Northern Cardinal / Cardinal by Zoologist

Bottle Design:
Jules Dinand, Pierre Dinand

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Northern Cardinal
Cardinal
Zoologist 2022

7.0 / 10 69 Ratings

A perfume by Zoologist for women and men, released in 2022. The scent is green-floral. It is still in production. The perfume is vegan according to the manufacturer.
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Main accords

Green

Floral

Citrus

Spicy

Fresh

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Green leaves

Bergamot

Lemon

Mandarin orange

Heart Notes

Clary sage Leather

Leather

Rose

Base Notes

Oakmoss

Musk

Patchouli

Vanilla

Perfumer

Rosendo Mateu

Ratings

Scent

7.069 Ratings

Longevity

7.452 Ratings

Sillage

6.955 Ratings

Bottle

8.560 Ratings

Value for money

6.442 Ratings

Submitted by Franfan20, last update on 10/29/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

L'Ombre dans L'Eau Eau de Toilette

masculin Pluriel

New York Intense

Reviews

10 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/09/2024

Mlleghoul
458 Reviews

Mlleghoul

Helpful Review 5

a dreaming patch of green in deep winter

I don't know if I love Northern Cardinal, but I sure appreciate the very specific scene it evokes. This is the crisp chill of a winter garden seen through the warm glow of the kitchen window on an early December evening. Behind the window, the tea kettle whistles, and the quilts are cozy, but beyond that frost-flowered pane of glass, the world glitters with icicles dripping from the eaves; the bird bath has frozen over, its surface a mirror of pale sky. The fragrance opens with a brisk burst that reflects the scene outside. A profuse, aromatic green note tells of evergreen boughs laden with snow and the tingly bite of frozen air catching your breath and filling your lungs. The snow crunches underfoot before your scuffed brown boot plunges through a six-inch crust of the stuff - a sensation echoed in the scent's subtle leather undertones and earthy base notes of dormant soil. A beady-eyed, red cardinal glares at you from a fencepost before taking off in a flurry of flight, a scarlet flash against a hush of white, a burst of color that finds its olfactory equivalent in a vivid bramble of winter berries, bright and bittersweet. As the fragrance settles, it reveals woody notes, log piles, and weathered barns, staunch sentinels against the winter landscape. It dries to a musty green whisper, the brushing aside of a swath of snow to find a patch of deeply dreaming grass beneath a blanket of pristine crystalline silence.

11/17/2022

8Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Mastodon
1 Review

Mastodon

Helpful Review 5

Fresh/sweet /peppery/green= Chic

Cardinal opens sweet rosey along with a blast of citrus, also it has this kind of grass /green and fresh pepper smell, this combination, to me, it's a spicy fresh quirky classy chic scent.

It reminded me of some of my childhood days where me and my dad used to grind red peppers in the garage, it has that fresh grinded pepper smell to it and certainly gives it a quirky fun kind of an edge vibe, just like the bird.
Mix this peppery edge with the sweet rose and oakmoss. These are the major notes I perceived so far.

Probably the last work of the late Mr. Rosendo Mateu (you will be missed )
I like this one a lot, its not ground breaking but certainly one of a kind and surprisingly pleasant.
Im really happy to have it in my collection, big zoologist fan since I like unique scents and strong personalities.

I see it fitting very well in winter/spring. Reminds me of christmas and the color red.

12/17/2022

10Scent 9Longevity 8Sillage

EssiFloressi
25 Reviews

EssiFloressi

3

Mr Mateu at his best

Those who are patient, will be rewarded. This comes true as from the very first emotion it brought me, I was simply smiling with joy. I have been waiting for "Cardinal | Zoologist" for months and decided not to examine notes and reviews. So my subjective description of the first "date" is as follow: at first I smelled raspberries mixed with delicate citrus. Then it took me to the meadow in the woods, in the summer, and after some (not too long) time I was surrounded by green of a general kind. Beautiful, overwhelming, spacey. Then some more dry notes come to the front: soil, maybe moss, definitely patchouli. Yet, everything warm, a kind of fragile, cherishing the air and my senses. The time stopped for me for a while, it was an incredible journey, and I just can't wait for tomorrow to be taken off on the wings of the cardinal and by imagination of Mr Mateu. A real tribute to his mastery and talent.

06/01/2024

9Scent 9Longevity 9Sillage

Hreremus
32 Reviews

Hreremus

2

glimpse of a red cardinal

opens with a blast of vanilla, musk, and citrus, with the vanilla and musk quickly climbing to the top, creating a blanket of a sweet and very gentle spice coupled beautifully with a fresh citrus. a leather opens up fairly quickly, joined with a beautiful clary sage and moss, cutting through that sweetness with a welcome natural and slightly animalic profile. begins to try down to a slightly spicy green, still supported by that musk. the sun shines briefly through a cloudy and dreary sky, cutting through the empty branches, warming the frozen forest floor. a beautiful collection of warmth, sweetness and green notes, perfectly balanced for a colder day.

colors: mahogany brown, alice blue, cardinal red

03/04/2025

10Scent 9Longevity 7Sillage

DKOH
43 Reviews

DKOH

2

Nova Scotia in winter

crisp bite of a freshly julienned orange pepper - still-in-use red leather wallet from a trip to firenze 15 years ago - encrusted pine sap - crunchy snow melting over dead grass and twigs - the always-on radio in the garage - snowsuits - poisonous red berries - coming in from sledding to a cup of hot chocolate - fresh wood for the stove

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