Reviews of Cumming (2004)
by Alan Cumming

I experienced an episode of instantaneous recognition when I first smelled Cumming: take Olivia Giacobetti’s Dzing!, pare away the vanilla candy to isolate the pungent barnyard and riding boots accord, and you’ve got Cumming. Or something very like it, at any rate. Where Dzing! uses sugary vanilla, Cumming employs smoke, tobacco, and dry aromatics to set off its intensely animalic leather. The resulting scent is more than a little raunchy, but never crude. References to cigars and whisky in descriptions of this scent are accurate, but the unabashedly animalic accent keeps Cumming far from the stuffy men’s club territory occupied by Vintage Tabarome and Baladin.

While Cumming is by no means weak, it does wear close to the skin, so I doubt those beyond arm’s reach will detect it easily. Lasting power is adequate, if unexceptional, with a mossy wood and leather drydown setting in after four to six hours. Lovers of animalic leather scents like Montale’s Oud Cuir d’Arabie or Eau d’Hermès ought to give Cumming a try. It’s just as bold and distinctive, but less loud, and hence easier to wear. Very good stuff.

“Base notes of leather, peat fire, highland mud, burnt rubber and white truffle ground the scent with rugged sensuality, while the core notes of cigar, heather, Douglas fir and rubber contribute to its sharpness. The fragrance is completed with spicy top notes of bergamot, black pepper, Scotch pine and whiskey.” (from Cumming website)
I’ve included the product blurb in order to probe the issue of hype versus reality. At the outset, I can say I kind of like this scent; however it is very different from what the ingredients or the promotions suggest. This is not a rugged romp in the moors, nor is it an industrial noveau scent à la Comme des Garçons. It is a soft, coy, almost pretty scent and... depending on one’s perspective, a bit precious. I tried Cumming because I am interested in anything containing pine. That, plus all these oddball elements, intrigued me. The opening is not “spicy.” It is unusual, I struggle to categorize it but would call it toasty-nutty-gourmand. At times it is a bit like marzipan (sweet almond paste). The core is not “sharp.” Tiny, tiny micro-bits of pine might be there, to freshen the scent. Also there’s a very mild whiff of a distant cigar. At times there is a briny, creamy aspect. The dominant element in the middle is heather, a light floral scent. Finally the base does not have “rugged sensuality.” It sits very close to the skin, and is subtle and low-key. It lasts a couple of hours. I don’t think this would offend anyone, and it might smell quite nice on women. Really guys, there is nothing macho here so don’t expect otherwise.

This is without a doubt the most interesting scent I have ever come across. Simply put, it is extraordinary! I agree with some others, the opening is a bit much, but when it starts to really work its magic is about an hour later and much longer than that even!! IT was amazing to me the number of positive comments I got on it!! People most definitely knew it was not your “run of the mill” stuff. Another thing that was really obvious, it truly does react with body heat. Just when I thought it was pretty much gone, my body heat went up (jogging after work) and it started emanating again, but even more! It never really left, it was sort of dormant. AMAZING, nothing else even comes close to it (that I have come across yet)!

One thing is for sure, it lives up to everything that is said about it. Believe the hype! A new classic. Great job, Alan and thank you, Christopher, for “Cumming” up with this masterpiece. Highly recommended!

Yes it is very unique and very weird in a good way. Normally, it would be a tossup in whether to splurge for a bottle, but below average longevity makes it easier for me not to buy.

I do wish other houses would be as daring in creating an unorthodox one like Cumming. I love the mud/dirt note, just wished it lasted a bit over 4 hours. A hesitant thumbs up.

Like the man whose name is on the bottle, this frag is execptionally weird.

It starts out extremely strong and harsh, so much so that it was a little off-putting at first. As the fragrance dries down it morphs eloquently into a cacophony of odd, yet delightfully pleasing notes.

Definite "try before buy" fragrance. If you do try it, don't judge it from the first spray or even on the card. Spray onto your skin and let the notes blossom.

This smells like NOTHING I've ever smelled before. Which makes me like this even more. After this I'm definitely checking out some of Christopher Brosius' fragrances.

My one qualm is with it's longevity. The longevity is somewhat above average, but perhaps it's not as long as I'd like (~24 range). I wish this was an EDP instead of EDT.

Alas this an exceptional frag, Top 5 worthy, and may be one of the few fragrances that I add a spare bottle to my collection.

