Salvador (1992)
by Salvador Dali

Balanced and dignified -- a gentleman's scent of some excellence. Superbly blended. Slightly animalic in the opening, but nothing to offend. Not sweet, but certainly not dry. Very sadly discontinued -- this is easily one of the best compositions the house has produced.

27th October, 2010.

Salvador is a nicely composed woody Chypre in the Rocabar vein (although it's not trying to be a copy of Rocabar by any means). Unlike other reviewers, I found it to have quite adequate sillage and tenacity. It is a cedar-centered fragrance that never veers into the pencil shavings territory, nor does it move completely over to the sweetened-woods side of Carven pour Homme. It is a well-balanced, somewhat dated, but charming and quite wearable scent. I can think of many other scents that should have been discontinued besides Salvador.

22nd February, 2010.

Firstly, I am compelled to preface this 'review' of sorts with a cautionary disclaimer...lest you embark on any errant exploration into the whimsically abstruse, or stray from any untroubling, concrete, literal objective:


Whilst searching the annals of my archival juvenalia (literally, this time), I stumbled upon an old friend in a mysterious, redolent cut-glass phial: ‘Salvador’.

As it was quite unexpected to revisit such a staid, elegant fragrance (Associations made with Dali are to the puckish pioneer of vanguard Spanish Surrealism!), I headed to the London Library to conduct some research. I thought to share my discoveries, as it has helped me to understand ‘Salvador’, both as a gorgeous, posthumous tribute and as the triumphant culmination of an intriguing, six-year-long mission:

Flashback to 1968:

The setting: London’s Twickenham Studios. Dali, whilst filming a Lanvin chocolate commercial meets unlikely fan and soon-to-be deep friend, Sir David Niven, then spearheading the London chapter of the ‘Idiosyncratic Moustache Anti-defamation Guild of England’ (IMAGE). The two cult idols’ friendship and camaraderie deepens posthaste, in their quest to be understood not only as ‘artistes’ and as arresting visual presences, but also as …gentlemen. Eventually leading Dali to inaugurate Spain’s own “Ibericos Mustaches Andaluzos a Gastar con Esperanza”....

Indeed after Sir David Niven's tragic death in 1983, and Dali's subsequent ventures into the olfactory realm, Dali swore vehemently to create for 'El Comte' (as he affectionately referred to Niven) a grand, and flawless fragrance, worthy of Niven’s dashing, well-formed and indubitably "respectable" personage.

Sadly, Dali died in 1989, just two years shy of seeing his vision's completion...

Step up Alberto Morillas, the master perfumer appointed to creative direction of this endeavor by Dali himself in the event of His death, and devotee of the threadlike ruff of Niven. After two years of grueling exploration into Anglo-Iberian notions of gentlemanly worth (for a more in-detail account of the ‘gentlemanly arts’, please refer to the my review of ‘Eau Sauvage!) as well as the unified passion and swagger of these two great deceased legends, ‘Salvador’ was born. A surprisingly understated ovation to two dashing, albeit gentlemanly, peacocks among men. And a restrained, yet deep nod to the gasconade of a devilish moustache!

2nd November, 2009. (Last Edited: 27th February, 2010.)

Gross. Made my friend turn into an agressive jerk the minute he put in on.
Smelled like a used car salesmen.

11th September, 2008.

the bottle is truly a masterpiece, large pebbled glass with a very deep indent of the bottle to come. Frostings and raised signatures. The juice? Totally inoffensive and forgettable. Almost zero sillage and longevity that you can time on your second hand of your watch. I'm glad I have it. It satisfies my collectors urge.

2nd June, 2008.

This is a review of Salvador, by Salvador Dali, the one in the conventional bottle, as pictured on this page (just to avoid confusion). Pretty good stuff. I can't say it's my favorite fragrance ever, but it's pretty unoffensive, smells well-done. It starts off very "Italian" to my nose, and the topnotes bring with them an: "oh no, it's the cologne guy" reaction in me. But soon enough those fade and it mellows out. Citrus and woods, with the woods and vanilla becoming more apparent as it dries. Something about the base reminds me of Rocabar. It's good, versatile, pleasant, but not great.

10th June, 2006.