Price range: £5.00 through £169.00
I have a bit of a thing about leather. Good leather, that is. The sort that smells wonderful, develops a beautiful patina and gets better with age. Shoes, jackets, bags, old armchairs. There’s something about the smell of proper leather that I find incredibly comforting. However, until fairly recently, I hadn’t really given much thought to wearing that smell as a fragrance. Apparently, the French worked all of this out over a century ago.
L.T. Piver is one of the oldest perfume houses in France, having been established in 1774, when powdered wigs were all the rage and the French aristocracy still had a few years left before things became rather unpleasant for them.
In 1892, the house introduced a fragrance called Cuir de Russie, which translates quite simply as Russian Leather. Now, this wasn’t just some romantic name dreamed up by a chap in a Parisian marketing department. It was inspired by a very real and rather extraordinary material.
For centuries, Russian leather was considered among the finest in the world. Its reputation was built on its extraordinary durability, beautiful appearance and, most importantly for our purposes, its distinctive smell.
According to legend, Russian soldiers and cavalrymen treated their leather boots and equipment with birch tar to help protect them against the elements. This treatment produced a wonderfully unusual aroma: smoky, woody, rich and unmistakably leathery. The scent became so closely associated with Russian leather that perfumers eventually began trying to recreate it.
In 1786, a merchant ship called the Metta Catharina sank off the coast of England carrying a cargo that included Russian leather. The wreck and its remarkably preserved leather would eventually become part of the legend surrounding this extraordinary material. Imagine that. Leather spending years at the bottom of the sea and still being considered something worth talking about centuries later. They certainly knew how to make things last.
L.T. Piver’s Cuir de Russie takes this wonderful history and transforms it into a rich, sophisticated and beautifully distinctive fragrance. The version we have here is a modern Eau de Parfum interpretation of the historic scent, bringing a little contemporary refinement to something first imagined in the 19th century.
Imagine walking into a beautiful old leather goods shop. There are saddles, polished boots, expensive bags and perhaps a magnificent leather armchair that’s been there since 1932. Somewhere in the background, there’s the comforting warmth of wood, a little smoke and something ever so slightly sweet.
The fragrance opens with mandarin and honey, which might sound a rather peculiar combination for something inspired by Russian cavalrymen, but it works beautifully. The mandarin provides a little citrus brightness, while the honey brings a soft, rounded sweetness that prevents the fragrance from becoming too severe.
As it develops, smoky oud and nutmeg begin to appear. Oud is a wonderfully rich, woody fragrance note with a slightly mysterious, smoky character, while nutmeg brings a gentle warmth and spice. Together, they give the perfume an extraordinary depth without making it feel excessively heavy.
Joined by sandalwood and incense, the leather forms the foundation of the fragrance. It’s rich, slightly smoky, warm and wonderfully sophisticated. The sandalwood gives it a smooth, almost creamy quality, while the incense adds a little darkness and complexity.
The result is a fragrance with real character. It feels traditional without being old-fashioned, luxurious without being showy and masculine in that wonderfully understated way that I particularly like. Although, of course, anybody who enjoys a good leather fragrance can wear it.
I can imagine this being worn by a beautifully dressed French gentleman in the 1930s, somebody who owns an expensive pair of shoes, has never worn a tracksuit in his life and probably knows a great deal about wine. Equally, I think it would be rather wonderful with a battered leather jacket, a good pair of jeans and some old boots.
L.T. Piver continues to make its fragrances in France, using a traditional process in which the perfume is left to mature slowly for three to four months before bottling. It’s a wonderfully patient approach to something that most of us simply spray on our necks before leaving the house. The house sources its ingredients primarily from Grasse and Italy, and the finished fragrance is presented in a beautiful 100ml bottle and box.
What I love most about Cuir de Russie is that it celebrates something I think we’re increasingly losing: the appreciation of beautiful materials. Leather that lasts, craftsmanship that matters and objects that become more interesting with age.
It’s a fragrance inspired by the smell of something genuinely wonderful, created by a French perfume house with more than 250 years of history.
Not sure if this is the fragrance for you? You can purchase a 2ml sample and give it a proper try. If you love it and decide to buy a full 100ml bottle, we’ll give you the cost of your sample back as credit towards your purchase. We’ll send you a unique discount code to use against a full-sized bottle of the same fragrance, with no expiry date. So there’s no rush, and no need to take a gamble on something you haven’t smelled before.
Russian leather, French perfumery and a shipwreck off the English coast. Not bad for a bottle of aftershave, eh?
Fragrance notes:
100ml Eau de Parfum
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