Minotaure (1992)
by Paloma Picasso

In a sculptured with caftsmanship bottle  this far better version of Roma Uomo is an olfactory powdery-vanillic equivalent of the joy of life with its blend of orangy and rosey-aldehydic amber and woody vanilla. The initial sharp link of hesperides, aromatic herbs, rosey bath soap, lavender and aldehydes introduces a traditional classic kind of starting a bit old school and soaring in the air with a flying  long projection. The orangy and floral smell starts soon to smooth in a mild-woody amber-vanilla base that remains discreet and balanced becoming finally a bit powdery, mossy and leathery but never cloying. The note of geranium manteins a certain level of sharpness while the jasmine in its link with balsams and orange embodies a sort of rosey smell that  on the side of orange flavours the final suede. I agree who with writes that Roma Uomo is a more sweet, synthetic and simplicistic kind of scent that lacks that sort of retro and barber shop floral-lavender-herbal more discreet kind of complexity. Because of Minotaure's distinctiveness, moderation in powder and balance i find  more similarities of genre with fragrances as Japuir or Patricia de Nicolai's New York than with The Dreamer, Pi or Le Male ( while the gourmand fragrances are a very different genre from this with their tasty-edible notes). A well appointed ambery-oriental with a mature fruity-herbal temperament, a certain level of survived sharpness and a joyful floral soul.

5th October, 2011. (Last Edited: 15th November, 2011.)

A nice woody oriental with a bit of fruit and some booze, almost like our friend Zino skipped his sour topnotes and then got drunk. It has a little of the cherry aura that I get from Dunhill (2003) and a few others. Unfortunately it's weak, and my vial is tiny so I don't feel like going for broke with it. Still, I can tell that the wood is the licorecey, aged, thickly varnished sort that you get from things like Tommy Bahama; it's just not as unpleasantly resinous to me as TB. The basenotes on my fingers are a lot more vanilla-focused, which is nice, leading to a closer kinship with Zino. What's strange, though, is I could have sworn I was blown away by this stuff when I tried it before, that it was exactly how I like my spiced woods to be done, but I may just be confusing it with Nemo. I could do without the cherry and licorice, but since they recede a bit in the base, I'll begrudgingly give this a thumbs up.

30th May, 2011.

definitely a signature perfume, and probably the inspiration for later joop! pink juice.. quite present, pretty original, spicy and warm as hot!! liked it in a way

29th May, 2011.

Though not unique by any stretch of the imagination, Minotaure does what it does better than most fragrances attempting to do the same. It is sweet and spicy, oriental and powdery, naughty and nice. There is no question the star of this show is the drydown, that is sugary but not too sweet, a bit zesty, and completely delectable. In my opinion it is a more mature, grown up version along the lines of a Le Male…less “sequined shirt in a dark club downing well drinks”, more “buttoned up shirt at a sit down dinner sipping top shelf.”

2nd March, 2011.

Bleah! This is the perfect kind of scent that give me nausea. Too much vanilla in contrast with some spicy thing that make it stink to me. I bought it blind in 1995 I think it was, sprayed a couple of times and then put away from me.
Warm and spicy, too much vanilla and sandalwood not well combined together.
It reminds me to another owful scent: Roma by Laura Biagiotti.
Avoid avoid avoid

6th January, 2011.

Such a nice sweet, woody composition. When I tried it, a thought struck me - ˝I have too much of fragrances and I need to finaly make a selection of what stays, and what goes˝. I don't know why that thought struck me, but this scent had its part in it. This one will definitely be in my collection.

1st October, 2010.