Reviews of Black Tourmaline (2007)
by Olivier Durbano

Black Tourmaline is a fantastic smokey, warm, dark scent from Oliver Durbano. The opening is all smoke and a tar like darkness followed by a frankincense incense reminiscent of CdG Avignon Incense. The incense combined with the smoke + leather + moss (similar to Or Black by P. Morabito) creates a very dark and compelling fragrance. This is one of the really good fragrances around for winter. Highly recomended.

Opens with a spicy modern leather accord and turns a little smoky, though not with the density displayed by Lutens' Fumerie Turque. A touch of oudh lends an air of exoticism to the resinuous frankincense and woods combo, while the use of clean musk keeps the amber and patchouli base light and steers it away from any association with warmer monastic-incense-type scents.

BLACK TOURMALINE thus comes across a little strange to me, for it does not fit in with any known stereotype. Leather-like but not quite 'leathery'. Smoky yet devoid of warmth. I find it intriguing yet mildly disturbing, a scent with a cold shadowy aura that borders on the supernatural, almost like opening a dimensional portal to another plane of existence. Foetidus is probably right - it would appeal to fans of gothic fantasy. And now that I think of it, it will fit someone like Criss Angel to a 'T'.

Potently smoky, Gothically threatening, darkly aromatic… The wood, smoke, spice, and leather dominance immediately presents the no-holds-barred, dead-or-alive seriousness of Black Tourmaline. At first I thought that the opening signaled the kind of opening that is almost impossible to keep up for any length of time, but I was mistaken… the potency pretty much continues through the heart notes and even into the base to an extent. On my skin the fragrance is quite linear, with a smoky, woody, leathery aromatic accord and is rich, full, and edgy. Its linearity gives me something to think about... I wonder if I really will want something this darkly dramatic, potent, aromatic, and Gothic to stay around for five or six hours. As much as I admire the vigor and passion of Black Tourmaline, I can’t foresee too many occasions where I would wear it, but I for sure am getting a decant of it – it’s an exciting fragrance.

In my book, French jeweller/perfumer Olivier Durbano can do no wrong. Of his four stone poems released to date, I have been entirely enchanted by them all.

This scent immediately unfurls with a swelling cloud of sharp black pepper and thick smoked wood... the sensation is intense and palpable; somewhat akin to inhaling the hot, heavy air inside a sauna. All the while, a rich bouquet garni of fragrant spices - cardamom, coriander and cumin - simmer beneath the surface and imbue the air with their dry, aromatic piquancy. A hiss of oudh lends an opulent richness to the composition, and it snakes its way across the glorious frankincense that I have come to recognise as the starring accord in all of Durbano's perfume creations. It is this wonderful incense/resin that is also common to Amethyste and Rock Crystal, and here, it contributes a profound 'otherworldly' appeal. As the fragrance evolves, these accords shift and interweave with dark patchouli, amber and dry woods.

Black Tourmaline is a hauntingly beautiful eau de parfum. It has phenomenal sillage and remarkable persistence, and can be enjoyed by both men and women.
Much in the same way black tourmalines were once worn by the ancients for their protection against evil; one might also wear this scent as somewhat of a 'perfume talisman'... one that strikes a curious balance between the earthbound, and the ethereal.