Peau D'Espagne by Santa Maria Novella, 1901

I've worn the Peau d'Espagne now for a couple of days from a sample and simply, I'm blown away. I find it hard to describe how I feel about it. It's old yet has a modern abstract feeling about it. Very much un-mainstream. I absolutely love the birch tar note in there and that adds a real "old world" woody aspect to the fragrance. The whole time this is going on you have faint floral/herbaceous notes floating about in there and they are sitting at the side on a pillow of talc. The star of this scent though is the medicinal/balmy/ambery binding in the base which along with the dryness of this scent, brings all the notes together. "Leather " fragrances can be cloying (GFT Spanish Leather) and can sometimes be over the top (Knize Ten). I agree with one of the previous reviews saying this is stronger than the above but it is much more perfectly balanced than any other leather I've worn before. I had previously started a thread in the forum here about finding a scent which was the smell of walking into the entrance hall of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. A lot of answers came back but this is that scent (maybe adding in a little of SMN Pot Pourri), this is alchemy, this is Santa Maria Novella. The smell of a perfumer in a centuries old building with surrounds just as old. Old oak which has soaked up all the fragrances past and holds those scents as memories for everyone to smell in the future. This is simply wonderful. Now...... to try and source a bottle.

Peau d'Espagne opens with an almost camphorous mix of heavy herbs, creating a menthol-like accord. It is quite challenging, but not unpleasant. This open very slowly recedes but never dissipates, instead allowing a rather strong birch leather note to emerge and take the fore. By this time the overall scent is much more wearable and enjoyable. I have a hard time identifying any other individual notes here, as the herbal mix still obscures a lot of anything else the scent has to offer. Projection is good, and longevity is above average. Peau d'Espagne is definitely not my kind of leather scent. That said, I don't dislike it either. The opening is tough to get through due to that herbal eucalyptus mix that is just downright potent. If you can make it past the opening and early heart notes, then there is a decent leather here to discover... The problem is I fear most, myself included will not want to experience the couple hours of Peau d'Espagne in order to get the relatively good payoff much later when there are so many good leather offerings on the market, both classic and contemporary. I definitely think Peau d'Espagne is a nice scent in its own way and recommend a sniff to leather fans, but I think I will keep to more pleasant leathers like Cuiron and Cuir Pleine Fleur. I give Peau d'Espagne a 3 out of 5 rating and a strong neutral.