Cuir Garamante Parfums MDCI 2013

Cuir Garamante opens with all-encompassing saffron spice mixing with hints of supple suede leather. As the composition quickly transitions to its early heart the saffron remains now dirtied by the addition a pinch of supporting cumin, with the suede leather taking a back seat to a quickly emerging synthetic vague dark burnt woody accord that begins to develop. As the composition moves though its middle the synthetic burnt woods completely take over and become nearly the only thing detectable save remnants of the now supporting saffron and leather well in the background. During the late dry-down the synthetic burnt woods finally fade and then completely disappear, allowing cypriol to emerge and star (coming across as a radiant frankincense and woody vetiver hybrid) supported by smooth slightly sweet non-powdery vanilla and sandalwood through the finish. Projection is average and longevity is near outstanding at 12-14 hours on skin.

Cuir Gramante is a bit of a puzzler. For a composition that has "Cuir" in its name it is not as much of a leather composition as one might expect. Sure, the suede-like leather is there throughout, but it always is in a supporting role. First it supports the starring saffron spice before fading into near obscurity as the norlimbanol driven faux burnt woods emerge to dominate the heart, finishing again in just barely detectable support of the smooth woody vetiver and frankincense-like cypriol through the late dry-down. Aside from the leather not being the focus, there really is a lot to love about the composition. The saffron spice coupling with soft leather during the open is implemented perfectly and the result is intoxicatingly beautiful. The late dry-down is equally impressive as it is so refined and smooth, slightly sweet and entirely luxurious. Where things fall apart, spoiling the party is in the mid-section due to the near-certain use of norlimbanol, creating a synthetic burnt woody accord that overpowers everything in its path while present. The bottom line is the $250 per 75ml bottle Cuir Garamante has a lot of things it does exceptionally well, but its mid-section is a complete letdown that drowns out most of the composition's fine attributes, lowering the final score down to a "very good" 3.5 stars out of 5 and only a tepid recommendation. It merits mentioning that the open and close are so much better than the overall rating indicates, a real shame indeed.

Opens with a polished saffron-nutmeg-pink pepper accord that reads refined rather than harsh — dry, structured, immediately interesting. The leather arrives simultaneously, also dry, also refined. Nothing animalic, nothing sharp. For a fragrance named after a lost Saharan civilization and built around a leather accord, the opening is surprisingly elegant.

The rose comes forward as the spice recedes and does exactly what you’d want — dry, supportive, integrating into the leather rather than asserting over it. This is rose as structural material, not as floral statement. It adds warmth and slight dark complexity to the leather without softening it into sweetness or pushing the composition feminine. The combination of dry rose and dry leather is handled with genuine sophistication here. A quiet smokiness threads underneath — subtle enough to add depth without announcing itself as a distinct voice.

Then the base arrives. Labdanum-amber warmth with sandalwood and a whisper of vanilla — the leather and rose gradually stepping back as the oriental foundation takes over. Unhurried, warm, enveloping. The complexity of the earlier phases doesn’t disappear, it settles into the base and hums quietly underneath.

Three distinct acts, each earned, none aggressive. What’s most impressive is the absence of sharpness or synthetic glare throughout a composition built around materials that can easily go wrong — leather, rose, spice, smoke. MDCI kept everything in service of the whole.

Definitely one of most sexiest fragrances in my collection. It's s daring and attention grabbing scent, seductive and mysterious.

Although is marketed as "men" fragrance I can easily see any lady wearing this one! In fact my wife is stealing it from me almost every other day. It lasted around 8 hours on my skin with strong but comforting sillage in the first 3 hours, after that mark toned down medium for an hour or two and after that turned into more private but enjoyable skin scent! But I could easily catch whiffs of it through the entire lasting time!

Really good fragrance!

The conductor Arturo Toscanini was notorious for his strict adherence to the score, which he relentlessly enforced in the orchestra - with overflowing temperament, always on the brink of a stroke, loud and not picky in terms of vocabulary. Simply because he held himself to even stricter standards (including adequate self-abuse), there were no complaints from the extremely sensitive American musicians' union, which otherwise criticized every little thing in the speeches.

However, it was a British ensemble, namely the BBC, that the maestro shouted at during a rehearsal of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony in 1937. The composer had originally dedicated his "Eroica" to Napoleon, but literally erased the dedication out of disappointment over his coronation as emperor.

And such surrounding details were completely irrelevant to Toscanini. Perhaps the musicians had played too "imperially"? In any case, he interrupted and yelled: "No! No! … Is-a not Napoleon! Is-a not ‘itler! Is-a not Mussolini! Is Allegro con brio! … Da-caaaaa-po!"

I feel somewhat similar. As if I must always be loudly reminded by a purist: "Is leather!"

Vanilla and saffron open, accompanied by a hint of fruit candy rose. Leather? Nuances. They struggle. I find a gentle, subtly dirty spice more noticeable. Instead of nutmeg, I would have guessed cumin. A guessing game. Then, just a few minutes later, I sense a latent, creamy labdanum that is slightly pig-like. That was it!

