Yatagan (1976)
by Caron

A difficult scent to describe as it is so very unusual. Dirty comes to mind as does bitter in the top notes and herbal. There is an astringent amonia note that is also reminiscent of pepper. Think dirty underwear, fragrant wood chippings (pine) and a touch of lavender. There is no softness here or warmth - however there is heat and spice and edge. Yatagan is Magnificent in its approach, delivering a masculine that is unique and special. If you are a fan you'll be one for life. If you are not you may convert...given time. This is not an easy scent to like but it is a scent to love and love deeply.

My skin eats up fragrance, so i typically hunt for heavy ones that stand a chance of lasting long enough for a drydown. I was intrigued by the reviews for Yatagan, so I bought a bottle and squirted it on. What a surprise. No horrid notes. Nothing overwhelming. Just a very nice herb/ wood/ leather scent. It was fairly linear in the drydown, leaning toward sweetness at the very end. I could see wearing this fairly often, even to the office.

In all fairness, Yatagan gets points for not tilting the smell-o-wheel too far toward the citrus fruits, iris flowers and potpourri spices imbuing the majority of its allegedly masculine co-horts. I can appreciate a fragrance that doesn't attempt to smother me in hot-house gardens, grapefruit juice and sandalwood, but dark, dirty, sweaty, smoky or scary, this is not. Just another classic masculine that a woman can easily wear. Ho-hum.

Having worn Yatagan a few times (have bottle on order) - I have to say it is a very unusual scent. Some folks recoil since it is not "pretty" or "lovely" by any stretch and has a few notes that are downright unpleasant. In fact, I don't think you could use the words "pretty" and "Yatagan" in a sentence without the word "not" thrown in there and maintain any sense of artistic integrity afterwards. It is no mistake that the word Yatagan refers to a sword used by Janissaries in the Ottoman Empire - the elite, non-muslim, foreign born, expendable, shock troops of the Emperor. They LOVED their Yatagan (sword, not cologne!), and sometimes were buried with it and treated it in a similar manner to a sword owned by a Japanese Samurai. There is very little you can do with a sword to divorce it from its purpose - the purpose is un-pleasant no matter how many jewels are encrusted upon it, death-dealing regardless of whose name is inscribed upon it in gold leaf. I believe this captures the "artistic vision" they had when making Yatagan, even if "artisitc vision" is a bit over-the-top for this one.

Side note: I have noticed that some people are inspired to poetic lengths by some perfumes, and I really didn't understand until now. This one elicits a load of descriptions from me, my first one that has done this, though I do not find Yatagan even 1% pretty or pleasant any more than (wait for it!) a overtly masculine official from HR bearing down on someone with a pink slip informing them that "their services are 'no longer needed'" is pleasant or pretty - and yes I am comparing getting laid off to wearing Yatagan, but only if you are the one doing it. Is there no amount of hyperbole and poetic license I will forbid myself as I write this?

It does project power, and is very masculine in that it is not even one whiff or touch sweet. This scent will not attract others and make you the life of the party. It will make you seem like you have the authority to determine the life and death of your fellow man. I imagine Julius Caesar would have worn this as he crossed the Rubicon, Leon Trotsky might have dabbed on some during those fateful days in October 1917, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis both would have worn this when signing documents declaring the opening of the American Civil War in the 1860's. You get the picture - if you have a tough and powerful job to do - unpleasant and life affecting - this is your scent.

Now you may be asking "what does it smell like? Not what does it feel like other that it is not the least bit sweet." Well I don't think you can divorce the two, but in essence, it smells vegetal. Vetiver and Pine with celery. Almost, but not quite sweet at first then a crushed grassy-celery smell with a hint of all things mustard. It evolves into a touch of pine needles and pine sap (hence some comments about pine smell). And for me it remains somewhat linear only adding a touch of patchouli after awhile. But, you really ought to smell it for yourself. It is pungent for sure and seems to change upon each application with certain things emphasized and de-emphasized. And while one might catch a whiff of pine detergent - it isn't a clean smell at all.

I do think Yatagan is a very challenging scent, and would not be a daytime scent unless you are in charge of a large number of people (say more than a dozen), and even then you would have to be sparing with the application (I can only imagine the reaction to the sillage), and there is no shame if you don't like it, after all it is also projecting a unreconstructed 1970's idea of conservative powerful masculinity.

As you can see, it made an enormous impression on me. My wife found it disgusting. I didn't like it at first, but wore it to work anyway. As many scents have their uses, I think Yatagan has its use, and I ordered a bottle.

This is my first review for Basenotes. You can go ahead and flame. I am wearing Yatagan as I post this, after all.

Dear Yatagan,
I've written to apologize. It's just that last December I had much less experience. Things were happening so fast, I got scared. But that thing I said about minestrone under a Christmas tree, well, that was wrong of me, man. I didn't understand you in the context of 'leather' notes. I needed my space. The time with Mazzolari and Knize Ten helped, I know it hurts, but they got me back on my feet, you know?
And then this morning. Just wow. Please give me another chance.
YT, Strollyourlobster

I bought this a good thirty or more years ago while visiting
my parents in Montecito, California. It struck me as smelling
of the area, the eucalyptus trees, the sage, the dryness of
Santa Barbara.

It remains a favorite of mine - a fragrance devoid of sweetness,
makes a statement (not to everyone's liking). I think it must
have been off the market at one point because it was being
remaindered but it seems back in production.

It is in a category quite it's own.