Venezia Uomo by Laura Biagiotti, 1995

Venezia Uomo opens with a clean lemon and bergamot tandem before quickly adding relatively soft lavender to the mix.  As the fragrance reaches its early heart phase the aromatic lavender takes over as the citrus dies, now joined by a tonka bean sweetened watery vibe with an underlying clay-like accord derived from just slightly indolic jasmine over a growing woody cedar rising from the base.  As the fragrance enters the late dry-down, slightly sweet amber joins the now dominant woody cedar with subtle oakmoss support to round out the rest of the fragrance development.  Projection is slightly above average, and longevity is also above average at 8-10 hours on skin.

Venezia Uomo is an interesting composition that on first sniff seems to be relatively benign, but on closer inspection is quite intriguing.  It opens like so many others with the citrus, but then the fragrance uses its lavender and jasmine florals to create an overall watery vibe without being an actual aquatic.  The cedar, which joins the lavender as dominant notes through most of the fragrance development is never too in your face, though always present and quite critical to the overall fragrance structure.  I should also mention that while never overly sweet, Venezia Uomo definitely does have a sweet side primarily derived by its heavy use of tonka bean in its base.    While I tend to dislike sweet notes in most fragrances I did not mind the sweetness here at all as it seems to balance the woody and floral notes nicely. Folks who absolutely can't stand any sweetness in their fragrances should most likely avoid this release as disappointment is bound to set-in.  The bottom line is that while no masterpiece, Venezia Uomo is a very good 3.5 star out of 5 rated composition that reveals it has a lot more to it than initially presented, setting it apart from most releases you find nowadays.  As it has been discontinued, Venezia Uomo is not inexpensive on the after-market at just over $90 a 125ml bottle, but that is about the same retail price you would pay for the latest mundane designer release, and this is anything but.  Absolutely recommended.

This is one of my favourite manly italian fragrances, a scent that conjures the languid and decadent atmospheres of the nineteenth century in the floating and crying city of Venezia, a sense of void after a death.  Venezia Uomo is decadent and mysterious as a baroque palace full of fires and candels, as a carnival's mask, two obscure eyes under a hood that stare you with an hypnotizing power. The fragrance is a spicy oriental averagely dry in its alternance of angular nuances of hesperides and greens. It's not deeply ambery, creamy or mellow but just slightly powdery of sweet spices, lavender and tonka. The decadence is properly set by a baroque initial connection of hesperides, aromatic greens, spices, (i detect cinnamon and cloves), patchouli and lavender with the floral luxurious wake of nocturnal  jasmine, vague rose and sinister flowers of graveyard. The note of lavender adds powderiness,  a touch of water in a first stage and woodsy  breeze later ( flanking a central aromatic note of fern) while the jasmine is deep, lushful  and melancholic. The alternance of flowers , fruits (grapefruit?) bergamot and citrus (orange and lime) is simply stunning and dramatic. The dry down is delicious but sharp with a central cedarwood and with its minimal touch of balsams (amber, vanilla, benzoin?) in the middle of tonka and woods. Each element is in a perfect armony with the others and the oriental-other age feel is basically made of the combination of hesperides, lavender, a royal patchouli and tonka. The combination is dry but changeful, sweetly spicy, wintery, deep of nocturnal flowers  and deliberately retro. Venice is gelid and tears flow down from its eyes.

Bright, very bright opening. Still manages to be well rounded. The rest of it goes from there. The first impressions set a very nice tone for the Venezia.
Wood and a bright opening dont always work together too well/subjective/. Here though, the woodiness is layered in a way hard to resist. On paper, the Fern appears to be the odd choice. I can smell the overlapping of Jasmine/Fern note with the sandalwood. It makes it beautiful and builds a deeper base for the finish.
The whole experience is based on early morning sunshine gathered with a walk in a forest around four in the afternoon. It can easily be a staple for the Mediterranean. But not quite, because it holds much more in terms of deepening the aspect, on which most easy going scents depend on-the obvious departure from the really heavy basenotes/ha/ used in perfumery.
By any means Venezia has depth, so much of it, delivered in a very bribing way. It omits the need for being too straight forward in the final approach to your nose. Sometimes if you misplace the edges you dont get a sword, but a trident.
Im not the kind to get hyped up, because its been discontinued. This one however is so refined, its hard not to stock-up. When wearing it, is needless to worry about the right occasion or circle. It will only reflect your preference. This is what matters, at least to me.
Venezia is much stronger than appears. The silage is outstanding, longevity-more than enough.
Personally, this must be the best Laura Biagiotti. I love Roma Uomo, but Venezia is outgoing, easy, and at the same time, deep and luscious.