Derby

My favorite from the lineup of new American Perfumer releases (bluegrass and spacewood were also interesting). Got a chance to smell this at Fumed in Chicago so this is all from a memory...It's a bright, citrusy-neroli, musky perfume. Honestly rather simple but the feeling it evokes is just...joyous? while also rugged-sexy I guess? The biggest thing that sets it apart in my mind is the mildly dirty element peaking out from beneath the rays of sunshine and clean, bright citrus. It feels very natural and well-made, making me recall things like some Hiram Green perfumes, where the grassines of some of those floral extracts comes through. This is definitely a bit leaner though, feeling mostly clean and precise, and the clementine adds just enough of a thoughtful flourish in the top notes. It's the type of perfume that feels bursting with light, but is also fundamentally attached to a body. There's a very musky component to it that I'm now thinking has more resemblence to some Orto Parisi scents- a bit creamy, woody, and mildly animalic- just on the right side of a sensual musk. It's a much more palatable, less intense experience than something like Bergamask, but I can't help but put them in the same genre. This has a similar kind of...oily-woody warmth to it? Probably more masculine leaning, but only by being an assertive, citrus-forward scent. Performance is decent, but not a huge projector.