Reviews of 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.

Its sweet,clingy and one of those perfumes you feel should have heritage based on the fact its been here since 1780. I detected sweet fruit notes. Trumpers Spanish Leather is a better and far cheaper option

I'm lost here. I can smell any leather in REL. It's just pungent artificial hints on the top, white flower and aliphatic components. REL, indeed, not a leather fans lover, but it really gives me something to think about: "how about to spray this on a cat?"

REL in adj:
Level 1: artificial
Level 2: plague
Level 3: corpses de mai

this is NOT a leather scent....it's just an amber scent...and it's crap! Shame on you C***d....again.

Creed REL is the "cream" of leather scents. While I prefer Knize Ten, the differences between the two is substantial and each has its specific fine qualities. Knize, a prior review says "is raw teutonic" leather. REL by creed is clearly sumptuous and opens with mandarin, powder and floral scents. For the first few minutes it is two sweet for me. Afterwards, the sweetness dissipates, and a drier, mandarin powder leather scent emerges, as if Knize had mixed in. I consider this an evening scent, very long-lasting, and a little more sensual (no-a lot more) than it's Knize brother. I agree that is is clearly one of finest scents ever made. It has clearly withstood father time. In this sense it is ageless. I give this fragrance two arms up. One comment I have, not previously made. I can see some androgeny is this frag, and the right woman can pull this off!

While this fragrance is definitely Creed heritage -- what colognes would have smelled of 200+ years ago -- it's far too pungent to even consider for daily use in this century, much less last. The initial spray is far too strong, and the die down strikes you as feeling very cheap. It has all the character of a men's room urinal cake, and not in a good way. If you use any amount at all, use it sparingly or you'll quickly clear a room. There are better fragrances from Creed that leverage the heritage, Tabarome Millesme chief among them, Green Irish Tweed following a close second. REL is best left as a strong component of Creed's past, but it's far from contemporary and best as a history lesson.

One of my favorite Creeds, Royal English Leather is an example of how a fragrance can be very simple yet still quite interesting. On me it starts out smelling like cheap, orange flavored cough syrup, but this quickly fades away and reveals a well balanced leather that is clean yet still pungent and, well, "leathery." Also I would note that this smells much different if I spray it on my shirt. There the mandarin notes persist well into the drydown, making the composition too sweet. Unlike many other fragrances I have, I only spray this one on my skin.

My one and only Creed, and I'm very happy with it. The leather notes aren't like those in any other fragrance I know of, though they are closest to Knize 10. The initial burst is that of a musky, dirty orange-type note that is balanced with white florals. It's not overtly citrusy, but it clearly has a citrus sharpness. REL dries fairly quickly into a very clean, smooth, and 'fresh' leather accord. There is a chypre-like powderyness/muskiness that balances the strength of the leather accord, and as the orange note fades, what remains is the strong, clean leather base. I find the leather note to be far more realistic, and rich, then that in Creed's Cuir de Russie, which I find to be a leather fragrance that 'hints' at leather as opposed to smelling like leather. REL manages to be clean and stately without being stuffy or only comfortable to wear in formal settings. As it should be, REL lasts on the skin for a long time, and a morning application is still enjoyable upon returning home from work.

In the grand scheme of leather fragrances, REL is near the top. It's more realistic, but less fun, than HL Cuiron. It's not nearly as powerful as PG Cuir d'Iris or as genuine as Knize 10, but it's far more of a true leather fragrance than any of the 'leathery' fragrances such as Bel Ami, Derby, Kelly Caleche, Cuir d'Oranger, or even Cuir Maureque. Within the world of Creeds, this is one of their lower-priced fragrances, and as far as I know it's not one as prone to the ravages of time as other Creeds can be. If you're a fan of leather fragrances you must try this.

I wanted to like this one, especially because of the heritage behind it, but I just couldn't.

