Cuir Ottoman Parfum d'Empire 2006

“Cuir Ottoman” from Parfum d'Empire contains the most authentic rendition of leather I've experienced so far. Like in all other fragrances from this house, in “Cuir Ottoman” Marc-Antoine Corticchiato draws his inspiration from history, namely from the once powerful and feared Ottoman Empire. Nonetheless, what he's created is by no means a suffocating, dusty-and-musty scent of the forgotten past. On the contrary, “Cuir Ottoman” is a modern, effervescent perfume, packed with top-quality ingredients.

The presence of the leather note becomes unmistakeably obvious from the very beginning. It's dominant and harsh, but, at the same time, incredibly true to life. To me, “Cuir Ottoman” is unique in the fact that its leather never completely evaporates as its vestiges are also perceptible in the base. The initial harshness of the leather is curbed first by benzoin and tolu balsam, and later on by tonka bean and vanilla, which not only act as softeners, but also provide the perfume with a hint of sweetness.

“Cuir Ottoman” is a potent scent, predominantly aimed at leather note lovers. I truly admire the amount of imagination and expertise that must have gone into the creation of this beautiful fragrance. There can be no doubt Parfum d'Empire represents niche perfumery at its very best!

This fragrance opens with a smooth leather accord. It is neither sweet like Daim Blond, nor dry like Cuir d’Iris; the accord is just perfect and exudes the elegance of a Chanel quilted lambskin bag. In its mid-development the scent shifts slightly towards an iris-violet accord with a chocolate-patchouli base. The base is especially well-done and enhances the vanishing impression of creamy dove-grey leather.

Cuir Ottoman is an outstanding perfume, simple as that. Leather, balsam, iris and incense come together and form a comfortable sweater around your skin. Warm, cosy and long lasting. Wearable without effort. At the same time there is a beautiful development until the end. Quick flashes of iris, leather and balsam in the opening. Along the way the scent continues to slowly change shape, smoothening the leather with different resins. Compelling without being exhausting.

When sniffing directly from skin I get the rough edges, the hairy quality of the leather and a faint incense. Delicious. From a distance the leather is smoother, more suede-like. Maybe a little waxy. The balsam is a bit strong for my liking. I have suffered a serious 'tolu balm trauma' from wearing Givenchy's Gentleman EDP, which prevents me from fully enjoying any perfume with a noticeable amount of that note. So for me personally, it's a no. But still I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a high-quality wearable leather scent.

New leather saddles, hint of dried jasmine, incense and balsam. Reminds me abit of Felanilla not in the scent so much as in the feel, Felanilla with added strooong leather. Softer than Felanilla though, and not by far as longlasting.
Don't know what orris smells like, I smell Iris, but one hour into the drydown I get a slightly soapy sidenote which (if possible for a topnote) might be this orris peaking through?
Soft and warm, powdery leathery. The first leather scent not to smell like cow dung on me. Love at first sniff!

Stunningly beautiful, iris resting on a suede like leather that is not at all synthetic. It's one of those rare scents that makes you stop,inhale and smile to yourself. The incense and resins are beautifully blended and the floral element does not ever overtake the leather. Just mesmerising