Royal English Leather (1781)
by Creed

I give this a thumbs up for a few reasons..

1. It is a wonderful STUDY scent to experience the likely makeup of perfumes of the past - truly powerful and pungent, and thankfully today more refined.

2. It is a wonderful style of leather, though more about the tannery (and its ambient smells) than perhaps the leather product. The leather is more honeyedl/urinous/chemically softened - even floral, and far closer to Chanel´s Cuir de Russie than both brighter (fruity/powdery) or darker (cistus, civet, labdanum) and, to my taste, superior alternatives like Knize Ten, Morabito's Or Black, or Xerjoff's XJ17/17 Homme.

3. It has been discontinued. So we will no longer have to hear all the BS (regarding the historical fiction surrounding its release and its significance over centuries) from an overrated/priced house unbable to maintain any consistency to their fragrances of the modern era.

I feel like Royal English Leather was what it is - like it or not. Polarizing, bold, sensual, projecting, suffocating, and deep. It was good, and I´m glad I own it. Just think! As it would take 10 lifetimes for me to wear it - its glowing history can last another 250 years in being passed down through my non-royal family!

28th January, 2012.

Wonderful Royal ambery fragrance of the Court. The first blast is immediately bar of soap, laundry powder, honey and liqueur. The british factor, the Creed's trademark (i'm talking about a mélange of hesperides , honey, soap, aromatic tree resins, powdery woods and talky fresh vanillic amber-but which is the secret?-) is remarkable throughout the journey and the journey is not so long since this kind of smell doesn't evolve too much after the first minutes. Where is the leather? The last lurks discreetly since the first blast but is balanced and a bit governed by amber. Something bright, cool and slightly aromatic whirls in the ambery-leathery air,  something that smells like clean and whiped hotel room of the old city, in reminiscence of fragrances as Cuir de Russie Piver and some Ecoudray. The note of tangerine is obviously notable since the beginning as well as an honeyed and creamy kind of density whose some reviewers talked about. A pillar of classicism, still contemporary over more than a century, epitome of absolute class, masculinity and conservative distinction.

24th January, 2012.

It really does open up with a blast of a urinal deodorizer block. It develops into a dry, realistic leather scent with a bit of sweetness underneath and then see-saws between the leather and a mothball scent. Strangely, I kind of like it because when it does come together, the leather is quite convincing.

24th December, 2011.

Surely among my favorites in the Creed's range. RIL basically strikes as a smoother (and much expensier) version of Knize Ten. Soft leather and amber in a perfect blend that's rich deep and completely satisfying. Surely much more easily approachable than the Knize due to its mannered presence. Very Good.. Me? I stuck with Knize.

4th November, 2011.

Not sure if this being the scent of Jack the Ripper makes it really all that much better of a fragrance, but I still like it all the same. I wouldn't wear it, its an OLD scent. You smell it and can tell that it is OLD SCHOOL. I still appreciate it for what it is. It is in no way offensive, and I'm sure back in the 1700's this stuff was a specter from the gods.

2nd October, 2011.

This may be far beyond my years, but to me this is nothing like leather. It is a sweet, linear, almost intoxicating watered-down fake cherry smelling creation

15th May, 2011.