Young Cossack

I've had one of the tiny dabber/splash bottles of the parfum extrait, which is the one pictured (a little less than two inches high), for a while now, and wear it occasionally. Every time is a complete pleasure. It simply doesn't get more sumptuous and voluptuous and vital than this. It's just so full of life and dynamism and complexity, so much so that it's honestly hard to describe. How about this: It's like going from the typical Western niche, which is a beautiful two-dimensional painting, to a full three-dimensional, living experience. I mean, seriously, the Russians have always been the best at emotional profundity, no? It's in their DNA. Must be the winters. I'm terrible at recognizing most notes in fragrances. I've gotten so confused over time trying to parse all the various aromachemicals involved. This one is quite tricky, because it's not like anything else I've smelled before. I'd say there's sweet-ish tobacco, something that smells like leather, but also a lot of herbal stuff going on as well that gives it a bitter edge. It's certainly thick and full, like a sap, which could be the immortelle. I can't help thinking of a wooden house in the rustic Russian countryside when I smell it. It's very evocative that way. Whether you like it or not, you will see and feel many things, and your brain, like mine, will be struggling to make associations that may not exist, unless you're Russian, perhaps. I noticed that the reviews below mention snus. I'm a daily snus user (the Swedish stuff), and I don't quite relate to that comparison. The tobacco in Young Cossack is more like a sweet, moist, unlit leafy tobacco to me. Snus is more of a ground, salty-sweet tobacco. I don't know. I also have AZ's Cuir de Russie, which is similarly extraordinary. I would buy more of her things, and plan to, but the price combined with the shipping time from Russia makes for impatient times. It doesn't help that the bottles are unusually tiny, even if they are chock full of dab-worthy brilliance. But if you've got the cash and the patience, and are looking for some seriously world-class perfume that can compete with literally anything out there and win, do check out Zworykina's wares. It's probably a travesty that her stuff is not more well-known internationally.

I consider myself lucky to have encountered this perfume at all in the form of a 1⁄4 ounce sample from a decant site - the last one mind you - which I savored for as long as possible until receiving a full bottle as a gift from my husband. Young Cossack set a standard of excellence for everything I experienced after. Good luck I say to the ones that could never create a world as convincing as this one. This selection by Anna Zworykina easily stands up to masterpieces by Bianchi and Histoires and possesses a rough quality that the others lack. Zworykina not only crafts each perfume by hand but extracts each ingredient from its source without modification* making this scent truly wild down to the DNA. Instead of looking at a scene through double walled glass - which I often come to feel because of the polished and distant nature of some perfumes - it's a fully immersive experience for better or worse. It’s the feeling of cuts and scrapes on your face from being pressed into the heather and the post reverberation of head trauma. To experience the abrasiveness contained in Young Cossack means an opportunity to live differently, less comfortably, more intensely. Young Cossack reveals something different in each season. Though a hard and heavy scent like this is usually categorized as a cold weather fragrance, in the heat it reveals a more horsey, drier, herbaceous experience. This is such a memorable and distinctive scent. In small doses it could be appropriate for couch sitting, but more suitable in larger doses outdoors. There is another fragrance I keep on the shelf next to this one - Bianchi’s Black Knight. They are more similar in concept than note listing, but part of the same world. Black Knight is more waxen and honeyed compared to Young Cossack which tells of direct brutal action while Black Knight is more of a memory or anticipation. Both share a quality of unwashed scalp, one of orris and one of costus. *I have nothing against synthetics, and I do not believe natural perfumery is superior to other methods. This speaks to the skill of Zworykina as a perfumer who is more of an exception than a rule.

Right now, I have no words. I'm sitting here outside bathing in Young Cossack, it's 1am, dark, warm-ish, the air is green and calm, noises are minimal, and Young Cossack radiates from my hand into my nose like a cartoon pie and I am in love with this dry down. Not your typical tobacco accord; the tobacco is dry like somebody's grandfather's and there's nothing synthetic about it; it's an unkempt man in the nicest of homes, Chesterfield chairs and antiquarian books, musty rugs, the rattly old windows are open and outside, a herb garden thrives. The agarwood in this is so well balanced and slightly honeyed I think, I think styrax? This perfume is extremely sophisticated, expensive smelling, and a little dreamy. It's taking me back to the first time I ever experienced something non designer and different and niche and new and induces those same passionate deep sighs. It's a perfume for perfume lovers, especially those who want dark, heavy, deep, with a hint of sweet and herbal. Love it.

I am soo late at reviewing this, it was one of the first Zworykinas to join my collection. While all of them bring me strong visuals, this one is unique as it's a full narrative film. A road movie. It starts in the chilly morning with a crisp, bitter blast of wormwood and galbanum. As the sun rises and heats up the fields, a sweet smell of herbs and tobacco take over. After some time, the journey continues into dense woods to finally end by the smokey camp fire. It takes me at least 6 hours to get there and the each part is equally pleasant. Often it lasts until the next morning. Even more gorgeous on my (male) partner, however that could even be possible. At first I had no idea what Äppelpaj meant with the "snus" smell, but I guess it's the sweet herbal part. It's so much more complex and herbal than snus smell, the tobacco is faint om me, herbs stronger. I love this and loathe snus. (But if you know a snus with immortelle in it, please let me know!!!)

Recording my first impressions of this fragrance. As others have said this is mainly about tobacco.. But it also has notes of cumin blended with herbs that give it some spicyness and a bit of sweetness. I also get some leather and a slight animalic vibe. This is such high quality and is quite impressive. I have the 10ml spray bottle EDP. Performance is impressive like most Anna Zworykina fragrances. A spray or two will do you for a while. I'm becoming a quick fan of AZs creations. I can see this one eventually making it into my top 5.

On my skin this fragrance is mainly about tobacco. It smells a lot like Swedish snus or moist powder tobacco. The cumin is quite strong as is the thyme and tarragon although they blend together seamlessly with the tobacco. There is also something that reminds me of a licorice powder from my childhood which also contained salmiac and peppercorn. It all comes together quite leathery and old fashioned. I imagine this is what a Swedish stable worker could have smelled like in the 19th century. Edit: In the dry-down on my skin the cumin and herbs I guess, have taken on an additional animalic quality aside from leather and I can smell soft goat hair. I find it quite interesting and intriguing.

Traversing Russian steppes on horseback For me, it consists of three parts: a dark, smoky horse leather saddle smell, wild herbs (wormwood, again) and mosses, and the dusty smell of dry soil (labdanum, again). Great story-telling from AZ. Whereas this might seem like a derivative work with notes being a permutation of what you can see in her other fragrances, I really think that this is the reference fragrance for her characteristic herbaceous-mossy-woody-dusty accord made of wormwood+labdanum. This DNA is very prevalent in her work but this is definitely her tour de force.

Sweet aromatic thyme in the opening with bitter herbaceous wormwood and tar leathery smokiness along with noticeable anisic nuances. After that, I detect immortelle with spicy fenugreek-like notes and tobacco. The tobacco and immortelle combo gets prominent in the drydown along with the smoky leather, the tobacco here feels dry, herbaceous and slightly sweet.