Charro (1989)
by Charro

Woody, herbal and spicy with a floral heart. Traditional in execution this one is a typical smell from 80's, very masculine and with a classic structure: citrus-green top, floral middle, woodsy-resinous base. The classic bitter-sweet strong smell is set by the combination of spicy-herbal elements with floral-resinous others. The note of pepper is prominent and featuring are cedarwood, vetiver, lavender, tonka, oakmoss and leather. This link creates a bitter, herbal, smoky base which is sweetened, but not subdued in masculinity, by a bunch of flowers as jasmine, geranium and others. A touch of labdanum plus leather imprints an hint of final suede to the blend. More than decent longevity and projection.

8th April, 2011.

Reveived a bunch of samples of this from an Italian specialist in discontinueds where I bought my Balenciaga Portos and a few other gems.
Evidently, Charro never made the grade, remained a local phenomenon or was quickly forgotten, which perhaps says something about the level of quality the perfume industry had achieved in 1989. For while this is in many ways a typical 80's scent (but so is Portos) it is an excellent composition with quality ingredients. Spicy, I particularly like the shimmers of pepper, subtly floral, just enough sweetness, soapy-clean feel from the carnation and coriander. Clearly a child of its time, but not as dated smelling as a whole lot of other 80s stinkers. And without wanting to bore you with the "laudatio temporis actis" rants of an old fogey, this forgotten beauty does have more class, creativity and costly ingredients than at least 20 designer releases from 2006 combined (thinking YSL homme here, not Terre d'Hermes or Varvatos Vintage, which are winners IMO)

21st January, 2007.