Royal English Leather (1780)
by Creed

In reading all the previous reviews I have picked out several words which are repeated throughout, rich, round, smooth, vanilla, dirty, creamy, sweet, caramel, vanilla, buttery and musky. 'everso' is the only one to pinpoint the main element of this fragrance, ambergris! Real English Leather is a fragrance that is given all the qualities mentioned in the first sentence, and therefore ALL it's direction, by the ambergris that is present in abundance. It is of course genius in its obviousness, a soft and fresh leather can be described as having same qualities but it would be impossible for the leather to retain these qualities in a bottle. Ambergris substitutes and does this with ease. The resemblance to "urinal cakes" is uncanny when smelling the nozzle of the bottle and the first blast to the skin, but it soon dies off for those that may be concerned, and me, I quite like it. What I’m not thrilled about is the fecal note that follows the urinal cakes exit. From the start REL contains a powdery note that is hard to place. It is not until the top and mid notes die off that it can be seen to resemble the magnesium smell of talcum powder.

I've given my thoughts already on ambergris in my review of Angelique Encens and won't repeat them here. I will say though that I can tolerate it in small doses to 'round' a fragrance and give a 'creamy' quality to a blend of other ingredients. Here in REL it sits heavily in the base and has more potency than the other elements, as a result it turns my stomach slightly. Other reviewers have also stated that REL tames and becomes soft, yes that's true, as all the other notes disappear one by one the ambergris is left standing to the bitter end.

Agreed it will read like I don’t like REL and it’s true that it’s just not for me. That said it is indeed gloriously unique and will make a bold statement for those that can stomach it and choose to wear it. It’s also genius how such a vivid and fresh leather fragrance can be created without necessarily including any leather.

My personal favourite masculine leather (I don't count Aramis as I believe it to be more than a leather fragrance). The mandarin in the opening is beautiful on it's own. Possibly one of the few times i've got a fruit in a scent that actually smells like the real thing. It isn't a case of "that smells *like* a mandarin" but more like "that smell *is* a mandarin." At first I wasn't sure how the fruit would sit atop a leather because I thought it may smell a bit sweaty or off, but it lends the scent a deliciously mouthwateringly refreshing and juicy angle. Plus, it actually lasts on my skin, which is normally not great with citrus - I can still smell the mandarin note after 6 or so hours.
The rest of the frag is an ever so slightly powdery amber leather that isn't overly sweet and is ever so slightly salty. Very confident and luxurious, but comforting at the same time. I probably wouldn't wear this in the heat of summer, but as an evening or formal scent, it works very well. It is not a "dominatrix" leather or a dark and brooding leather, but a proper sweet, strong, warm, pleasing and ultimately highly wearable old fashioned masculine fragrance, without anything cloying. I had a couple of samples of this before I decided I was going to buy a bottle of this, and in the end I managed to snag a nearly full bottle from BN. I was slightly worried I wouldn't know when I would wear it, but it was simply too beautiful to not purchase it in the end.

Longevity and projection are amazing - 18+ hours on me and it can be smelled (nicely) from afar. It is on the strong side, so caution should be used when spritzing. For this reason, I don't like Creed atomisers a whole lot as I feel their jets are too much for all but their aqueous frags, but the bottle is a real beauty. If you want a high quality formal leather which is neither overly sweet, stuffy nor overbearing, i'm yet to try a better one. I need more thumbs.

Very well put together scent. Heavy at first, but dries down to what it is, A rich and luxurious MANLY scent. The leather hides well behind the mandarin. It has very good staying power, but not too much sillage. Overall it is a masterpiece and should be sported by confident, masculine men who prefer to smell like men. Do not look for florals here!!!

Arguably the most luxurious, sensual scent in men's perfumery. I'm surprised there are so few reviews. Something in leather works was being crafted for the upper class swashbucklers in the 1780's. This one's a masterpiece.

I tried this perfume with a respect to its heritage, but smells worse than I expected. For god sake, it was very heavy at the beginning, but nothing after an hour. :)

This scent to me can be best described by the following analogy: Much like a model T-Ford, it is a relic that may be interesting to look at, but has no practical use in todays world. REL smells EXACTLY what I would imagine perfumes smelled like in the 1700's. Its strong, and smells pretty raunchy...like pungent urinal cakes. Smelling it made gave me a stomach ache. Unless you have a super refined sense of smell to appreciate the most subtle of notes (which i can't), you will agree that this would not be a scent you want to wear in public.