I don't detect any leather notes at all. The top is dominated by mandarin and then it dries down to a fruity, powdery base.

Smells remarkably similar to Knize Ten, considering the price difference if I were to buy one it would be K10.

Was not the leather scent I was (and am) searching for.

If Knize Ten is all gasoline, Teutonic sweat and raw leather, then REL is all gorgeous tanned leather (saddle quality) and beautiful English florals. Creamy and snobbish and luxurious stuff -- I can easily see how it's weathered two centuries plus.

Creed Royal English Leather. I bought it blind based on the glowing reviews and my curiosity for a leather fragrance. While I've had disappointments with blind buys in the past, none reached the magnitude such as this. Let's just say; this is the only fragrance that I got rid of within a day of owning it.

It's a leather fragrance alright, very very fresh leather. So fresh that it smells like a freshly slaughtered horse. Upon first sniff it has an effect similar to burying your face in the cavity along with the entrails and taking a deep sniff/snort.

There's something about REL that literally had a vomit inducing effect on me. I tried to let it grow on test strip and my arm but the same nauseous odor persisted. No matter how much an acquired taste it can be, if it stirs my gag reflex, there's absolutely no way I can wear it.

I've sampled alot of controversial fragrances and I do wear such ones as Yatagan and Kouros with frequency but Royal English Leather marks the limit for me.

A rich and somewhat sweet leather of great depth and presence, yet also very civilized. My wife describes it as “clean riding tack,” and I won’t disagree. Royal English Leather doesn’t seem to develop too much on me, but why should I complain, since the accords it holds are so appealing? Deservedly a classic among leather scents, right beside Eau d’Hermes and Tabac Blond.

It was on my first visit to Les Senteurs that I met and fell in love with this beauty. I had never considered a leather scent before, but when James, the SA, said he thought I might like this, I wasn't going to argue. A wise man, is James. I expected something dry, old fashioned and a bit fusty, but REL is none of these things. It is warm, rich and well-rounded, with enough sweetness to take it out of the purely masculine bracket. My first Creed. My first leather.
Reader, I bought it.

Recently I asked six friends (three male, three female) to rate nine fragrance samples on me (mostly Creeds). This was their overall favorite. Does anyone besides me think it smells like violets?

A sweet, oriental leather, not of the birch tar variety. Do not expect a dirty, challenging, cowboy leather, but a regal potion oozing nobility, crawling into every crevice of a throne room like some rich, dark golden, olfactory honey, forming a shimmering luxuriant aura around its wearer. Bend your knee indeed. A gentle, rather than zesty, fruity top, creamy beige-rolls-royce interior leather, and the oriental caramel sweetness of a fantasy Taj Mahal-India. Indeed, the year of its creation, 1780, saw the second Mysore war of the British in India. Strange coincidences.
This opulent yet absolutely lucent fragrance smells of pre-democratic, pre-capitalist Old Europe (in the nice part of town, that is). I’m not surprised it was created just at the time when democracy and capitalism started taking off seriously (it was reformulated in 1805). Mr. Creed must have known he was creating a fragrant preserve of the old order. While I’m with Tom Paine politically, the winner in the aesthetics department is the ancien regime, or rather, the English constitutional monarchy. Royal English Leather deserves six stars for having aged so very gracefully, for its abundant but not overwrought luxuriousness, for being a monument to the idea that quality may transcend epochs and their fashions.

On a personal note: this was my first Creed, and smelling it caused an olfactory epiphany that assured my abiding interest in this house .

A richer and creamier leather than Cuir de Russie, but not in a very good way. It shares the sharpness of CdR, what I thought was the birch note, but the very artificial citrus note is sweeter and more prominent throughout. The result is weirdly musty/musky/fruity and not at all pleasant.

