Cuir d'Oranger (2005)
by Miller Harris

Cuir d'Oranger is clear and exquisite. It's made with high quality ingredients and performs in all areas. It's relatively quiet but intensely durable, and puts out some of the most sublime sillage in the world. The leather is easy, nothing sluggish, with oodles of an angular accord of adequate tension involving jasmine, iris, a silvery-streamlined oakmoss, some sultry labdanum and a few drops of patchouli (also silver) to bring it through an extended cerebral drydown that never fails bring focus. There are no bon bons here, no sweets nor absurd spices to blur the thing or turn it into something boring and affable. It's an improved Derby without the unnecessary Guerlainities, and with the temperament of a sparer, more direct and less pretentious Bandit. It's slightly less complex, but the feeling of focus it gives me is somewhat like I expected from Chanel Cuir de Russie (hell of a fragrance), but never really got. Lately I wear Or Black and Oud Cuir d'Arabie (both excellent but significantly different from each other and CdO), but for me this smells better and wears a lot easier. The leather here is basically just a mild, soft suede, and though it can be a little sharp and dry, nothing about the fragrance ever feels excessively noisy, heavy or burdensome. At the core, it's just a classic chypre with some edge expressing high levels of intelligence and clarity. At times it's reminiscent or Amouage Gold for Men (which I like to an extent, especially for its quality of ingredients), but it never really goes there. This kind of stuff is pure sex for me, and there aren't many to match it. It's easily the best thing from the house.
(Quickie edit of my review from a couple of years ago.)

Here's a big, throbbing, erect thumb for Lyn Harris on making this one.

Coruscating opening, which then settles down to a deep dark orange, wood and leather mix that lasts all day. This is a f... off scent of the highest quality and much, much easier to wear than Tabac Blond and far superior imo. A killer frag --- save up.

Miller Harris Cuir d'Oranger

Notes: top notes of orange oil Valencia, pettigrain Paraguay and shimmering orange flowers Tunisia, fused with jasmin Egypt and orris absolute resting on a rich base of leather with birch tar, Spanish ciste, oak moss and patchouli (from The Perfumed Court website)

On first spray of Cd'O, I smell spicy pepper, citrus and light florals. Soon, this is followed by deeper green notes, powdery moss, and iris. The fragrance is mostly dry and bitter after the initial blast, and this is offset by juicy orange and sweet floral notes. Pepper is not listed in the notes, but I do smell something which reminds me of black pepper. However, I have noticed that sometimes patchouli can have a peppery quality, so this could be a factor. The iris is buttery and a little candied, reminiscent of the iris in Miller Harris' Terre d'Iris, but less overt.

In the mid development, Cuir d'Oranger loses the fruity orange, but still maintains a citrus quality due to the petitgrain. Petitgrain is bitter and woody, and it blends beautifully with the oakmoss and iris. The pepper note has actually become stronger, but it seems more vegetal than in the early stage. The powder is also more prominent, and has a rooty and bitter quality that is quite diffuse. There is a tiny bit of sweetness, probably from the orris and perhaps some of the floral notes. So far I am perplexed about the leather portion of this fragrance. I think I can smell it faintly in the base notes, but it seems that for the beginning and middle development, I am mostly led to the illusion of leather due to the dusty, almost tannic quality of the oakmoss, orris and petitgrain combination. I am sure the patchouli is also chiming in on this too, as there is a deep earthyness present which anchors the ephemeral powder into something more substantial.

As Cuir d'Oranger approaches the drydown, a smokiness begins to emerge. This could be the birch tar note and perhaps some vetiver. The fragrance is still quite dry and bitter, has a touch of pepper, and is much softer overall. The powder accord is beautiful--it is not like baby powder at all, rather, it is green and dry, evocative of living plant aromatics in a garden or forest. I am reminded of the smell of many plants in the artemesia family, such as southernwood or wormwood. These plants have an astringent, medicinal and sweet herbaceous smell that permeates the air. That is the sense of this powder accord in Cd'O. Lovely. The leather is still not strong, and really seems to play a supporting role to the oakmoss, vetiver and other notes. The fragrance stays mostly in this form for the rest of the development. However, in very late stages (7-10 hours later), the Cd'O has almost nothing left of the dry mossyness and settles into a sweet amber skin scent.

Sillage is strong at first, and moderate for the majority of the development. Longevity is very good--in overnight wears, I can smell the amber base the next morning. Cuir d'Oranger is listed as a unisex fragrance. I agree with this designation, although it seems to be a touch on the masculine side. When compared to other leather chypres, it is not as floral as those which would be considered more feminine. The leather component of Cd'O is really not a major player, but the fragrance is immensely enjoyable nonetheless, especially with Lyn Harris' beautiful use of oakmoss and the warming pepper note.

[NOTE: I see that some reviewers have mentioned that the oakmoss is more prominent in cooler weather--today was a sunny 65F day, and the oakmoss really came out for me!]

I think Cuir d'Oranger is an underappreciated leather scent (not here on Basenotes obviously, but on the blogs) which I'd pick over Serge Lutens' headshoppy Cuir Mauresque any day! I'm not a great fan of neroli, but in Cuir d'Orange it adds a nice, gentlemanly citrusy/powdery touch. Overall, Cuir d'Oranger is a lot like smooth, warm, refined leather fragrances from days past, not the more modern ultra-realistic kind that smells like fresh hides or leather chairs (which I love too, mind you) As a reference, it's more like Tabac Blond than Knize Ten, without the metallic sharpness of the latter.

I agree with pluran -- this sexy leather frag is easily related to Tabac Blond, but considerably more masculine. The oakmoss moves it into the realm of the bad boy, granted, but there's still a formality here in spite of the leathery/orange-y sexiness. (I would feel just as comfortable putting this on for the board room as for the boudoir.)

I haven't yet sprung for a bottle, no, but am making my decant last as long as humanly possible. Along with Noir Epices (one of my all time favorites), Cuir d'Oranger is one of the very best orange-heavy frags ever made, IMHO.

Yet another thumbs up! Cuir d'Oranger isn't just another leather. It would be compelling and original even without the persistent bitter orange note, but with it Cuir d'Oranger is something very special. I feel no need for a detailed description. Pluran, zztop and Mario have said it all.

Unlike zztop, I have no problem catching the leather on top of the moss in the base. On me the two duke it out in a magnificent battle all the way through the drydown. A rather dark, dirty cistus and plenty of patchouli give the scent tremendous animal presence, while a very dry iris perpetuates the orange's bitter edge. Shockingly good!