Lumberjack

In a world where everyone wears classic “blue” fragrances, which to me smell like any random sports shampoo, I see myself as a stubborn provocateur when it comes to perfumes. After years of trying to follow the mainstream and finding pleasure in those universally popular scents like Sauvage, Armani Code, and all the others that have dominated the TOP20 in every drugstore and contributed to a uniform general smell in discos and clubs for years, I must sadly admit that I simply do not like them and cannot wear them.

This led to a growing desire within me to swim against the current so as not to be one of those dead fish.
Since TF Tobacco Oud has been my signature scent for over a year and the discontinuation of its production has been troubling me for the past two months, I have been intensively searching for an alternative “In your face” scent.
It should be affordable, but different and provocative.

I liked GGA back in 2017, but at that time it was too much for me, and I wanted to please the girls, not scare them away.
This time I dared to test it intensively on my skin.
My God, it smells so good. Provocative, rough, masculine, simply different.

GGA is, for me, the outlaw among perfumes. Extreme niche for little money (I got it on sale for a mere 40 euros for 90ml).
You smell completely different from the mainstream. This scent has nothing sweet, fresh, or citrusy.
Just leather, wood, and a bit of whisky and smoke. A scent that you must wear with a lot of self-confidence.

For me, it is not a scent for a casual leather jacket and biker boots; that would be too much of a cliché.
Like TF TO, this is a scent for a suit, for a shirt, for more elegant outfits. You may stone me, but it works fantastically.

Perhaps it is also because I live in Eastern Europe and here the women seem to be particularly attracted to a lot of masculinity, but the scent brought me, just like TF TO, consistently positive, almost enamored compliments.
For me, it is an absolute aphrodisiac for a man (25+) with a lot of self-confidence and a certain “aura” of an educated alpha male, a lone wolf who has everything under control, always knows the answer, and despite his animalistic demeanor, is a certain gentleman.
This image of a man, tall, masculine, elegantly dressed, who enters a room and silence reigns, admiration and awe fill the air, that’s the kind of scent it is. You are provocatively different, but not in a banal way, rather thoughtfully and elegantly.

A strong gasoline and whisky accord for me in the first 15 minutes, which transitions into a leathery, woody scent and loses the leather over the coming hours, replaced by subtle herbs.

Not a blind buy, not a scent for skinny, short guys with little self-confident aura; this scent would be as out of place on such a man as CK One would be on me.

After I fell for OL16 by Tom Ford, Tuscan Leather, and also Oud Wood back then, I had decided after extensive research that I was no longer willing to spend so much money on perfumes.
Alternatives like Rasasi LaYuqawam showed me that you can have great scents for half the price.

However, my common sense did not account for the fact that I would discover Tobacco Oud.
And at an unbeatable price. I couldn't help it, I had to have it, because this scent, as much as it initially repelled me on the testing paper, I fell in love with it on my skin.

A fragrance that I don't need to describe further, as it has been extensively covered by other colleagues.
Yes, it smells like tobacco, yes, it has a bit of a funk (at first). Yes, Oud is weakly represented, yes, you can perceive the amber and the whisky strongly at the beginning.
I. WANTED. IT.

This fragrance is not a "I want to please everybody" scent.
No. You have to wear this fragrance with confidence. With a good dose of "I don’t give a F*ck".
Either the people around you will love the scent on you, or they will hate it.
And no matter which way it goes, you should be completely indifferent to what others think of the fragrance.
Yes, such an attitude is needed for Tobacco Oud.
A scent like a real man, straight out of the textbook. Almost cliché for a man.
None of those soft, pampered pretty boys with full-body hair removal.
This fragrance requires a certain sprezzatura. Confidence 11/10 is definitely a prerequisite.
TO is for a man who sits in a suit, smoking a cigar and drinking whisky in a lounge.
Or one who rolls up to Wall Street on his new Harley wearing a black Saint Laurent leather jacket.
A CEO scent as some write here. Yes. But not an ordinary CEO. Not a CEO in professional life. A CEO in private life. A leader who exudes that alpha leadership quality. Just an alpha lone wolf who is not influenced by the opinions of others.
But definitely not for the classic show-off who wants to impress everyone and is always in the spotlight.

That's what kind of scent this is, controversial, not an everybody-pleaser.
But it doesn't want to be either.
Gloomy, dirty, smoky, controversial, just damn awesome.

As a fragrance novice, amateur, pup, and beginner, I will write my first comment on this scent.
About me: I fell in love with the world of fragrances in 2016, as my desire to smell unique grew stronger.
I have developed a love for heavy dark woody smoky and leathery scents and also discovered TF private blend for myself.
However, I am increasingly put off by the thought of spraying thousands of euros annually.
In short: I discovered Rasasi La Yuqawam and had it on my wish list for over a year.

What happened today feels like my birthday, Easter, and Christmas all at once.
Almost like winning the lottery.

In my adopted home of Poland, I was strolling through Katowice on this snowy, windy January Friday and intended to sit in the mall with a coffee to warm up before work.
My standard procedure of first hitting Douglas, then Sephora to test fragrances, I almost mindlessly went through, nearly blinded by habit.
Ah, nothing new, the old boring scents, TF too expensive, rest mainstream.
Almost angry with myself for wasting precious minutes each time in the gullible hope of finding something new, I continued walking and to my surprise saw a new store.
Notino.
Hmm, let's take a look.
I was surprised. Amouage testers, Atkinson, Black Afgano, and more.
And there I saw it: Rasasi. La Yuqawam.
Almost euphoric like a child impatiently waiting for their gift, I sprayed a burst on my wrist.

I was overwhelmed. Raspberry and smoke. Still burning wood and raspberry. Nothing more.
Disappointed, I left the perfume shop and went to have my coffee as usual.
But after 10 minutes, I dared to sniff my wrist again.

WOW, THIS IS REALLY NICE.
What can I say, I went straight to Douglas, sprayed TF TL on my other hand, and waited.
I even approached people in the mall, asking which one they thought was better.
Unanimously, everyone confirmed that it was indeed the same perfume.
Old is my skin, but I really feel hardly any difference.

The raspberry dissipates, leaving a subtle sweet note, leather takes the wheel. Lots of leather. Just how I like it. Along with subtle wood and smoke notes. A hint of jasmine. I don't smell anything more, and that's enough for me.

So I went back, immediately bought the bottle for 70 euros, and am now a proud owner and FAN of this scent.
It smells so unusual yet seductively warm and masculine with a suit; my secretary and several colleagues asked today what I was wearing that smells so unusually great.

I can also imagine this scent with a black leather jacket in spring and autumn or at cocktail parties in the evening with a blazer.
I will definitely wear it to my colleague's Black Tie wedding, thus this scent has pushed Tobacco Oud from my number 1 spot, especially since TF TL was in second place and the price-performance ratio here is simply unbeatable.