36
Top Review
Nürburgring, July 28, 1935...
I have smelled this combination of gasoline and oud notes before.
Shortly after I sprayed ‘Nuvolari’ for the first time, I also knew where: in Kilian’s ‘Pure Oud’. Unfortunately, I no longer have the sample of the Kilian fragrance (it would probably be too old anyway), so a direct comparison is no longer possible, but I remember that it created a similar image in my imagination. Back then, I saw Sean Connery as an oil-smeared mechanic with a whisky in hand.
Well, in the case of ‘Nuvolari’, I’ll leave out the whisky, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be Sean Connery, but the oil-smeared outfit of a car mechanic fits quite well.
Or let’s say rather: the setting during a pit stop, when bustling mechanics change the tires of an overheated racing car in no time.
Not that I have ever experienced such a thing in real life, no, but the fragrance credibly conveys to me an idea of this special olfactory situation: oil and gasoline fumes, glowing hot metal, smoldering rubber, and in 1935 (the year in which the "Flying Mantuan," Tazio Nuvolari, won the 'Grand Prix of Germany' at the Nürburgring) probably also sweaty leather.
Actually, I couldn’t care less about car races; on the contrary: I can hardly think of a sport I would find more foolish. As a passionate cyclist and, when necessary, train traveler, who has never obtained a driver’s license out of conviction, I have absolutely no understanding for this nonsense of roaring machines, and I should actually disregard a fragrance that attempts to approach this absurdity olfactorily.
But far from it, I can’t: ‘Nuvolari’ simply smells too good!
Just this opening! This voluminous-dark blooming of leathery, oily, smoky, and subtly animalistic facets, interwoven with fresh, peppery-aromatic streaks - it’s simply stunning and somehow reminded me of the moment when I first smelled ‘Tabac Blond’ by Caron. The similarities between the two fragrances are manageable. But it’s this aura that I find here again, this leathery-smoky triumph, this rich volume.
Cristiano Canali is simply a magician.
Aside from Antonio Gardoni's creations, his are the ones I have been waiting for the most impatiently for a long time.
When I recently saw in a film sequence shot at the last Pitti Fragranze that the small fragrance label Rubini from Mantua is launching a new fragrance after years, and that this one, like the previous two, comes from Canali's pen, there was no hesitation - I had to have it, just like that and untested, because Canali cannot disappoint me, nor can Gardoni.
And he didn’t.
‘Nuvolari’ may not be as innovative as ‘Fundamental’, nor as daring and polarizing as ‘Tambour Sacré’, but the fragrance is at the same high artistic level. Well, in terms of leather, smoke, and oud, we have certainly been well supplied in recent years, but the combination with metallic notes, with gasoline, machine oil, and tar is quite idiosyncratic. Similar to ‘Type Writer’ by Parfumerie Particulière, which ‘Nuvolari’ also reminds me of, except that the Rubini fragrance always remains a perfume, while ‘Type Writer’ only becomes one in the base. Before that, it is actually just a somewhat wearable industrial smell for me.
‘Nuvolari’ also vaguely reminds me of Montale’s ‘Aoud Cuir d’Arabie’, but only in terms of the presentation of the oud, which here smells similarly smoky-leathery, but fortunately only pulses subcutaneously animalistic, while with Montale it hits me right in the stomach.
Canali manages to tame it somewhat, but still lets it off the leash. And so it forms, on the one hand, the pivot of the olfactory event, but fortunately does not push itself excessively to the forefront, allowing others to shine as well. Regarding the inspiration for this fragrance - the racing legend Tazio Nuvolari and his triumph at the Nürburgring, with an Alfa Romeo that was actually hopelessly inferior to the German silver arrows - in this context, the complex scent palette of the incense wood finds a truly convincing environment.
Like a spider in a web, Canali locates the oud in his formula, but does not give the web any less significance. Or in other words: the oud somewhat represents the engine of the Alfa Romeo. But there is also the metal of the chassis, the leather of the seats, the rubber tires on the asphalt, the cutting sharp wind - all of this is ‘Nuvolari’.
Thanks to the perfumer, the aptly named work ‘Extrait de Course’ remains true to this narrative and does not veer in the base towards a conciliatory balsamic-soft, sweet-oriental mélange. No, even though another fearsome opponent of mine (besides the oud) appears here, I must admit that it also has its justification: Ambroxan.
If the oud takes on the role of the engine, Ambroxan has the task of the lubricant: it keeps the engine running, allows the energies to flow, and emulsifies the opposing components. That leathery-smoky nuances and Ambroxan can be wonderfully combined, I recently experienced with Piguet’s ‘Bandit Suprême’, and now here as well. The amber substitute from the lab allows the notes to truly bloom, taking away their overly harsh, edgy quality without completely blurring them. Also, I am not bothered at all by the typical, slightly synthetic sweetness of this molecule, which I usually find unpleasant. No, it’s somehow all just right, it’s meant to be this way!
Speaking of typical:
Typical for the Rubini design are also the two stencil-like shells that protect the bottle but do not completely enclose it. While they are made of a light plaster-like material in Fundamental, and dark wood in ‘Tambour Sacré’, for ‘Nuvolari’ a dark gray asphalt shell has been chosen, held together by a wide rubber band reminiscent of a V-belt. Here too, everything is wonderfully consistent, well thought out, elaborated, and convincingly implemented.
In his response email, the owner of Rubini, Andrea Rubini, wrote to me:
“Since 2015, Rubini channels my passion with a daring vision for high perfumery and genuine research with no fears for new paths, working only with the best raw materials and without time pressures.
My friend, the perfumer Cristiano Canali, is helping me to realize the dream.”
I think the two absolutely convincingly fulfill this claim.