Far be it for me to dispute with Pluran, but I quite like REL. Is it worth twice the price of Knize Ten or Chanel CdR? Well, no, but as a scent in general it seems every bit as interesting, especially with the much needed tangerine opening that helps to keep it from being too dry and flat. I wouldn't pick this one as my only leather scent (if I had to, that would probably have to be Cuiron), or the Holy Grail of leather scents, but it is certainly a necessity in rounding out the collection of a leather fan, especially if you can find it at a decent price.

The depth and ultimate complexity of this wonderfully rich deep fragrance is quite breathtaking with an unmatched level of sophistication. Consequently, it’s no surprise it’s been around for over two hundred years! Royal English Leather is truly elegant, confident, masculine and virile, it starts with a deep mandarin orange top note and then gradually evolves to demonstrate base notes of dark rich leather and a suggestion of succulent tobacco leaves and jasmine. It smells utterly delightful for a fine leather/tobacco fragrance. Specifically, it is deeply complex but with an underlying fresh potency and seems to last forever.

Notes:
Top: Bergamot, mandarin
Heart: Jasmine
Base: leather, oakmoss

Leather perfection in a bottle.

Unlike other various leather scents which feature ghastly & raw interpretations of leather, the leather note on display here is perfectly balanced - just the right amount of rawness, pungency, and smoothness. The leather base is integrated with the superbly blended combo of a mandarin top and a jasmin heart resulting in a rich otherwordly vibe to this potion.

Royal English leather is potent, powerful and perfect. If leather scents have scared you off your hide, Royal English Leather will draw you back in. It is history in a bottle. It is leather perfection in a bottle. All other pretenders should kneel down now.

I bought this without trying first, thinking it would be a noble dry leathery smell. I like scents like spanisch leather, blenheim bouquet and hugh parsons.
Royal English Leather for me is much too obtrusive, even in the smallest quanities. The overly sweet, caramel aroma overwhelms everything, is present from the beginning and never disappears.
Very much too sweet... I can´t really wear it, a waste, pity...
I will try the Cuir de Russie by Creed, may be that will be more what I am looking for.

My goodness...I just tried this and during the first 15 minutes it smells exactly like bathroom freshener to me - in a very bad way. (similar to urinal cakes). It is beyond me why anyone would want to smell like this.

Royal English Leather is a truly remarkable fragrance which is peerless among leather fragrances. It is historic, elegant, and powerful. It declares sophistication and confidence. An excellent choice for daily use or more formal outings.

This is pure fragrance heaven!

It's classy, comforting, warm without being overwhelming, sweet without being cloying, special without being freaky and it has a gentle 'dirty' note lurking underneath all of this.

10/10!!

This smells like a men's urinal deodorizer. The dry down mellows that out and it is more bearable, but that jirst impression sets the stage for its whole longevity...which is longer than desired...unless you just love this stuff. Not me...I will pass.

To me it's like the offspring of Daim Blond and Knize Ten. Sweet and fruity topnotes, which retreat into the background as the scent develops into a smooth leathery accord. Unlike Knize Ten, the leather note in REL is fresher like it was just cured and polished. It stays bright and never heads in the aged, pungent direction that Knize Ten goes to. It's great if you like fresh leather scents that aren't too rugged or macho.

The only reason why i don't rate it negative instead of neutral is the respect or serious perfume lovers that enjoy it, for its illustrious wearers. But i expected a more complex and less unilaterally heavy scent, I thought that kings had much higher standards. Well, this one is just leathery and smoky all the way, with no drydown, no evolution, no surprises. It smells quite similar to KLnize Ten, but while Knize is only at the beginning far too leathery and dark, but gradually and discreetly evolves into finer, more elusive balsamic, spicy, floral and chypre touches, this one is far too oily and soapy, and, to be more accurate, like oil or soap with an excessive( and actually only, single) note of maybe not cheap but too strong smelling tobacco or incence- no matter how high quality it might be, it is far too raw, too direct to be truly pleasant or balanced. Dark, heavy, stodgy and that's about it.

