Cuir d'Iris
by Parfumerie Generale

A dark, rich, and refined leather/iris fragrance that's balanced from top to base with vaguely gourmand notes and powdery amber.

Pure heaven.

If you read the male fragrance message board, you already know that this is one of my holy grails of perfumery. Although leather is prominent in many PG fragrances, this is 'the' leather fragrance of the line. Further, I collect any and all leather fragrances, and this is by far the best of all of them.

Strong leather is present from top to base, and in each phase of development there are different accords and notes balancing the leather. The leather note is dark and rich. Powerful - not like a leather jacket but rather being inside a Bentley with its 27 cows worth of corinthian leather. Iris presents itself not as a distinct note, but as powdery top-note to balance the intensity of the leather. As with many PGs, there are hints of gourmand notes, in this case raisin and cocoa notes, that present themselves in the heart of the fragrance and become more prominent in the base, at which point cocoa and light fruit notes are joined by a lightly vanillic amber. There are *no* distinct spicy or woody notes, though these may be present to create the leather accord.

The gourmand and amber notes are very subtle unless you over-apply, which I like to do. One spray and you're surrounded in a leathery aroma. Two sprays brings out more fullness of the fragrnace, and with three sprays you can really notice the cocoa and raisin notes. Be warned that with three sprays you will smell of rich leather for the next 20-24 hours and there won't be anyone within a few feet of you that won't notice. True leather nirvana.

As with most of the PG line, expect this to last on your skin for about 24 hours under normal conditions. If you like leather fragrances and haven't tried this, you're missing out.

Powdery leather. After a while, the powdery notes become pure leather and spicy woods. A little subtle but it's a leather with a smoky bite.