Piper Nigrum (1999)
by Lorenzo Villoresi

I had to go to LV in Italy for 4 samples.
Piper Nigrum arrived today. Fresh and minty and slightly powdery. Most reminiscent of Creed Viking in the opening then settles to a powdery barbershoppy powdery minty freshness. Almost medicinal but not terminally so. Longevity is good, Projection is C+. Lacks the smoothness and depth of Creed Viking. After 2.5 hours is a nice faint sweet skin scent.
Will test this on my wife as she likes the more subtle ones . Let's see if it topples Byredo's Super Cedar!
I also recieved Uomo which is a pleasant damp Vetiver. Nothing more.

Fragrance: 7.5/10
Projection: 6.75/10
Longevity: 7/10

The Procession of the Corpus Christi, Toledo BY
Arthur Melville 1890

This has the most refreshing opening I've had in ages. Pepper and mint, with some anise and clove. So it's spicy, but the mint makes it cool as well and a lovely wake up call. I cannot stand the smell of aniseed, probably due to Pernod and cider cocktails in my youth (sometimes I wonder how I made it this far...), and even the smell of anis or the taste of aniseed chewing gum sets me on edge. But when it's well blended in a perfume I've come to love it! And this is great - all of the components work together in a contrasting almost clashing burst. And it stays good, with some amber sweetening the clove. I'm still getting little bursts of peppery spice hours later. I find this one gives me the mind clearing space I often look for in more incensey scents.

It works so well on a sunny day that I'm very curious on how it will be in the middle of winter - I could be looking at this year's Christmas present to self!

A delicious, very organic pepper based fragrance. This is different to the Iso E Super, dry and somewhat synthetic scents (which I like, by the way). You don't feel as though you are getting saturated with one specific molecule - it's a nuanced, natural pepper with a supporting clove and anise note.

Unfortunately for me, as a unisex fragrance it's just too sweet. If they brought out a drier men's version with a touch of wood in the base, this would be my signature scent. A real shame as, if you like pepper, this is probably as good as it gets.

La caravane d'épices!!!!, outstanding start, with a spicy and fresh mint+pepper scent. The fragrance becomes warmer, with resin and animal scents . Better for winter, not for shy people