Kölnisch Juchten literally means “Russian Leather Cologne”, implying that leather could be manipulated or distilled to an eau de cologne format. What we get instead is suprisingly resembling Shalimar with that contrast of amber and begramot, yet also a hint of animalics lurking underneath, and a surprisingly daring dose of patchouli.
These “Russian Waters” open with the acrid smell that hits anyone who enteres an art-supplies store with a whiff of nostalgia, complete with pencil shavings, wood and paper of all types, wood frames, canvas, paints and inks. But this dryness is very short-lived, and there’s such a hefty amount of bergamot contrasted with patchouli and vanilla, that it got me thinking the origin of this creation has more to do with the amber-colognes that pre-dated the advent of the Opulent Ambers, with which they all share an ambreine accord. There is only a hint of the smokiness of birch tar, much less than we find in Shalimar, which never played up its leatheriness, although it is very much there.
Top notes: Bergamot, Virginia Cedar
Heart notes: Violet Flower (Ionones)
Base notes: Patchouli, Birch Tar, Vanillin