Some perfumes just smell nice (or otherwise). Some evoke particular emotions or associations. And some conjure up very concrete, very definite images. Nouvolari belongs in this last category.

I had no idea who Nouvolari was before reading the blurb about this release (he was a racing driver), but even without that information, it would be easy to picture the scene. This smells of petrol and tarmac, of oily grease and metal, of fumes and sweat and smoke and leather. Mixed in amongst this is a sizeable dose of spearmint, and sparse citrus and rose.

This is the sort of scent that shines outdoors on a cold, still, crisp winter's day. It still smells pretty amazing as an indoor scent, or on cooler days. I would imagine this wouldn't appeal to everyone, it's not a crowd pleaser, but it is incredibly evocative. I loved it, and it proved absolutely worthy of a subsequent full bottle buy.