Easily my favorite leather dominated fragrance. I think it is because it is not too dry like a lot of other leather dominated fragrances. It’s a strong fragrance so you want to be careful not to over apply, but it also lasts a long time. I usually get at least 12 hours. If you like good rich, freshly tanned, well oiled leather this one is hard to beat.

Rich, deep, but not too intense. Nothing sweet or cloying (see, e.g., Vintage Taborome). Subtle, complex; the sort of thing you want to keep smelling to try to figure out. My only gripe is that I'm left with a powdery edge to it after a couple of hours. By the way, a great way to compare a number of Creeds is to get a selection of sample sizes on Ebay from seller "786hoodas". Very inexpensive.

Fascinated by the 226 years gone since this scent first tickled someone's nose, and encouraged by the reviews here, I bought REL blind.

Oops.

Oh, it's pleasant smelling, in tiny amounts, yes. But give yourself a good spritz, and wow, a cloud of caramel envelopes you.

1780. Isn't that before bathing and general cleanliness became widespread? That might explain why this fragance of yore is so heavy.

On me, REL billows out relentlessly, such a heady stench. Longevity? OMG, you can't even wash it off.

Is this the most powerful Creed ever? REL certainly offers a potent example of the house note.

Rich, round, unique and surprising, it's class in a bottle. Hands down my favorite Creed, and I usually don't dig leather scents that much. There is nothing else like it, a masterstroke of complementary fresh top notes and deep, warm leather. A Classic in the best and purest sense of the term.

To me, this is, with one and only one exception, the last word in leather perfumery.
Everything else, and the list of pretenders ranges from the fine to the abominable, can be safely dispensed with.
What is the one exception? Tabac Blond.
Get these two, and pull the shutters down on the leather section in your collection.
Just one friendly warning: Use them in the absolute minimum quantity, a couple of drops only; anymore and you'll just be a tannery without the bad smells.

Rich, robust, sophisticated, exceedingly lasting. Royal English Leather is a remarkably brilliant fragrance. It is elegant, confident, and virile: It belongs with the tuxedo as well as the shooting habit. How could one scent be so adaptable in purpose yet be so unique? How can one scent be so old and yet so right for today? How could any one scent be so totally perfect? …And to think I almost skipped this because I dislike leather fragrances...

If you want a leather scent, this is perhaps the best there is. It is pure unadulterated leather so fresh that only Creed does it best. The mandarin opens up in the topnotes as the buttery leather shines through. It is like no other leather I have smelled and exemplifies the best quality and craftmanship. I also love the history of the fragrance. I love the house of Creed and as this happens to be the first creation which happens to smell wonderful, it is a must own!

The perfect leather scent - sweet, rich, buttery, long-lasting. This is the scent that turned me onto leather scents and was an amazing surprise. A wonderful mandarin orange topnote freshens the opening. One of my favorite Creeds.

PERFECTION!! the only way to describe it.

In my view Royal English Leather stand well apart from other leather scents. Not necessarily because it is so much better (though it is my favorite leather) but because it seeks to replicate bridle leather and not the coat/chair/briefcase leather of other fragrances. The mandarin top note keeps it fresh. I also love the history attached to this fragrance, adn it does smell as if it comes from another time. Highly recommended.

A rich and well done scent. As stated by the above review, the leather does not dominate, as it does in Cuiron or the others mentioned. It dances with Mandarin, and probably vanilla and cinnamon as well. A unique scent unlike any others I've smelled. It's history in a bottle.
The bottle is the traditional Creed bottle, clear and elegant. The cap has the House of Windsor crest.

The emporer of leather scents!! The fragrance does not dominate in leather, but has some more well-rounded characteristics that simply blend extraordinarily well with the leather notes, which round out a very pleasant and smooth drydown. A very potent scent that is certainly not an everyday scent, yet certainly knocks the pants off other leather scents like Trussardi Uomo, Bel Ami, and others.