Venezia Uomo (1995)
by Laura Biagiotti

This is one of my favourite manly italian fragrances, a scent that conjures the languid and decadent atmospheres of the nineteenth century in the floating and crying city of Venezia, a sense of void after a death.  Venezia Uomo is decadent and mysterious as a baroque palace full of fires and candels, as a carnival's mask, two obscure eyes under a hood that stare you with an hypnotizing power. The fragrance is a spicy oriental averagely dry in its alternance of angular nuances of hesperides and greens. It's not deeply ambery, creamy or mellow but just slightly powdery of sweet spices, lavender and tonka. The decadence is properly set by a baroque initial connection of hesperides, aromatic greens, spices, (i detect cinnamon and cloves), patchouli and lavender with the floral luxurious wake of nocturnal  jasmine, vague rose and sinister flowers of graveyard. The note of lavender adds powderiness,  a touch of water in a first stage and woodsy  breeze later ( flanking a central aromatic note of fern) while the jasmine is deep, lushful  and melancholic. The alternance of flowers , fruits (grapefruit?) bergamot and citrus (orange and lime) is simply stunning and dramatic. The dry down is delicious but sharp with a central cedarwood and with its minimal touch of balsams (amber, vanilla, benzoin?) in the middle of tonka and woods. Each element is in a perfect armony with the others and the oriental-other age feel is basically made of the combination of hesperides, lavender, a royal patchouli and tonka. The combination is dry but changeful, sweetly spicy, wintery, deep of nocturnal flowers  and deliberately retro. Venice is gelid and tears flow down from its eyes.

11th October, 2011. (Last Edited: 12nd October, 2011.)

Released in 1995, Laura Biagiotti’s Venezia Uomo belongs to a tribe of spicy-sweet woody orientals, including Héritage, Nicole Miller for Men, and Jaïpur Homme, which followed Nicolaï’s New York in offering an alternative to the antiseptic aquatics of the period. Like New York and Héritage, which it most closely resembles, Venezia Uomo came relatively early in the cycle, before A*Men, The Dreamer, Rochas Man, Le Mâle, and Pi led their woody oriental kin down the sugar-coated path to gourmand territory. In common with Héritage, Venezia Uomo relies more on woods, spices, and sweet citrus notes than chocolate, licorice, or vanilla for its effect, and hence feels more “grown-up” and sophisticated than its dessert cart contemporaries.

Venezia Uomo opens on a beautifully rendered sweet bergamot top note that slowly gives way to a rather elegant blend of floral and spice notes over a smooth sandalwood and powdery vanillic amber foundation. So long as the bergamot and floral notes persist, the composition remains gratifyingly poised and balanced. That poise breaks down a bit once the base notes are fully exposed. The concluding sandalwood and cedar accord smells disappointingly harsh in the wake of the finely tuned middle notes, with a chemical edge that the intensely powdery amber can’t quite blunt. If the elegance of Venezia Uomo’s first hour were sustained into the drydown I would rate it very highly, but given the way its development plays out I’d recommend New York, Héritage, or maybe even the sweeter Jaïpur Homme EdP instead.

22nd December, 2010.

Bright, very bright opening. Still manages to be well rounded. The rest of it goes from there. The first impressions set a very nice tone for the Venezia.
Wood and a bright opening don’t always work together too well/subjective/. Here though, the woodiness is layered in a way hard to resist. On paper, the Fern appears to be the odd choice. I can smell the overlapping of Jasmine/Fern note with the sandalwood. It makes it beautiful and builds a deeper base for the finish.
The whole experience is based on early morning sunshine gathered with a walk in a forest around four in the afternoon. It can easily be a staple for the Mediterranean. But not quite, because it holds much more in terms of deepening the aspect, on which most easy going scents depend on-the obvious departure from the really heavy basenotes/ha/ used in perfumery.
By any means Venezia has depth, so much of it, delivered in a very bribing way. It omits the need for being too straight forward in the final approach to your nose. Sometimes if you misplace the edges you don’t get a sword, but a trident.
I’m not the kind to get hyped up, because it’s been discontinued. This one however is so refined, it’s hard not to “stock-up”. When wearing it, is needless to worry about “the right occasion or circle”. It will only reflect your preference. This is what matters, at least to me.
Venezia is much stronger than appears. The silage is outstanding, longevity-more than enough.
Personally, this must be the best Laura Biagiotti. I love Roma Uomo, but Venezia is outgoing, easy, and at the same time, deep and luscious.

4th November, 2009.

Fantastic scent especially for colder seasons. Its very sharp, sweet and warm scent. Highly aromatic oriental woody juice. Shares an obvious similarity to Lalique Pour Homme, although this one has more lavender to it, and it`s a bit more sweet. Good lasting power with superb sillage.

Glowingly warm fragrance that I used to wear alot few years ago during the freezing winter months. It made me feel really good. Venezia Uomo will always have a special place in my heart.

11th November, 2008.

High lavender notes with a low grumbling cedar/woody note. Aromatic woody scent, I'd say. Sandalwaood and lavender, yup.

6th September, 2008.

While the female version is an exquisite, but slightly heavy Oriental, this one is surprisingly fresh and more one the aquatic side. Airy and discreet citrus notes, even a touch of salty, humid air. Pungent and astringent up to the point of being antiseptic yet much lighter than Roma Uomo, a scent which i also love, but which may not be as light and easy to wear like Venezia Uomo.

21st April, 2006.