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02/24/2015
ColinM
516 Reviews
ColinM
5
Hairy-chested devil
Smalto pour Homme is a great powerhouse, much more peculiar and original than it may seem (or well, than it seemed to me). Basically it opens with a balsamic-citrus accord on a gloomy base of smoke, bold tan leather, oak moss, woods (vetiver, perhaps sandalwood), with a peculiar sort of "outdoors" herbal-anisic-tea breeze going around (I guess due to fennel and tarragon), together with other unusual and really well-played notes: I get something boozy, licorice, a colorful blend of spices and herbs. Somehow it’s a conventional “dark smoky fougère”, but it does just a step further, showing quite an interesting set of unique features: it does not have all the raw, austere, dry shadiness of many leathers like Knize, it’s not a skanky animalic scent like Ungaro II, not an oak moss beast like Quorum, and not only a herbal-aromatic fougère like Tsar... yet it has something of all of these, reshuffled in a an interesting, pleasant and recognizable way. It has something raw and playful, but at the same time it show a manly dark sophistication, really classy in its own way. It’s a powerhouse fougère, but it’s not similar to any other in particular, except for the names I mentioned above (Smalto basically smells like their hippie homeless cousin). And actually, for as much weird it may sound, it reminds me also of some contemporary niche scents, mostly for the unusual contrasts, the creativity, and the fact that it manages to smell not outdated at all. It’s much bold though, and after a while it may start to smell a bit boring (also because of the load of harsh spices you get on the drydown, similar as Jacomo de Jacomo for instance). As many powerhouses, it projects like a devil and lasts for ages. To rediscover!
7,5/10
7,5/10
ChicoRoch1
