Reviews of Cuir Venenum 03 (2004)
by Parfumerie Generale

It is unbelievable how much this smells like beer after initial spray. This phase doesn’t last that long, but while it does, the smell is stunningly similar to some strong doppelbock-beer.
And as a great fan of beer, I love this smell. It is also something that I have never met before in perfumes.

Soon the orange blossom starts to kick in with honey and it leaves this beer-like note to be more subdued undertone that is still very much capable to linger on the whole lifetime of this fragrance.

This is one nuanced scent. It changes very much during the time and the one wouldn’t perhaps believe it’s the same fragrance at all. The difference in smell between 5 minutes after application to 5 hours after application is perhaps one of the most striking ones I have ever witnessed.

Funny thing is that I don’t smell actually leather in this. I smell a lot of things, but not leather.

The dobbelbock beer, orange blossom, honey, animalic musk (civet?), coconut and some woods make a hell of a nuanced fragrance here.

It lasts for a long long time and it leaves a wonderfully subtle and very compelling sillage even after many hours have passed. The coconut takes more ground in the drydown, but luckily not too much since I absolutely hate coconut if it’s too prominent.
Coconut in CV adds just a nice, creamy shade and structure to the scent and very seductively exotic trail.

This is more suitable for women but for sure not forbidden from gentlemen either.

Surprisingly unique scent that is very well made and compelling. Highly recommended and go ahead; check out those strong beer notes in the beginning!

Cuir Venemum is a dry, tarry leather that strikes me at first as a leaner, sparer version of Santa Maria Novella’s Nostalgia. It has some of that same new leather car interior vibe, but adds a bouquet of medicinal aromatics and shucks most of Nostalgia’s tobacco. The result is leather with a bitter edge and not even a hint of sweetness. This is miles away from the fruity suede of Cuir Ottoman or Daim Blond, but equally far removed from the provocative animalic leather of Oud Cuir d’Arabie or Eau d’Hermes.

As Cuir Venenum develops, a very bold myrrh note takes over the role of bitter accent. The myrrh expands steadily until, after an hour on my skin, it dominates the composition. The ongoing impression is highly medicinal, but in a bracingly pleasant manner. The medicinal leather and resin accord soldiers on in a straight line for hours, fading more than altering when it eventually dries down. All in all I judge this a fine leather scent, straightforward but not stodgy, smelling of quality, and easy to wear. It will appeal especially to those who like their scents dry and their leathers relatively “clean.”

A candy coated, fruit juice dipped, barely leather.

I have to agree with everso on this. I really don't get it. Leather? Smells more like rotting flowers and fruit candy and it stays sickly sweet throughout it's life. Thank god I just got a small vial. Won't be using this again.

Oh no! Why did you spill your grape slush on my Bentley's seats?! You could've just sprayed some Cuir Venenum!

This is very very very VERY sweet...with NO hint of leather at all......a big dissappointment as far as i see. Doesn't really deserve the name "Cuir" on it. Also very feminine.

Cuir venenum starts awful: sweet and sour like rottening meat. Or rather like rottening tropical fruits with a smoky leather undertone. Or even just sickly sour-sweet candy sticking to soft suede. It softens a bit, stays sweet and sour but in a smoother and less sickly fashion. I give it a neutral thumb because the suede-like leather note buried beneath all the fruit/candy notes is quite lovely. The scent has some things in common with both Daim blond (the soft suede note, being a sweet and "feminine" leather scent rather than a raw and "masculine" one) and Cuir mauresque (the orange blossom overpowering the leather, the sweetness again). I think I'll keep my sample because once it has settled down I find it quite original and appealing (the sweet-and-sour-ness mouthwateringly fruity rather than sickening) but the thought of having to share an elevator with someone over-applying this concoction - oh, dear God!

Hmmm. I wonder if I got the right sample in that vial. This was primarliy a citrus and orange blossom fragrance, possibly with some coconut. It was a sweet-sour floral. No leather was in there. Seemed mundane.

Not a bad fragrance, but not great either. Sweet and slighty floral opening which gives way to a subtle, warm leather note that lasts for a good two or three before turning into a very light and slightly smoky musk that stays close to the skin. I think this perfume best suits cooler weather.

Oooooh. No. This just doesn't make sense. I don't know if I'm wearing grape soda, cough syrup, or...um, blueberry syrup. From reading the reviews, I shouldn't be having any of these responses. To my mind (and nose), this means that there is no reason for keeping this around--and oh, for the love of all things holy, discontinuing a masterpiece such as Bois Blond. However, if I ever have a "wild hair" that creates a certain itch for grape/blueberry flavored beer, I know which scent sample I'll reach for.

The reviews are wildly divergent with this one I see. Cuir Venenum was almost nauseatingly sweet layered over the top of a bitter leather. The notes were so discordant I couldn't wear it longer than 1/2 hour. I've tried it twice, and forgive me if I gave up too easily, but I just couldn't see that we were ever going to be a match so I threw in the towel on this one. It was a bizarre combination. I may have to eat my words in another year, but so be it.

This smelled so overwhelmingly of orange blossom that I never did find any other notes in it. From the other reviews, there are leather notes, and the name certainly suggests it, but you couldn't tell from my experience.

this smells like a new car with spilt beer dried on the seats and carpet. awful!

Not as strong a leather note in this for me as I would like. The composition is overpowered by notes that remain fruity-floral and cherry candy in the drydown.

I'll stick with Daim Blond and on to Chanel Cuir de Russie

Decidedly manly and not unisex to me (and I love leather scents). In a blind sampling, I would have dubbed this Ginestet Botrytis Pour Homme.

Weird. I can't decide what I think. A sweet, feminine leather, almost a suede scent, with strong orangey-floral tones. It's also a little bit musty - should be musky - but comes across to me as musty. By the end, it smells amazingly like PEZ - these little hard fruity rectangular candies...I would never have guessed PEZ had a mustiness to them. Not really my thing. I'll stick with my Cuir Mauresque, Knize Ten, and even DK Fuel (which is probably the closest of these three to Cuir Venenum, at least in character).

very interesting frag i liked it so much since the 1st sniff it would suit any leather lover

This is the sweet smell of brand-new leather to me. En Avion from Caron has a topnote of old, worn leather from the seat of a single-engine airplane . Cuir Venenum is brand new leather from a $5000 purse. Delicious...