Matador Ramón Monegal 2025

Pafory Advent Calendar 2025 – Day 23

First impression: wow. This is very good. Bold, expressive, instantly skin-grabbing. Also worth saying upfront - the Fragrantica note breakdown doesn’t match either the brand info or what my nose is getting.

Officially, it opens with rosewood, incense, and cumin. On first contact, though, I get something unexpected: a fleeting floral softness, almost tropical, with a hint of coconut and ghostly blossoms that appear and disappear within minutes. Very quickly, the scent clarifies. On skin, it becomes cumin-forward - warm, human - threaded through smooth, polished rosewood, with incense hovering quietly rather than announcing itself. Interestingly, in the air around me, it reads powdery, softly sweet, and floral. On my wrist? Dry spice and wood. Intimate and polished.

The heart is beautifully handled. Jasmine, magnolia, and rose come together effortlessly. The rose isn’t loud or dated - no “old rose” here - but smooth, almost gourmand-leaning, cushioned by powdery magnolia and luminous jasmine. Refined, modern, and effortlessly wearable. A softness you choose to reveal.

The base settles into creamy sandalwood and coconut wrapped in clean musk. Skin-like, comforting, quietly sensual. And despite what some suggest, there’s no leather here for me. Just warmth, creaminess, and the trace of something once close.

Confident. Tactile. Intimate. A scent that rewards patience and close attention.

Full review to follow.
More scent stories and visuals on Instagram - @lavendercloudsjd

An obnoxious tribute to the worst aspect of the Spanish culture: bullfighting. If you ask the brand why they did this homage to such a cruel act, they will try to convince you that you are getting the metaphor wrong, as it's just "a tribute to brave and seductive people".

If you don't get fooled by them, and you take a look at the marketing around the perfume and the imagery, you'll find that indeed this is an obvious tribute to the worst kind of barbarism that most of us Spaniards are ashamed of.

Yeah, bullfighting is condemned by most of the Spanish society. There's no politics here, but it's only a matter of empathy, civic spirit, and not being a complete psychopath against innocent living beings.

As per the perfume itself, another inspiration of Oud Maracujá that is overhyped by the typical Youtube and Instragram influencers. Another bomb of this leathery molecule that can be found already in the base of other well-known and successful perfumes like Ombre Nomade or Oud Maracujá, combined with a fruity note, in this case a somehow odd pear/apple accord.

So, it is not only an awful reference but neither offers anything new to the overcrowded “leatherbomb+fruit” panorama that we already have.

Definitely, Monegal has lost a lot of clients with this release. In my case, I removed every scent from my wishlist, and I'll not spend any Euro on their brand. Olé, Siesta, Flamenco, and other dumb Spanish clichés were OK, I guess, but this has gone too far.

If you don’t care and you like scents like the ones mentioned, I guess you can have it a try.

This fragrance is a loud, almost avant-garde crossover of tropical sweetness and a creamy leather base, which I find very interesting, but in everyday wear it makes me fluctuate between fascination and sensory overload.

Scent: 8/10
The opening starts with a juicy, very sweet pear that meets cool, sacred incense. To my nose, this opening has a very harsh, almost artificial character.
After about half an hour, a juicy, sweet passion fruit joins the mix, accompanied by a dense magnolia7-jasmine note.
This floral accord does not stay in the background, but is somewhat more prominent, bringing a creamy yet dense texture into play.
Up to this point, the whole thing could somewhat evoke a creamy conditioning shampoo.
The drydown then introduces an elegant and dry-smelling leather note.
This is accompanied by an unexpectedly dominant and warm woody note.
As a result, the fragrance shifts from a shrill, artificial fruity sweetness into an incredibly soft, leathery cream.

Longevity: 8/10
The performance of this fragrance really should not be underestimated, 8-9h are no problem.

Conclusion:
I am torn.
The fragrance is like a chameleon - sometimes I like it, sometimes I do not, and it keeps going back and forth like that.
Therefore, it is difficult to recommend.

Matador was one of the few remaining samples from my Pafory Advent calendar, and today I spontaneously decided to test it.

First of all, I have to revise my rating of H and S upwards: The fragrance lasts forever and is still detectable on the skin even after showering. The sillage is also much more expansive than originally assumed; after spraying it on, the fragrance could be smelled throughout the entire apartment.

The opening is Leathery and slightly Floral, with the intrusive sweetness immediately hitting the nose. This type of fragrance is not necessarily among my Favorites, and I almost washed it off right away. But then came the drydown, the leathery aspects gradually disappeared and an pleasantly sweet, synthetic base remained. Still not quite my thing and unfortunately also a little too feminine for my taste, but definitely bearable.

Conclusion: Matador is a rather obtrusive, leather-sweet, feminine fragrance that, imo, has no real reason to exist. Especially not when you look at the price: €175 for 50 ml?? No, thanks. The fragrance profile corresponds to the currently very popular leather-gourmand miscellany that many people wear all year round - even in midsummer at 35°, which is really not nice. In any case, I am glad that this sample is used up and that I can erase the fragrance from my memory again!