Fragrance Reviews by Amit

In one word : GHASTLY.

As unfortunate as it does sound, this is the only Villoresi scent I truly detest. Unbelievably synthetic from the get-go, It almost chokes me in a vice grip of very intensely done powdery accords, which otherwise would've been enjoyable had then been less synthetic. A complete synth bomb from top to bottom.

Spices, in any shape or form, are not new or exotic to me. Being an Indian and having lived in India all my life, I've been fortunate be able to enjoy in abundance many substances, exotic or otherwise, which are desirable to the west in varying degrees. I had therefore never imagined I'd fall so hard for Spezie. I marvel at Mr. Villoresi's splendid competence and I'm eternally thankful to him for having brought us modern day sensations like Piper Nigrum and Spezie. I find it astonishing that a juice that feels so much "at home" for me is actually blended in Italy. I wonder what it was, that Mr. Villoresi envisioned when be created Piper Nigrum and Spezie. What was his inspiration? I'm now going to make a feeble attempt of reviewing this magnificent juice, and in doing so, i'm going to mostly abandon my typical method of mentioning identified notes and accords, the whole shabang. I'm going to review it purely on the lines of the sensations it has ignited within me as I write this, with my both wrists and chest silling of Spezie.

To begin with, I must give a nod to one of Spezie's facet, nostalgia. This is pure nostalgia in a bottle for me. It reminds me of my grandmother who has long passed away, it reminds me of some of my best times with her. One such memory is from when I was a kid, about 8 years of age? I was a good kid, and would assist her in carrying grocery bags et al, so she used to tag me along as we made our monthly trip to the spice market for spice supplies. Among the black pepper, fennel, fenugreek, cinnamon, dry red chillies etc, we used to buy turmeric sticks. Dirty yellow in color, they have a very soothing smell. She used to be able to tell if the Turmeric is of a certain quality or not by simply holding a stick in her palm and letting some of the turmeric powder stick to her palm in the process -- and inhaling her palm after that. Being the curious one, I'd always want to smell her palm after that. Some accord in Spezie smells very much exactly like that. I'm sure it's a combination of some notes, the sum of parts -- rather than any singular note.

Another thing it reminds me of is the uber delicious whole raw mango pickle my Grandmother used to make. Lightly spiced and dipped in oil, it's packaged carefully and left to marinate for over 2 years until they soften up completely and taste delicious as hell *wipes drool from lips* damn...... Once again, the key spice here is a light hand of turmeric powder. I get a lot of turmeric vibe from Spezie as I mentioned above.

Spezie is definitely a high quality composition. The abundance of spices with their herbaly undertone never clash with each other, they come together in a perfect amalgamation instead. I'm forced to comment, if there is any scent out there most reminiscent of an "Indian spice market" vibe -- this is "it". And I mean that in a rather positive manner.

This is a "so hot, it's cool" kind of scent. Beautifully warm and rather dry in the opening with the coriander, cardamon and oregano-ish spices, firmly backed with mint and cloves and Nutmeg. Matter of factly, I believe it's the Nutmeg contributing to the entire "cool" vibe more than the mint or cloves, which probably add but a finishing touch. I haven't taken a look at the notes listing, but I'm sure there's more than what I've identified so far. I've yet to reach the drydown on it, though. To conclude, I don't really find this similar to any other scent I've smelled so far, and that includes the Incense Series [all 6 scents] by CDG.

I agree with PigeonMurderer's review. Initially I was surprised a bit to smell Oud in this, as Musk to Musk belongs to the non-oud line of Montale. I don't think it's dusty or musty though, it's plentifully musky, oud woody and clean.

It is now among the only 2 Montales I love.

I'm a guy -- but I like this! Apparently Montale likes it too -- so much so that he based Red Aoud off this.

Amazingly subtle neroli opening is a far cry from what this astonishing eau de parfum progresses to be, a sexy beast -- with the animalicness creeping in like fog, quite unexpectedly. It stalks the unsuspecting wearer, taking him much the way the ferocious jungle-cat takes her prey...

Amazingly rich and full bodied orange, smells very "expensive" thanks to the superbly balmy and resinous woods that backs the composition. The opening is decidedly citrussy with gingery undertones that seem to fan the orange into a live and breathing accord that smells very "crushed and pulpy", simply put -- it's just perfect. The sweet Myrrh appears midway into application, warming up the entire palette of notes and accords until it dries down to a woody musky and the tiniest bit powdery, and in my opinion a rather quixotic whisper of a drydown.

One of the most daring fragrance from one of the most innovative perfumer -- I haven't found a better rendition of black pepper. This is IT, period. Piper Nigrum is one of my favorite from the Villoresi line. I really like the way it diffuses on skin, cloaking the wearer with a dry and dusty aura reminiscent of a large wooden chest containing various spices, the spices disseminating in the air every time this chest is opened. Absolutely drool-worthy. Sheerly Nostalgic [to me].

The spicy aura in Piper Nigrum is done in an acutely vibrant manner with nary any "heaviness" to bring the composition down, which is an extremely positive characteristic. Granted, the heavily mentholated opening *may* smell heavy to some, but I don't perceive it as heavy -- I perceive it as a setting stage for the symphony that's to follow. To be honest I smell very little in the way of herbs in this composition, to my nose it's a pure spice-fest -- and I mean that in a very positive way. Highly recommended to anyone who has a fondness for spicy scents.

