory scene, were it not for the flower bouquets arranged in vases, bravely fighting their way through the haze, and also the occasional lush oriental vanilla perfume of the present ladies, which stands up to the squawking. Thus, a rather heterogeneous mélange, or aroma diversity, characterizes this scent. And although I’m not really a fan of overloaded fragrances, I must admit: when the orchestration is right, I enjoy listening to the result.

And yes, Rodrigo Flores-Roux packed quite a lot into his scent, and yet I wouldn’t want to miss a single note.
Not only does the aforementioned vanilla have its place, but also the green nuances of vetiver and the earthy bitterness of oakmoss, which clearly shapes the base and makes it a veritable chypre of oriental character.
That despite all the polyphony, no cacophony breaks out is, of course, self-evident: after all, Flores-Roux is an experienced master perfumer - the individual notes, no matter how dissonant they may be, contrast well and the balance is right.

The longevity is also enormous, but the projection is rather moderate, aside from the loud opening. After about 4-5 hours, ‘Sandor 70’s’ develops into a well-perceptible skin scent that remains recognizable even the next day. On textiles, the scent clings for many days longer.
This rather restrained but persistent presence seems to be due to a quite high perfume oil content. I had already wondered why such a high price is charged for a mere 50ml.
Ultimately, I realized that two sprays are absolutely sufficient to create a - at least for me - pleasant scent aura.
More would be uncomfortable for me.

Thus, ‘Sandor 70’s’ greets its Milanese cousin ‘Lui’ from Barcelona and shows him that “pantaloon-bursting-potency” can also be more civilized: erotically vibrating, yes, but at some point, enough is enough with the obscene lustfulness.
‘Lui’ shows no mercy and has challenged me every time I wore it, not to say: overwhelmed. In contrast, ‘Sandor 70’s’ restrains itself as described and mutates into a soothing, smoky-bitter chypre scent, ultimately only slightly tinged with animalic emanations.

Yes, one must really like animalics; otherwise, this scent, which is truly not a crowd-pleaser, will not work, but it is a niche fragrance in the best sense. One that also demands a certain backbone from the wearer (of course, also from the wearer, although the scent leans quite masculine), as the looks or even comments could be mixed.

I like it very much.