Cerruti
Cerruti
93 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Pepper detonates first, sharp and almost numbing, whilst bergamot provides a pale-gold flash of brightness before the heat settles. Within five minutes you're aware this isn't a cheerful fragrance; the spice establishes dominance immediately, signalling sophistication through restraint rather than generosity.
Leather unfurls gradually, revealing unexpected dimensionality—the saffron creates a subtle, almost imperceptible sweetness that prevents the composition from becoming austere to the point of unwearability. Woody notes become increasingly prominent, building architecture beneath the leather's surface, creating something genuinely tactile and skin-close.
The fragrance becomes substantially fainter as it reaches this phase—a significant weakness—but what remains is a soft, cedarwood-dominated whisper with amber's gentle resinous warmth. The leather persists as a phantom sensation rather than a pronounced presence, whilst spice fades to mere memory.
L'Essence de Cerruti arrives as a deliberately austere proposition—a fragrance that refuses to seduce through florals or gourmandise, instead building its appeal through tonal restraint and textural sophistication. Antoine Lie constructs something genuinely masculine here, though the unisex classification holds: this is leather without theatrical flourish, treated with the same respect one might afford a well-worn cognac leather jacket that's earned its patina.
The opening volley of pepper and bergamot immediately establishes the scent's temperament. Rather than the bright effervescence bergamot typically provides, here it functions as a counterpoint to black pepper's sharp, almost medicinal edge—less citrus uplift, more architectural support. Within minutes, the heart reveals itself: a saffron-inflected leather accord that's genuinely compelling. The spice isn't decorative; it cuts through the leather's darker tendencies with the precision of a spice trader's knife, whilst woody notes provide substantial ballast. This isn't creaky leather or animalic musk—it's the smell of a leather workbench, of leather being *considered*.
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4.5/5 (75)