Reviews of 1881 (1990)
by Cerruti

This is my second blind order. The first one was Gucci pour Homme II and 1881 is my second. While I am really delighted with the Gucci, I am totally disappointed with 1881. Smells like my grandfather's something, old barbershop, tasteless, old, blatant, old, lack of refinement, old, lack of moderation, lack of everything and screamingly OLD, OLD, OLD! Now there's no doubt it's been made in 1881, and I thought it was just a name, what a stupid I was! Seems like a random mix of many incompatible contents, like a child trying to make a perfume... My first impression is: cheap fly killer from the far past. Man, nowadays even fly killers smell ways better! What a luck I've ordered the 25ml only!

The first time I bought this was in Southern France with my (then) French girlfriend. I really wasn't too keen on it, but purchased it because she quite liked it. However, it never really grew on me. A few years later, I foolishly purchased another bottle of the stuff whilst in Madrid - I thought I'd give it another chance. Bad decision! How relieved I was when I finally managed to finish the bloody bottle...

The problem with this fragrance is that there's nothing special to make it stand out, among the myriad of fragrances currently on the market. To be honest, I preferred Eternity For Men than this (and that's saying something). Oh, and the bottle design is so ugly!

On paper, 1881 by Cerutti looked promising: herbal heart tones and woody base notes. On me, it has a tired, dusty-stale smell. I find it to be bitter and irritating.

Wow, what a mess of greenery! Lots of green, herbal notes with a few sharp florals tossed in. I thought maybe it would dry down nicely, settle, and smooth out, but instead it just got bitter and harsh. Didn't work at all for me.

Too heady for me - all those vibrant herbs just rips and shreds my nose unmercifully. I`m trying to forget that I spent money on it. I`d better stay with Nino Cerruti Original.

I don't know if there is any other fragrance brand except Cerruti, where I really dislike ALL launches up to date. Just like CerrutiSí and Image, 1881 is an unfinished blend IMO that doesn't know where to go. It never settles down to something harmonious or balanced, just a bunch of soapy, woody notes plus a completely unnecessary rose accord that bounce around each other leaving the wearer uncomfortable. Try Bulgari PH for a brilliant take on a similar idea.

Aquatic-fresh citrus fragrance with a touch of fir. Meets you with transparent morning freshness. Then appear some sharp green forest notes and it lasts, lasts and lasts... Not bad at a distance, but close to my particular skin it smells just like slapdash made heap of various ingredients. Awful headache-green freshness. Guess it could be really good as an air freshener. So I do not wear it, just smelling it from time to time.