Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
01/10/2024
DrB1414
148 Reviews
DrB1414
Helpful Review
2
The Marvelous Hussar
Here is such a well-hidden little treasure that I accidentally discovered and remains still one of my best blind purchases. A project from Terra Hungaria when they decided to launch a small collection of perfumes inspired by Hungarian folklore and commissioned talented perfumer Csaba Balint to create them. Black Huszar, inspired by the Hussars, a form of light cavalry, originated in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The perfume is very complex and overall, feels like a Leather-Fougere with strong equestrian qualities, some agrestic nuances, and a few Oriental original touches. A very unique scent.
The opening is invigorating and deeply satisfying. A combination of juicy, sweet citruses and raspberry, sage, and lavender. It smells like fresh lemonade mixed with natural raspberry juice juxtaposed to the bracing aromatic qualities of the lavender and the sage. It feels like a standard fougere opening, however, the way the citruses are used together with the raspberry makes it unique and different. I love the opening, and I am someone who struggles with fougeres, to say the least.
The heart is where the equestrian theme unfolds. A sweaty leather accord, like a saddle that has been ridden for too many days, and the addition of hay to go with that picture. There is also another major element here, the orris. It is dense, and buttery, giving a nice creamy texture to the leather. The raspberry and the lavender continue to push through the heart, even the lemonade accord, faintly in the background. I love how the raspberry note pops in and out. It is a very well-done accord that smells so natural, unlike most of them, and it barely scratches the surface, it never screams for attention.
The base takes an unexpectedly Oriental direction, yet very subtle. Instead of going completely off the rails, it slowly warms up with some vanilla, smokey resins, and wood. Like the Hussar who is dreaming about riding over those desert dunes instead of crossing them. And still, the previous stages, perpetuate into the base, creating at this point a packed and complex olfactory experience. The perfume unfolds like a snowball. It accumulates as it progresses and it holds on to what it has gathered along the way.
There are so many brilliant technical touches from Balint in this composition. The way he manages to sustain, like the most skilled orchestra conductor, all the top and middle notes well into the base, the way he only subtly makes use of unique and atypical accords (like the raspberry, the smokey resins) to present a Fougere structure, the quality of the composition from start to finish, and the loyalty to the brief while expanding so much ahead of it. It is a brilliant creation in all aspects. Perfumes like this need to be made available in larger amounts, as they are too good to be kept secret, and deserve to be shared.
IG:@memory.of.scents
The opening is invigorating and deeply satisfying. A combination of juicy, sweet citruses and raspberry, sage, and lavender. It smells like fresh lemonade mixed with natural raspberry juice juxtaposed to the bracing aromatic qualities of the lavender and the sage. It feels like a standard fougere opening, however, the way the citruses are used together with the raspberry makes it unique and different. I love the opening, and I am someone who struggles with fougeres, to say the least.
The heart is where the equestrian theme unfolds. A sweaty leather accord, like a saddle that has been ridden for too many days, and the addition of hay to go with that picture. There is also another major element here, the orris. It is dense, and buttery, giving a nice creamy texture to the leather. The raspberry and the lavender continue to push through the heart, even the lemonade accord, faintly in the background. I love how the raspberry note pops in and out. It is a very well-done accord that smells so natural, unlike most of them, and it barely scratches the surface, it never screams for attention.
The base takes an unexpectedly Oriental direction, yet very subtle. Instead of going completely off the rails, it slowly warms up with some vanilla, smokey resins, and wood. Like the Hussar who is dreaming about riding over those desert dunes instead of crossing them. And still, the previous stages, perpetuate into the base, creating at this point a packed and complex olfactory experience. The perfume unfolds like a snowball. It accumulates as it progresses and it holds on to what it has gathered along the way.
There are so many brilliant technical touches from Balint in this composition. The way he manages to sustain, like the most skilled orchestra conductor, all the top and middle notes well into the base, the way he only subtly makes use of unique and atypical accords (like the raspberry, the smokey resins) to present a Fougere structure, the quality of the composition from start to finish, and the loyalty to the brief while expanding so much ahead of it. It is a brilliant creation in all aspects. Perfumes like this need to be made available in larger amounts, as they are too good to be kept secret, and deserve to be shared.
IG:@memory.of.scents
3 Comments
BertolucciK
