No 25: Birch Tar and Russian Leather by Meleg Perfumes

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No 25: Birch Tar and Russian Leather Meleg Perfumes 2020

8.2 / 10 51 Ratings

A popular perfume by Meleg Perfumes for women and men, released in 2020. The scent is smoky-resinous. The longevity is above-average. It is still in production.
Pronunciation Compare

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Main accords

Smoky

Resinous

Leathery

Spicy

Animal

Fragrance Notes

Castoreum

Birch

Birch tar

Tobacco absolute Benzoin

Benzoin

Cedarwood

Peru balsam

Vanilla absolute

Perfumer & Creative Guidance

Matthew Meleg Brand owner, Perfume maker

Ratings

Scent

8.251 Ratings

Longevity

8.045 Ratings

Sillage

7.644 Ratings

Bottle

7.639 Ratings

Value for money

7.112 Ratings

Submitted by Anessa, last update on 05/18/2025.

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What the fragrance is similar to

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Reviews

4 in-depth fragrance descriptions

05/19/2025

8.5Scent 10Longevity 10Sillage

Irisfauve
38 Reviews

Irisfauve

Shalimaresque RL

This take on Russian leather leans into a Shalimar-style vibe : rich, heavy on the vanilla, and rounded out with a dose of castoreum. Fun fact real luxury vanilla ice creams actually use castoreum too, giving them that subtle, animalic twist without ever going over the top.

The blend here is gorgeous. My only small gripe? I don’t really pick up much leather, if it’s there, it’s very soft and understated. Instead, you get a whisper of delicate florals in the background and some bright aldehydes right at the opening. But really, it’s the vanilla and castoreum that steal the show, wrapping everything in this warm, sexy allure.

And the performance is Absolutely outstanding.

10/03/2020

10Scent

FrauHolle
556 Reviews

Translated · Show original

FrauHolle

Top Review 26

It Smells Like Trouble

CAUTION! ATTENTION! WARNING! WARNING! Wrong content in newer batches!
Yes, sorry, Mr. Meleg, but people here MUST be warned about this (before you?).
A very similar wrong content rumor is also stubbornly circulating about your cat perfume.

Quickly the facts: Had an old sample, THX, Aquamonza (but please leave him alone now, he wants and should keep his 20ml), ordered Birch Tar, Ori. in/from Vancouver, received nonsense, something that REALLY SMELLS NOTHING (in numbers: 0) like tar, complained, SUPER ACCOMMODATING and NICE got a new/new batch that SMELLS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AGAIN! WTF!?!?!?

MELEG, WHAT IS GOING ON WITH YOU!?11!?

Once putting the wrong label on the bottle by accident can happen to anyone.
But this is a double faux pas, and cannot and must not be taken so lightly.
All of Europe is now warned with this comment. I will delete it as soon as you have the correct formula back, or the birch tar, or have found yourself again.

About the scent: So if you manage to get the very first, correct bottle, then it really smells great; Namely, just as it says, like birch tar, a bit of leather, sweetly rich interpreted. (It can't be that hard).

What a pity, I would have loved to have it and would have loved it.

05/30/2020

8Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Chizza
362 Reviews

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Chizza

Top Review 19

He just wants to play or: the calm after the storm

My wife is usually very tolerant when it comes to scents; until today, she never said that a fragrance was too much. Of course, she doesn't appreciate every scent, my favorite Egoiste doesn't resonate with her. But at least she likes an Antaeus or an Interlude, which isn't popular with everyone. Only once did it become too much for her when the kids, just like me, chose Interlude.
The present Meleg product has therefore managed to attract her displeasure for the first time because I smell like not one, but many incense sticks with it. While putting the kids to bed - I was on duty today - she remarked as she was leaving, "the poor children." I preferred not to mention that our son sometimes likes to play Zoologist (Dino play has to be realistic) or generally some Amouage (he likes smoke and pepper, thinking he smells like a nicely seasoned chicken).
So a potential purchase is off the table, but let's talk about the scent. In fact, it starts out very smoky, but not smoky like incense; it smells of the birch tar that gives it its name. It's a dirty smoke, a lung-invading smoke. Who knows what kind of tobacco is being referenced; possibly the reject product of the Russian answer to Roth-Händle.

