Ottone Santa Maria Novella 2010

Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella makes itself and its products quite rare. You can't order anything online; you would have to make the effort to go to Florence yourself. At least in Germany, there seems to be no official point of sale. At least they have finally put some content behind their web address - it must be magnificent, museum-like spaces! As a visitor to Florence with an interest in fine fragrances, one must definitely go there.

With the men's fragrance Ottone and its female counterpart Porcellana, SMN is now celebrating its 400th anniversary. They have released a few bottles into the big wide world, and so I was able to test Ottone in a Berlin department store.

A look at the range tells me that they must all be old, traditional scents - the names suggest it. And Ottone is above all one thing: a classic-conservative Italian men's perfume. With Ottone, SMN appeals to a clientele that appreciates tradition without any ambition for fragrance experiments.

After a somewhat citrusy top note, we have a subtly spicy scent before us. The restrained spice is embedded in a dark, warm, only slightly sweet and ambered environment. I perceive similarities in style to spicy men's fragrances, such as those known from Halston - however, the spice in Ottone does not stand out as much.

After about two hours, the spice fades, along with a good part of the ambratic warmth. The scent now becomes slimmer, dry, and smoky; incense becomes dominant. At this stage, Ottone largely corresponds to the incense-heavy perfumes L'Homme Sage by Divine and Pontevecchio by Nobile 1942. A long drydown follows over several hours, during which nothing else happens.

So, it’s all quite alright, solid quality indeed - but you really don't need to lay down for this perfume! I am somewhat bothered by the break between the warm-spicy heart note and the smoky drydown. Distinct fragrance developments can be interesting, but the overall impression must remain coherent. Here, however, the scent changes its character quite abruptly. Personally, I prefer the style of the base note over the heart note, but I would rather reach for Pontevecchio or L'Homme Sage, which fully embrace this smoky direction.

In the splendid sales rooms of SMN, furnished with ornate furniture, Ottone will probably sell like hotcakes. The shopping experience seems to be simply part of the product, and so it fits. But as a pure fragrance, Ottone does not completely convince me.