Shortly after I sprayed ‘Nuvolari’ for the first time, I also knew where: in Kilian’s ‘Pure Oud’. Unfortunately, I no longer have the sample of the Kilian fragrance (it would probably be too old anyway), so a direct comparison is no longer possible, but I remember that it created a similar image in my imagination. Back then, I saw Sean Connery as an oil-smeared mechanic with a whisky in hand.
Well, in the case of ‘Nuvolari’, I’ll leave out the whisky, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be Sean Connery, but the oil-smeared outfit of a car mechanic fits quite well.
Or let’s say rather: the setting during a pit stop, when bustling mechanics change the tires of an overheated racing car in no time.
Not that I have ever experienced such a thing in real life, no, but the fragrance credibly conveys to me an idea of this special olfactory situation: oil and gasoline fumes, glowing hot metal, smoldering rubber, and in 1935 (the year in which the "Flying Mantuan," Tazio Nuvolari, won the 'Grand Prix of Germany' at the Nürburgring) probably also sweaty leather.
Actually, I couldn’t care less about car races; on the contrary: I can hardly think of a sport I would find more foolish. As a passionate cyclist and, when necessary, train traveler, who has never obtained a driver’s license out of conviction, I have absolutely no understanding for this nonsense of roaring machines, and I should actually disregard a fragrance that attempts to approach this absurdity olfactorily.
But far from it, I can’t: ‘Nuvolari’ simply smells too good!
Just this opening! This voluminous-dark blooming of leathery, oily, smoky, and subtly animalistic facets, interwoven with fresh, peppery-aromatic streaks - it’s simply stunning and somehow reminded me of the moment when I first smelled ‘Tabac Blond’ by Caron. The similarities between the two fragrances are manageable. But it’s this aura that I find here again, this leathery-smoky triumph, this rich volume.
Cristiano Canali is simply a magician.
Aside from Antonio Gardoni's creations, his are the ones I have been waiting for the most impatiently for a long time.
When I recently saw in a film sequence shot at the last Pitti Fragranze that the small fragrance label Rubini from Mantua is launching a new fragrance after years, and that this one, like the previous two, comes from Canali's pen, there was no hesitation - I had to have it, just like that and untested, because Canali cannot disappoint me, nor can Gardoni.
And he didn’t.
‘Nuvolari’ may not be as innovative as ‘Fundamental’, nor as daring and polarizing as ‘Tambour Sacré’, but the fragrance is at the same high artistic level. Well, in terms of leather, smoke, and oud, we have certainly been well supplied in recent years, but the combination with metallic notes, with gasoline, machine oil, and tar is quite idiosyncratic. Similar to ‘Type Writer’ by Parfumerie Particulière, which ‘Nuvolari’ also reminds me of, except that the Rubini fragrance always remains a perfume, while ‘Type Writer’ only becomes one in the base. Before that, it is actually just a somewhat wearable industrial smell for me.
‘Nuvolari’ also vaguely reminds me of Montale’s ‘Aoud Cuir d’Arabie’, but only in terms of the presentation of the oud, which here smells similarly smoky-leathery, but fortunately only pulses subcutaneously animalistic, while with Montale it hits me right in the stomach.
Canali manages to tame it somewhat, but still lets it off the leash. And so it forms, on the one hand, the pivot of the olfactory event, but fortunately does not push itself excessively to the forefront, allowing others to shine as well. Regarding the inspiration for this fragrance - the racing legend Tazio Nuvolari and his triumph at the Nürburgring, with an Alfa Romeo that was actually hopelessly inferior to the German silver arrows - in this context, the complex scent palette of the incense wood finds a truly convincing environment.
Like a spider in a web, Canali locates the oud in his formula, but does not give the web any less significance. Or in other words: the oud somewhat represents the engine of the Alfa Romeo. But there is also the metal of the chassis, the leather of the seats, the rubber tires on the asphalt, the cutting sharp wind - all of this is ‘Nuvolari’.
Thanks to the perfumer, the aptly named work ‘Extrait de Course’ remains true to this narrative and does not veer in the base towards a conciliatory balsamic-soft, sweet-oriental mélange. No, even though another fearsome opponent of mine (besides the oud) appears here, I must admit that it also has its justification: Ambroxan.
If the oud takes on the role of the engine, Ambroxan has the task of the lubricant: it keeps the engine running, allows the energies to flow, and emulsifies the opposing components. That leathery-smoky nuances and Ambroxan can be wonderfully combined, I recently experienced with Piguet’s ‘Bandit Suprême’, and now here as well. The amber substitute from the lab allows the notes to truly bloom, taking away their overly harsh, edgy quality without completely blurring them. Also, I am not bothered at all by the typical, slightly synthetic sweetness of this molecule, which I usually find unpleasant. No, it’s somehow all just right, it’s meant to be this way!
Speaking of typical:
Typical for the Rubini design are also the two stencil-like shells that protect the bottle but do not completely enclose it. While they are made of a light plaster-like material in Fundamental, and dark wood in ‘Tambour Sacré’, for ‘Nuvolari’ a dark gray asphalt shell has been chosen, held together by a wide rubber band reminiscent of a V-belt. Here too, everything is wonderfully consistent, well thought out, elaborated, and convincingly implemented.
In his response email, the owner of Rubini, Andrea Rubini, wrote to me:
“Since 2015, Rubini channels my passion with a daring vision for high perfumery and genuine research with no fears for new paths, working only with the best raw materials and without time pressures.
My friend, the perfumer Cristiano Canali, is helping me to realize the dream.”
I think the two absolutely convincingly fulfill this claim.
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12 Comments
A delightful read!
(Since Sean Connery was apparently a known Jicky wearer, maybe one should imagine a different guy as the mechanic to avoid distracting scent interferences? ;-) ).
I can recommend it ;)