Now this extreme yellow smoke dominates until a fine tobacco note sneaks in, so it's definitely not Roth-Händle. Very bright and gentle, you hardly notice that there is a person in the dense smoke lighting a cigarette. Judging by the smell, it's not the gruff lumberjack but rather a self-assured yet elegant lady. The fine vanilla component likely contributes to this. You notice it very subtly. For comparison: take Memoirs of a Trespasser, smoke everything repeatedly, shorten the vanilla, and that’s the result.
Gradually, the benzoin blooms, becoming intensely balsamic regarding the smoke and soon sweet. However, it remains resinous, so this won't be a cuddly scent, especially since this brightening is accompanied by the strict birch tar like the big, clumsy brother keeping an eye on his delicate yet strong-willed sister while walking through the forest.

If I had to name an image for the scent or the stage it is currently in, it would be a crackling campfire that is still slightly smoking. Sniffing at your own clothes corresponds to the scent, which one must like. But I also think of comfort, campfire romance, or at least relaxed gatherings around the campfire. Because the sweet notes of the fragrance almost invite this, the scent is now more balsamic-soothing. Birch Tar and Russian Leather eventually fades out like the mentioned campfire when the last ember goes out and the last smoke is blown away by the wind.
A truly wonderful scent, rarely have I experienced such a good olfactory staging of vanilla plus smoke. This is now my second encounter with Meleg, and this time he has convinced me. Unfortunately, I am out of the purchase as can be inferred from my introductory words. If that weren't the case, he would now be on my list.

03/08/2020

9Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Floyd
574 Reviews

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Floyd

Top Review 27

A Cabin on the Kamchatka

I meet Evgenji in front of his rundown cabin on the Kamchatka in the far east of Russia. On the horizon behind the forests, snow-covered mountain ranges and monumental volcanoes rise into the sky beneath violet shimmering clouds. The air is crystal clear and bitterly cold. Evgenji is wearing a once-white shirt that now shines with dirt, old baggy pants, muddy boots, a hunting rifle, and an untreated bundle of bear skins.
He bursts into loud laughter as I turn away from the entrance to his wooden cabin due to a fecal animal aroma. It serves a brown bear to rub its behind at least once a day, he says, holding open the door to his dwelling, which is covered in fur scraps. I quickly slip past him into the narrow, warm room. Evgenji closes the door, keeping the anal smell outside the cabin. Unwittingly, I breathe in the aroma of the dark, coarse leather that fills the ceilings and walls of the room, shimmering black, herbaceous, wild, and warm. Beneath it drifts the faint scent of the ethereal smoldering charcoal in the fireplace, where Evgenji pokes with a birch stick, sending a few greenish glowing sparks into the dark smoky room, while with his left hand he strokes a beaver that gazes with bright eyes into the embers.
A few hours later, Evgenji sits down next to me on the old leather sofa, drizzling some medicinally sweet benzoin resin into the cigar tobacco, which he then packs into his pipe before holding a glowing piece of wood to the bowl. I hear it crackle softly and watch as the sweet tendrils of warm vanilla magically marbled the embers of the fire, peruan balsamed in tiny cinnamon sugar crumbs. Above it all, the leather now flickers quietly.
**
"Birch Tar and Russian Leather" comes across as much more wearable than the name and ingredients might suggest. The balance between the coarse leather notes, the birch tar wood smoke, the later sweet resins, and the medium-brown tobacco seems, aside from the fecal top note, which fortunately dissipates quickly, to be consistently within a wearable range. The longevity is about eight hours, and the sillage is initially arm-length, then moderate.
However, everyone should inform themselves and form their own opinion about Meleg's methods in producing his perfumes (keyword: use of animal raw materials from ethically run farms)!

(Thanks to AdAstra72)