The name doesn’t lie, this truly is an exceptionally majestic leather scent. It opens very bright initially with a sweet jammy rose and softly fruity osmanthus, before developing a dry and smoky tobacco to contrast this floral brightness. From here you begin to experience the deliciously intoxicating combination of smooth, powerful leather with sweetly sticky dried fruits. This compliments the tobacco and florals perfectly, with extra touches of sweetness from vanilla and a subtle darkness from oud. This is one of my absolute favourite evening wear fragrances. It’s fantastically luxurious and attention grabbing - by far the best from the Armani Prive line and it’s really disappointing that this is so hard to find nowadays. This is a must try for any leather enthusiast.

I believe EO Green is now discontinued but I’ve only recently acquired a decant of it. I can see why this got the axe, I find it absolutely revolting. That’s not because I’m “inexperienced” or “unaccustomed to high grade natural materials”, it’s purely down to the fact that this composition of notes simply do not work well together. I pick up an incredibly luscious, dry and addictive combination of smoky oud, castoreum and incense, but this is completely ruined by the other notes. The sharpness of the yuzu mixed with the waxy sweetness of tuberose and lotus makes the scent smell like toilet cleaner. Combine this toilet cleaner accord with the dark, dirtiness of the other notes and it genuinely does smell like public toilets. The materials are obviously incredible quality but this is simply a bad mix of notes, horrible smell! Ensar has far better offerings available these days

Semi Bespoke No. 14 is one of the few Roja ouds that actually smell like oud - this is noticeably dark, animalic and bold, not his usual style at all. Upon first spray you’re blasted by this woody concoction of dry cedar and earthy oud - this earthiness is elevated with a heavy dose of patchouli which continues throughout the life of the scent. There’s a strong green and damp element from cypress and vetiver, which makes you feel like you’re walking through a dark forest after a rainstorm. This is overall smoothed out by touches of cashmere and sandalwood, with a gentle spicy sweetness coming from saffron in the base. I get strong Encre Noire vibes from this due to the powerful cypress/Vetiver combo, obviously this is far higher quality though. For those who love dark, earthy ouds then this might be the Roja you’ve been searching for. It’s a fantastic scent but personally it’s just not my style.

There is no hiding from the fact that Basso is heavily inspired by Terre D’Hermes, but it also does its own thing (which is more than can be said for Oligarch/Isola Blu). It almost expresses some Chypre qualities which is very interesting. The scent is dominated by the exact same combo as Terre D’Hermes - a juicy, rindy grapefruit and earthy vetiver. However here, the earthiness of the vetiver is magnified by oakmoss, whilst the grapefruit is softened and contrasted by thick florals of labdanum and carnation. Personally I would still choose the original Terre D’Hermes, but if you wanted a much earthier and floral version of that scent profile then this is a great option.

Originally created in 1892, this scent is inspired by a Japanese princess who left the Victorian Court in awe with her elegance. This fragrance definitely translates that oriental elegance - it’s gentle and subdued, but not lacking in character or interest. A refreshing opening of juicy bergamot and a kick of pink pepper pave the way for a heavy dose of mate tea - this is softly green and earthy, with gentle steamy qualities. This is very well balanced with whispers of indolic jasmine, resting on a woody fir base. This is a very enjoyable scent overall, however I find it quite linear and lacking a sense of journey or development. The story behind the scent comes through but it’s missing some heart, I would love to be able to smell the original 1892 version. I think for the price Clive Christian is asking for, this is definitely not worth it.

When I first spray Woody Leather, my mind thinks of only one thing - Tuscan Leather. It’s an inescapable truth that this scent is a riff on the Tom Ford classic, which is unfortunate as from the notes I was hoping for this scent to have a lot of potential. This has the exact same thick, cloying, jammy leather accord as Tuscan Leather - except here the overall scent is more tolerable with the absence of raspberry. The saffron is amped up to replace that sweetness but it’s still not as sickly as the Tom Ford. As you can probably guess I really don’t like Tuscan Leather and so I don’t like this scent either, although I will admit it’s a more wearable version. If you love Tuscan Leather then this is redundant, if you can’t stand it like me then avoid this fragrance.

Dead of Night is a gorgeously regal and sophisticated yet dark and animalic oud fragrance. Straight away I notice the sweet metallic tang of violet leaf, which contrasts beautifully with soft rose, jasmine and tuberose. The florals in here are not overpowering at all - the rose doesn’t come across jammy and the white florals don’t come across like thick soap, they’re perfectly balanced. In the base, a dark and brooding, smoky oud takes the stage supported by a touch of sweetness from a subtle vanillic amber. I would argue this is actually one of the safer options from Strangelove. This isn’t an unusual array of notes and it’s not particularly challenging, but nonetheless the high quality of ingredients and masterful perfumery is obvious. This is a fantastic fragrance and even though I’d still choose Fall into Stars over this, I definitely want a bottle of Dead of Night.

Carine surprised me - it’s not a brand I was familiar with and this is the first and only scent I’ve tried from them. Initially it opens up with the most wonderful rose and patchouli combination - the rose is dark, crimson and slightly jammy whilst the patchouli is slightly earthy and deliciously smooth. As you can tell I absolutely love the opening on this one, but unfortunately after a couple of minutes this lovely accord becomes dominated by fairly typical white florals. For me, this flattens the overall scent and leaves it smelling quite boring in a way - it would’ve been fantastic as a classic rose-patch combo. If this fragrance was linear from its opening and continued that deliciousness, I would have bought a bottle of this straight away. But unfortunately, the white florals let it down for me and so this is not a love overall.

Amber fougere to me, would have been better named as Oriental Fougere - I don’t get much amber from it. It opens refreshingly pleasant with bergamot and lavender, providing that typical fougere element, before a large array of pepper joins in: white, black and pink pepper stimulate the senses significantly. It’s from here that a sweet, resinous freshness creeps in coming from the elemi and frankincense, leading way to a very polite vetiver and touch of incense. Unfortunately I don’t get much more from this scent, before it soon dies down on the skin. This is a pleasant enough fragrance, however I find it to be rather mediocre overall. It’s incredibly overpriced for what you’re getting - it’s very gentle on the skin in my opinion and doesn’t have much character to it. It’s simply a fairly simple and mass appealing pepper affair with fougere qualities to it.