Mazzolari Alessandro
by Mazzolari

Alessandro is the spicy oriental entry in the Mazzolari line, and because it leans heavily on opopanax in its heart and drydown, it bears a general resemblance to such scents as Diptyque’s Eau Lente, Etro’s Shaal Nur, Ormonde Jayne’s Tolu, and Nicolaï’s Maharadjah/Maharanih pair. Looming behind all of these is Guerlain’s Shalimar, whose continued presence means that any newcomer in the genre needs to offer something special in terms of quality and/or composition to legitimize its arrival.

So what has Alessandro got that the others don’t? Well, it’s softer and less aggressively spicy than Eau Lente or Maharadjah, yet less obviously floral in its heart than Shaal Nur or Maharanih. It is also bolder in its presentation of resins and spices than the comparatively bland, and frankly rather dull Tolu. On the other hand Alessandro is noticeably less smoky, less sweet, less animalic, and less inclined toward citrus than Shalimar, especially in the old Guerlain’s EdP and parfum concentrations. Alessandro thus stands as a “centrist” composition. It will appeal to you if you find Eau Lente and Maharadjah too incisive, Shaal Nur and Maharanih too flowery or indolic, or Shalimar too sweet, smoky, or suggestive. At the same time, (and unusually for a Mazzolari fragrance,) Alessandro ends up a little bit lacking in character: not quite drab, but not particularly stimulating, either. It does avoid the soap and powder avalanche that leaves its frumpy oriental sibling Ambra smelling like grandma’s dressing table, but it lacks the punch I’ve come to expect from the house that gave us Mazzolari Lui, Mazzolari Vetyver, and Mazzolari Patchouli.

Oh. My. God. This is pure, unadulterated, absolute perfection in a bottle. As with Lea St Barth it needs to be on the skin for 5+ minutes for the slight bitterness of the almond (I think?) note to burn off - don't let this put you off. Luckyscent has recommendations on the bottom of their individual frag pages and at the bottom of the Alessandro page it lists Lea St Barth, PotL Luctor et Emergo and Profumum Confetto. PotL and Lea are in my top 3 ever frags so it's no surprise Alessandro is doing it for me in a huge way. It almost smells like a combo of the 2, with a nice soft touch of grown-up baby powder (if you believe in such a thing) thrown in. The baby powder note lessens considerably with the drydown but I don't mind it when it's stronger, either. This frag moved instantly to the top of my FB list the first time I tried it. One of the best comfort scents I've ever smelled. Quiet, soft, lush, sexy in a not-forward way. Looooove. Sillage not great and lasted about 5 hours. Wears close to the skin on me.

Nice almond flavor at first! doesn't get powdery right away, is Just almond.. becomes pretty subtle quickly. not flowery or doughy. hmm, dry down does have tinge of playdoh, flour dough too, and this is just so plain for my taste.