The opening of L'Ombre Fauve on the skin is very rich, one can immediately identify the dry woods with a mixture of subtle spices gently sprinkled all over it, giving it a familiar "woody-spicy" accord you get to smell in dozens of Perfumes nowadays. However, that is where the similarity ends and L'Ombre Fauve leaves the runway, taking off, off to reach dazzling heights like a sleek aircraft. The Amber warms up to the touch of the skin within minutes of application, rising up alongwith the body heat radiating around you. For the shortest moment, sniffing it during it's mid-stage I got something like Milk! eek.. I thought... WTF.. that aroma quickly gave away to something smelling like slightly Burnt Rubber at first, then Unburnt Rubber... hmm, interesting.

Fortunately the milk/rubber reference soon leaves the heady mix letting the Amber now take centerstage. This Amber alongwith the mingled resinous Incense and full bodied Musk gives off one of the dreamiest sillage my nose has ever recorded. Wow..slightly sweet and truly Sumptuous in its "feel" .. one can tell the quality of the ingredients used in creating this blend. Absolutely dazzling.

The fragrance progresses on into its drydown with the Patchouli now binding the trio of Amber, Powdery Musk and Incense together with only a hint of woodiness. Matter of factly I was able to detect the Patchouli quite early on in the development, is it the Patchouli interacting with some other ingredient in the blend to create an olfactory illusion of Milk/Rubber? I don't know for sure. The drydown is as Impressive as the earlier development stages of the fragrance is.. mesmerizing and reminds one of all things Glorious. It almost alters one's perspective, elevating the wearer's state of mind and I'm saying this from the experience of having worn the fragrance and experienced the heavenly drydown myself.

On application has a very calming effect on me, the patchouli and the sandalwood coming together in a slightly heady harmony. Not sweet at all, plentifully meditative and superiorly full bodied as all PG fragrances are with terrific lasting...we're talking 8+ hours with just 2 medium sprays. While it manages to smell sufficiently complex to my nose, I do not find it "sexy" or "exotic" however. It's simply "down to earth" and stays that way on my skin.

Very good Citrus scent, infact one of the best I've smelled. It has a shimmering "glossy" quality only for a brief bit in the opening and then progresses to take on a "matte" persona. It's highly transparent, revealing its every facet, evenly spread out across your olfactory senses.

Has a pleasant musky slightly powdery green drydown reminding me of the way the musc is handled in another perfume called "New York" from the same house. One can make out the distinct PdN handling.

Straight to Heaven kept me interested throughout with its loud woody camphory opening laced with subdued spices and musk ... it stayed that way for a long time on my skin, almost uni-dimensional until the drydown where It takes a spicy approach to an Incensy base.

Pretty interesting fragrance if one doesn't mind the linear nature, pleasant to smell and somewhat intriguing.

This one left me pondering, pondering NOT about how much I liked it but pondering about it's similarities to Lorenzo Villoresi's Alamut in the drydown. It gave me that same delicate powdery musky cloud of comfort that Alamut gives, but thats about it.... I could never "get" it as it reached the drydown stage too fast on my skin. Like the other reviewer said, the notes scroll by.. albeit a bit too fast, atleast on my skin.

Not one that I'd drop my cash on.

I completely agree with some of the reviewers here who find it sensual, I do too. Apart from the finely blended strawverry notes, I also smell rich green apple notes, lending that little tanginess to the overall package.

Despite liking it immediately I initially had second thoughts about wearing this outside, but one day I finally gave in and wore it to work.. much to my delight.. I received a couple of compliments from a couple of my colleagues, male and female. I like this cologne and it'll continue to be a part of my wardrobe.

Just recently bought this.... and I have fallen in love with it. I get no sweetness.. and the smell isnt dirty per se .. its the smell of a soiled cat.. i.e. a cat's unwashed body.. the fur... very animalic in character.. plus that DENSE smokiness... with that strange "dirt" and cardboard..whew.

I gotta be careful though... my girl probably wont like Dzing largely due to its animalic nature.. like i've been sleeping in my cat's bed but that isn't stopping me from wearing this gem :thumbup:

To me, Aigner Black is a pretty BLACK smelling scent.. I love it.. I remember having read somewhere that it contains some pure Black Musk and if you ask me, it does smell like it really has healthy doses of Black Musk added it for good measure. Some people say it smells like the men's cologne by John Varvatos but the one and ONLY thing common between these two is the leather note... apart from that, these two are completely different beasts altogether... once settled on the skin, they take the completely opposite paths, atleast on mine they do.

I find Aigner Black to be a tad more sweeter than John Varvatos.... and definitely more "sexy" of the two after it settles. Think of Aigner Black as Angelina Jolie and John Varvatos as Jessica Alba... while both are sexy, Jolie is more "sultry" .... probably not an ideal correlation.. but you get the idea ;-)

Nice fragrance... but sadly it only lasts about 15 minutes on me... why the hell does it have to be SO damn light?

It's mysterious.. its sophisticated.. and yep I agree, way ahead of its time.

The ONLY thing I do not like about this is the rather powdery drydown (on my skin atleast)