Léonard pour Homme Léonard 1980 Eau de Toilette

Leonard pour Homme, leather chypre par excellence, introduces itself with spicy olfactory fanfare – basil and thyme prominent in the fore. When the lovely screeching recedes a bit, wormwood/artemisia attains prominence. Smokiness also emerges, i guess, from patchouli and cedar oil among other ingredients of the frag. Perhaps because I live in the tropics and naturally exposed to direct heat sometimes, it is not long into the wearing that the animalic castoreum and leather ingredients ascend into my conciousness. Resinous labdanum sings in harmony with the smoke-sodden leatheriness to deliver an accord that may be a bit scary to the Acqua di Gio crowd. There is not a smidgen of sweetness in this frag. Baroque pipe organ music and the eerie sound of ghosts and crazed bats seem to be the appropriate sound track for LpH.

LpH is similar to Van Cleef and Arpels pour Homme, but less flowery. It also reminds me of Francesco Smalto pour Homme, but is a bit more herbal and oily; Trussardi Uomo without the tobacco notes, or a more resinous Bel Ami. In all its darkness LpH is not a room-strafing powerhouse like Trussardi pH. Lph has amazing longevity. 9+ hours after applying I still get authoritative whiffs of leathery darkness.