Sandalo (1995)
by Lorenzo Villoresi

Sandalo doesn’t smell too much like sandalwood. Instead it presents an angular synthetic dry wood accord that’s marred by harsh, sour off notes. The development is dominated by a bitter vetiver which rests upon a crude, aggressively chemical woody foundation. This is a loud fragrance with none of the suavity or depth I associate with sandalwood. Not one of Lorenzo Villoresi’s best offerings, I'm afraid.

Sorry to buck the trend here, but I find this juice unwearable. There's nothing about it I like....and I like sandalwood, but not this mess. This is aoud-like, dirty and austere and just downright unpleasant.

I've worn this 3 times now and I will never like this fragrance.

As usual with a Lorenzo Villoresi fragrance, Sandalo begins with an explosion. Its primary character in its opening is probably accomplished by the rosewood / lavender combination – quite aromatic, and, to my nose, developing an aoud-like quality. I do find the combination of rosewood, lavender, neroli, and rose a bit reminiscent of the original Ungaro III (the ORIGINAL Ungaro III, not the inferior recent re-issue). Sandalo’s opening certainly is potent, and the rosewood accord stays around for a long time. I would guess that I get the top and the middle notes together, all at once, because I can immediately identify most of the top and mid notes, and because the first accord lasts a very long time. In fact, the strong wood notes substantially destroy my ability to appreciate the floral notes of the middle because the florals stay very much in the background. With the drydown, the fragrance considerably quiets down, finally, to a full, rich sandalwood skin scent – about as good of sandalwood note as I’ve experienced. I originally thought that this fragrance was short lived. But I’ve found that this is another scent that quickly tires my nose. The sandalwood comes back when I leave off sniffing for a quarter hour, and then try it again.

Since I don’t get the clarity of the opening and mid accords that others get, but instead I get a basically undistinguished and undifferentiated rosewood accord that overwhelms, I'm tempted to vote a neutral, but the drydown is too good for that.

This is quite unique - a very dry sandalwood. When one thinks of a sandalwood cologne, one thinks of a rich, warm, amber-escent creation (Floris, Trumper, Caswell's Sandalwood and Tricorn), but this is sirocco sandalwood. Quite unique.

From Villoresi- top notes are rosewood, lavender, petitgrain, orange, lemon; middle are labdanum, Bulgarian rose, Neroli, Sandalwood; base are Vetiver, Amber, Oppoponax and Oakmoss.

To my nose the fragrance begins with a resinous rosewood, soon replaced by dry cedarwood, then a subtle rose, to be finally followed in about two hours but the dry sandalwood, which is long-lasting,as are all Villoresi's.

This is the 8th Villoresi I have tried and all but one have been winners. For the subtleties and uniqueness of this sandalwood, I rate it high on the chart.

Tam Dao notes: Rosewood, Cypress, Goa Sandalwood, Ambergris

I know this is a review of LV Sandalo, but my initial impressions of it were "A Glorified Tam Dao!!". Upon closer inspection and comparing it with Vanuatu and Australian Sandalwood EOs unveiled deeper intricacies of these mysterious "mysore" wonders.

Sandalo features a copious heart of Rosewood while Tam Dao's first half is an excercise in hitting the senses hard with a forceful Cedarwood note. It is important to understand what Rose/Cedar wood smell like, and to not confuse them with sandalwood (which happens a lot). Rosewood has a floral-sweet smell with hints of spiciness while cedarwood smells woody and "pencil-shaving like" with hints of smooth sweet warmth which is quite "sandalwood" like. As previously mentioned, Sandalo hits hard with rosewood. Initially, the excellent notes of lavender and rose do a coital dance over the underlying layer of rosewood - after a few minutes, these two notes merge and bring forth the rosewood heart in naked display. I believe that it was a design decision to use lavender and rose inconcert with rosewood to amplify the rosewood accord (a mix of lavender and rose can smell a lot like rosewood). The rosewood persists for a while before the drydown introduces amber and patchouli to "smooth things out". In the case of Tam Dao, the harsh pencil shaving cedar gives way to a somewhat similar drydown - the rosewood intermingles with ambergris to give birth to a sweet creamy accord.

I am not a scent guru by any means, but these are my observations: Both Sandalo and Tam Dao smell a lot like Australian sandalwood to my nose. Theres nothing wrong with that - the sandalwood down-under may lack the medicinal depth and "magical aura" of the mysore oil, but it is a fine sandalwood blend in its own right (and easier on the nose if I may say so). Sandalo's drydown smells the closest to the Aussie blend to my nose - its less sweet and more "tart" than the aus santal. Sandalo may disappoint if you are looking for something close to the mysore oil mixed in with the composition (although none of the fragrances duplicate the mysore smell very well - Santal Imperial perhaps comes the closest). However, by all other accounts, Sandalo succeeds. The pairing of rosewood/sandalwood with a host of other uplifting and meditative notes like lavender, lemon, rose and neroli give it a certain brightness and spark. If Tam Dao left you wanting more, give Sandalo a try. While I much prefer Santal Imperials less cluttered but more accurate blend, Sandalo is worth seeking out if you are on a journey to find your HG. It may well suprise you.

The most meditative fragrance I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Perhaps as close to a holy grail as I will ever come, and this quite literally: warm, comforting, tempering, fortifying, Sandalo is virtually a pocket-size religion. The spiritual dimension and ritualistic importance of several key ingredients support this bold claim. I find the sandalwood to be an immediate presence here and the oils grouped around it serve to emphasize its calmly uplifting woody sweetness rather than the harsher, pungent aspects equally latent in this mysterious Mysore wonder. You will find very different sandalwoods, but none better than Villoresi's intellectual and emotional masterpiece.