Oud Cadenza Maison Crivelli 2024

Oud Cadenza is the most intoxicating spicy/sweet perfume I've experienced. The quality of Givuadan's Orpur® ingredients is truly remarkable and it comes at a 32% oil concentration. On my skin, it lasts for 12 hours with 4 hours of nuclear projection.

At this point, I consider Jordi Fernández to be the master of Oud accord. The way he uses it to ground spicy/sweet compositions is ingenious and gives his work a distinctive character. This woodiness is such a great catalyst - it makes the lingering spiciness more pronounced and all of the gourmand notes more palatable.

The opening is a great blend of spices; cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and saffron. It doesn't take long for western oud to show up, along with an underlying sweetness from dates and toasted cane sugar. After about 30 minutes, it settles into a mixture of caramel and woods, with hints of cocoa butter and vanilla extract already showing up.

It might sound too sweet, but Jordi uses a few compounds with citrusy and floral qualities. This brings airiness to the scent and balances the sweetness. The drydown phase consists of vanilla, cocoa and smoky myrrh. Saffron and labdanum create a leathery nuance, while patchouli and cedarwood provide a woody backbone.

Delightfully, I will be brief as I don't have a bottle (yet)... so no essays this time around.

I would put this fragrance in the same group as "London (Extrait de Parfum) | Widian / AJ Arabia" and also Falcon Leather Extrait de Parfum. Keep the following differences in mind: London (including the uber expensive Harrods exclusive) is definitely more tame and fruity rather than gourmand. Falcon Leather is more leathery but has a similar sweetness, albeit toned down.

In terms of Cadenza's scent, look at Wusubi's review, I agree 100% with him - particularly around the drydown.

Beyond the above comparison, the reason why I am writing this review is because of Cadenza's performance. As per title, Fernandez is not just a perfumer but it is obvious that he also has a degree in Theoretical Physics.
I have other fragrances that I considered "nuclear", but Cadenza goes beyond the event horison of projection (as we know it).
At 30 Celsius, I sprayed once on my forearm and after 4 hours I am still smoking myself... and after 24h, it was still a discernible skin scent.
I am adding this to my shortlist, in the name of science.

My first blind buy of 2024, Oud Cadenza is the latest addition to Crivelli's Extraits line which (in my opinion) is the only good part of their catalogue. Cadenza comes off the back of the wide success achieved last year by Oud Maracujá. It is currently exclusive to Harrods and the brand's e-boutique.

Accords: woody-sweet-leathery-oriental

Oud Cadenza opens sweet-smooth with a creamy-chocolatey quality, leaning a bit feminine and maybe even designery with the same cocoa feel from BDK's 2023 release Pas Ce Soir Extrait. The dark woody tone warps in right after and the scent instantly resembles the woody tones utilized in Goldfield & Banks' Silky Woods Elixir. When smelled on-skin, the scent clearly uses the same structure as that of Oud Maracujá and Oud Stallion, but with Cadenza, the dark woody & leathery qualities contrasted by the sweet-chocolatey feel and the hint of patchouli offer significant resemblance to Xerjoff's "Tony Iommi Monkey Special | XerJoff". The ultimate scent is clearly masculine as it in some parts combines the feels of the Goldfield & Banks as well as the Xerjoff with Crivelli's signature dark tones.

This fragrance has basically been out for a week (if we remove the first half of July due to the brand's logistics issues) and it's already overrated. People are blowing hot air for the sake of engagement and most of them haven't even put money up for it. It genuinely feels like "gourmand" has become a generic buzzword in this scene and the ability to draw comparisons between product is an ability that few on here have, aptly highlighted by this fragrance receiving significant comps to "Angels' Share | Kilian" and other product inspired by Ambre Narguilé such as Dates Delight.

To round out, I get strong longevity of ~10 hours with mostly moderate sillage, so I'd rate them either 8-7 or 9-6 respectively. As a relevant sidenote, the build quality by Crivelli seems to lack consistency as getting the bottle out of the box was difficult by itself and the cap doesn't go as smoothly as the one on my bottle of Oud Maracujá (I know Xerjoff and Initio struggle with this issue too). For the moment, the only utility I see this fragrance providing is akin to a less sweet and more dark woody "Tony Iommi Monkey Special | XerJoff". Therefore, it might be on the chopping block before it even gets proper wear.

I tested Oud Cadenza today thanks to a friend.
Necessary premise: I know all of Crivelli's extraits - with the exception of Cuir infrarouge - and I assure that here the leathery accord used in Maracuja and Stallion is not present, the leather note is not declared and in fact I do not perceive it.
It opens very edgy and turns very quickly towards a cardamom which on my skin steals the show for a while then turns into a sweet and soft scent thanks to the Tonka and vanilla. It is a pleasant, almost airy, non-gourmand sweetness. it's not a fragrance that made me cry out for a miracle but it's a balanced fragrance that's less noisy than the other extracts, it's an "oud" that can make everyone agree. it has no animal vibes but this is a choice made by Crivelli which applies to all exts: that is, do not use pure oud oil but an accord.

Jordi Fernandez's compositions might displease oud purists but they certainly have a signature that is easily you can recognize and above all wearable. The duration is high and the projection is lower than others. Perfectly unisex.

I had to look up what a cadenza actually is. Apparently it’s this piece of musical passage where a soloist gets all the room and lets it rip. So what are the parallels with this fragrance? What makes it deserve the Cadenza name?

Is it the perfumer who got a blank check to do whatever he wanted? Well the credits go to Feenandez and Givaudain so that can’t be it.

Is it the fact that the oud note is accentuated and acclimated? Well… no it’s not that either. Although there’s definitely a barnyardy opening, and a volatile sharp medicinal aspect that I associate with oud. It’s pretty much buried under a loud crescendo of sweetness. Cocoa, vanilla, tonka and dates. However brilliantly balanced, don’t make it a cadenza at all. Maybe I’m going on about the name too long. The smell is great.

If I may throw in one gripe about this perfume it’s the bottle that’s boring as hell.