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Top Review
21
The Brahms of the Brothers in Cardamom. Visit. La Nuit. Bella Notte
Olivier Cresp has already created around 200 perfumes. Among them, around the turn of the millennium, the wonderful Jungle pour Homme by Kenzo: an ingenious blend of subtle nutmeg spice, fine woods and tangy lime. In 2014, Cresp composed a brawny, dark cardamom symphony for the Cerruti 1881 Men's Series, which is known for its woodsy, spicy, mellifluous fragrances. In this symphony, he combines cardamom, pepper, juniper and nutmeg with a range of heavy spices at a pleasant temperature.
The whole thing smells wonderfully Christmassy, fits perfectly in misty autumn and cold winter days and reminds not only from afar of a meanwhile probably half forgotten Azzaro fragrance from 2003: Visit. Annick Ménardo created this cardamom fluffi, which I also appreciate very much, also with many ingredients from the spice rack: On a base of cedar and gujac wood, Ménardo planted a heart of incense, barely noticeable amber and musk in her Visit, and culminated with fresh pepper, cardamom and nutmeg.
When comparing the two quite similar fragrances, Azzaro's Visit seems to me a little softer, gentler, if you like: more feminine. But also a little more synthetic, slightly metallic out the back. The juniper in Cerrutis 1881 beautiful night, perhaps also the delicate coriander and patchouli notes, make this Cerruti a bit rougher, more masculine.
This makes him a worthy flanker of the wonderfully wooded, certainly somewhat oldschoolig dusty, but always refreshing, massive green original Cerruti 1881.
Like probably most nights in the name of leading men's fragrances, Bella Notte in 1881 also has its eye on Yves Saint Laurent's bestseller L'homme La Nuit with its seductive cardamom vibe. The creative trio Flip, Wargnye and Ropion underlaid their cardamom-pepper-cedar triad with sweet tonka and dimmed vetiver and added bergamot and lavender in the head and heart notes. I still find the original night of YSL (whose newer versions are now often complained about here as being badly diluted) to be a rather great, warm, seductive evening and night-time scent.
However, it should be appreciated and remembered that Annick Ménardo had already composed a structurally similar cardamom symphony in 2003, which was more suitable for everyday use and not quite as sensually difficult as YSL Homme La Nuit. And Olivier Cresp finally added a variant to these two esteemed spice classics that tends a little towards nature, forest and outdoors. Which - depending on your circumstances - may be very welcome.
If I'm in the Mood for Cardamom, I would say: La Nuit for opera, dating and clubbing (although there might be too many people wearing it?). Bella Notte for the autumn walk or even for Christmas. And Visit, well, it's actually for almost all kinds of visits: Office, ballroom, even beach, as it seems to be the least wintry of the three Brothers in Cardamom.
The Sillage of 1881 Bella Notte is average, therefore philanthropic, discreet. The shelf life is also in the middle range of an EdT: 6.7 hours it projects warm, dark spicy. The bottle has the classic, irregularly grooved, jagged relief back of all 1881s - which I'm quite happy to hold in my hand (similarly designed) for one of the most beautiful summer scents, Rochas Eau pour Homme - now smoothed out, and only the number 1881 is jagged into the smooth bottle. Here it is in an elegant blue to black bottle, as befits a beautiful night out.
A beautiful fragrance that could well attract a little more attention here. Just because the Cerrutis are probably sold in drugstores doesn't mean that these are not good scents. In my eyes, more precisely: in my nose, the three cardamom brothers mentioned play in a league in terms of quality (but not price...). Just in the Champ..., äh: Cardamom-Liga.
Top Notes 
Juniper
Sichuan pepper
Coriander
Key lime
Heart Notes 
Black cardamom
Nutmeg
Night-blooming jasmine
Ceylonese cinnamon
Base Notes 
Vanilla
Cedar
Musk
Patchouli
Saradonin
Shemsmeller
KLewis