Up to this point, I would call it the 'amber-spice scent.' And although I concede a bit more leather starting from the second testing day (getting used to it? "No - is leather!"), Cuir Garamante essentially presents only a bouquet of corresponding hints. Unless, for example, 'papyrus' is simply meant to refer to Papier d'Armenie, it could hint at a dull quality that, if desired, reminds one of leather. The rose also contributes: it shifts between fruit candy and oily-tarry, providing with the latter another building block. A woody note from late morning suggests oud. This not only develops a reference to the tried-and-true combination of rose-oud, but oud also offers - this is argued indirectly - at times a closeness to leather.

But that all seems like mere embellishment to me. I shrug my shoulders and prefer to wait eagerly to see if the dominant labdanum might eventually start to urinate (cf. Oud Ispahan by Dior). Indeed, its proportion increases throughout the morning, while the role of the rose becomes a supporting one. However, it never urinates. Never. The labdanum does unfold an undeniable animalic quality, but remains within limits, not least thanks to vanilla-caramel tones. I find this wonderfully executed and, above all, not too sweet at all. In the afternoon, Cuir Garamante increasingly takes on a more typical amber direction in my perception, which, accompanied by vanilla splashes and rose touches, lasts well into the evening and consistently appears very high quality.

Napoleon this, Allegro con brio that - with a perfume, things may be somewhat different than with a symphony conducted by Mr. Toscanini. Therefore, I maintain my opinion: I would not have referred to today's candidate as a leather scent or called it "Cuir something." The supposed leather shows its other family trees too obviously. It doesn't matter at all, because the result is a noble and characterful perfume with a certain entertainment value.

As a student of biosciences, one often faces identity crises and existential fears, especially during very frustrating times like writing a bachelor's thesis.
Somehow, I then came up with the idea to write to Claude Marchal and simply ask him how he came up with the idea of creating perfumes or having them created, becoming the Creative Director of his own brand.

The short version of his answer was basically that while he earned well in his previous job (he worked for a company that builds private jets if I interpreted that correctly), it eventually became too much for him. And since he had always liked perfume in some way, he wanted to do that!

"Sometimes, you have to make very risky choices in life. They can either fail or reward you a lot."

Well, that's certainly universally valid, but still motivating.

The connection to Cuir Garamante is as follows: By chance, I found out through a post in a Facebook group that MDCI is launching 2 new fragrances at the end of November.
So I thought I would email Claude Marchal again, just to know when it would be available for purchase. And of course, to ask how he came up with the idea of creating a leather scent.

He said he wanted to create a leather fragrance because he never really liked leather scents and therefore never dealt with them much, but it would be a good addition to the fragrances that had already been created.
Since I argued exactly the same way during my interview for the Master's in Plant Biology, I found that sympathetic.

Based on the previous fragrances, I was convinced that the scent would be a hit anyway. I then received samples of Nuit Andalouse and Cuir Garamante and was very surprised by Cuir Garamante.
At first, I thought I would be greeted by a leather scent like 1740 - Marquis de Sade or Cuir Ottoman, but Cuir Garamante is only relatively leathery at the beginning.

It's more of a gentle, soft leather accord that is accompanied by spices and oud.
The leather is quite subtle and identifiable, but without smelling tarry (compare Cuir Ottoman) or fermented (compare Aoud Cuir d'Arabie or the first seconds of 1740 - MdS). Nevertheless, the leather accord has that feeling described by Chandler Burr in his review: a sun-warmed leather sandal that has fallen from the perfumed foot of a pretty harem girl.
Saffron, nutmeg, and rose seem to make up the spicy part here; this accord vaguely reminds me of the one from Terry de Gunzburg's "Terryfic Oud," but without cumin and thus without any hint of unwashed armpits.
I can hardly identify other components right away, but since oud is missing from the fragrance pyramid, I'm not sure if it's trustworthy. So there could be cumin in it after all, or at least something that can be interpreted as cumin.
Up close, Cuir Garamante smells less like a leather fragrance and more like a gentle oud and spices with a slightly animalistic touch (from the leather).
The scent trail, however, is phenomenal; here, all three components seem to be equally represented, making the leather more recognizable and conveying that feeling described above.
The longevity is spectacular; when I tried to wash it off after the first test, it didn't work despite soap. I could still perceive it on my wrist the next morning. Anyone who has smelled all the other MDCIs will notice that these fragrances are inconspicuously powerful and possess a perfect balance between strength and control.
And Cuir Garamante is a bit of everything, but not too much of anything. And yet the overall composition is polarizing, but coherent in itself.

Claude Marchal said Cuir Garamante has more power than what has been released so far (IB, AT, and CP), hence he was a bit skeptical. Additionally, he expected more criticism since every good perfume house has a good leather scent and everyone is currently launching an oud fragrance.

However, I believe that Cuir Garamante does not smell like hasty work; I am sure Claude Marchal searched long enough until he smelled what he wanted:

"I am happy with my (risky?) choice!"

So am I.