The leather accord was the first note to stand out when I tried this scent. At the same time I experienced the bergamot and peat moss scents. I expected this scent to be more harsh but it is much more refined. While it is somewhat masculine, a lady could also wear it to invoke the imagery of a beautiful home and manor in Scotland (or even anywhere in the UK). I appreciate the unusual combination of scents and this lady is not afraid to wear it proudly!

A beautiful tour de force of a fragrance. First of all Cumming is cunning because in the opening there is a kind of tension analogous to something in the odor of semen! The same contrasts of sweet, salty, antisceptic and dirty found in our precious "essence" as Sterling Hayden called it in Dr. Strangelove.

Discovering this and marvelling at it, I nevertheless thought at first, could I possibly wear this stuff? And the answer is, "yes you can!" Ironically, it evolves from something so avant garde into something quite nostalgic, very very masculine. A locker room smell of powders to combat athlete's foot. In fact I verified this by happening upon almost the exact same scent on the foot of a man who told me he used an "old school foot powder called Dr. somethingorother's". In this way, it reminds me a bit of Obsession, which always had a locker room accord in it, but a different one than what we find here.

Alarming, uncanny, then beautiful, sweet, clean, sexy and jocular. And though it's water based, the longevity is quite good.

Bravo Alan Cumming and CB!!

This one just may be a new quirky masterpiece. It is a most dignified melange of dirt, peat moss, mushrooms and old leather. It may be thought of as the cutting edge answer to old scents like Creed TABAROME.
I do not get any of the "naughty" elements sometimes ascribed to this frag; instead, I get an English rugby team in June of 1917... leather, earth and tobacco.

I tried this one a few days ago along with some others. This one was really interesting. A very different and very masculine scent. I might take this one up later and try it as an experiment. It is both smokey and has an aroma of dirt. I dont know if it is very wearable. That is the only downside to it. But since it is very different I will give it a thumbs up anyway.
benb

Wwow, just wow! It was such a long time since I smelled something truly original. This has Christopher Brosius' signature written all over it, that is, it's closer to obscure gothic perfume oils with ingedients like grave loam and brimstone than other niche perfumes. The thing is, when Brosius makes them they're not dense and dark and heavy like those oils. It has the same watery or airy quality as his own line which makes it more refined and wearable. But I do smell Highland mud very clearly, and that's not something you find in any old niche perfume. Mud, a touch of bitter vetiver, some scotch... After a while it develops a sweetness too.
This is definitely not the strong, macho cigar and whiskey scent the notes and tounge-in-cheek marketing hints at. It does suit the bottle design though. It's light and airy like a walk on the moor in clear weather, the mud clinging to your boots and the faint smell of smoke and whiskey from the gentleman's club clinging to your woolen sweater. Need I say I love it?

This is my first review so be kind....I love this scent. It is eccentric and counter-intuitive in many ways. First off, how can I persuade you that a mix of old ashtray and spinach overtones can be worthy?

But they are and they mix together with pleasing longevity to give one the sense that one is in the an elegant old library, immersed in the leather of old books as a single-malt scotch decants and the cook is wilting spinach in the kitchen.


I tried a sample last year and was so enamoured that I purchased a full bottle. It's got panache and style and perhaps is derivative of Cumming's Scottish background. His father was a forester at a country estate and this fragrance is very manorial home, very gentleman's club, very Proustian for me.

I got a bottle of it, mainly as a joke. But after giving it a try, I find I really enjoy it. Don't judge it sniffing from the bottle or when you first apply it, it is initially somewhat harsh and takes a few minutes to settle down. It has a very earthy, masculine scent which makes me think of and evening out with the boys at a cigar club.

I was extremely skeptical of this fragrance when I first heard of it -- it has so many listed notes that I'm not exactly wild about: whiskey, peat, cigar, etc. But, a decant found its way into my possession so I have it a try and I'm so glad I did. The first initial blast at first try was, well...awful. Peat, dirt...somewhat sour. But after no more than ten minutes this turned into one of the most sublime fragrances! If you can imagine warmth and sophistication with just a note of 'nasty' (or a wink of mischieviousness), this is it. The whiskey takes the cigar note to mellow and is blended on the drydown to an accord I can only describe as "yum!" Definitly worth a try...just hold your nose for a minute!