Perfecto Fino Cologne

I received a complementary 15ml of the eau de parfum from Czech & Speake, which I’ve almost run out of. I’ll definitely be buying a full bottle. Compared with my other favourite perfumes from Czech & Speake (Frankincense & Myrrh, Oxford & Cambridge, Spanish Cedar, and No. 88), Perfecto Fino is the odd one out. While the others are clean and soapy, Perfecto Fino is pungent, smoky, and skanky with strong sillage and excellent longevity (at least on my skin). Driven by tobacco, leather, bergamot, and labdanum, I find it unapologetically masculine and in many ways formal yet (if you like this sort of thing) at the same time warm, inviting, and reassuring—a massive hug of a favourite old jumper disguised as evening wear. I rate this as outstanding value for money at £160.00 for 100ml, given that other scents it compares with (in terms of impact and style and leathery/smoky intensity, rather than smelling alike) and that it matches in sillage and longevity include Victory by Boadicea the Victorious (£290.00 for 100ml), Fetish by Roja (£375 for 50ml), and Bois d’Ascese by Naomi Goodsir (£150.00 for 50ml), all of which are considerably more expensive by volume. Update 16 Feb 2022: This page has been changed to being a cologne version of the fragrance rather than the eau de parfum, with a new page created for the EdP (though the picture at the top of this page shows the EdP bottle). As far as I’m aware, Perfecto Fino was launched as an EdP only and has never been made in cologne strength. The reviews and votes on this page thus I think will all refer to the EdP.

Rarely does something this good turn up in 2020. Love the likes of Bel Ami, Knize 10, Quorum, Sycomore and Polo Ralph Lauren? Smoke & leather powerhouse fragrance lovers, this is one new scent that you need to at least sample. Perfecto Fino opens with what is quite possibly the most enormous thump of (birch) tar, ever used in a fragrance this side of the Millennium and the new age of ingredient restrictions. Smokey as a smouldering camp fire, it calms down after a good 30-45 minutes or so, releasing its tobacco, leather and woods combination. The extreme dry-down is smokey woods, likely vetiver, representing what remains of the preceding fire. The simplistic and quite cheap-looking bottle doesn't do the fragrance justice, as what is inside is unique and very nicely woven together. Even the packaging which is supposedly similar to a Central American cigar-box is very elegantly crafted. The bottle however resembles a potion bottle that was hastily put together in the back room of a very questionable medieval pharmacy. The scent is long lasting and projects well throughout the day. Its progression is very noticeable - you won't mistake this for a 'linear' scent. Pricing is a bit of a joke; it is considerably more expensive per ml than any other scent in the otherwise venerable C&S range.

Intensely smoky, with a strong leather note – I feel as if it's a grey autumn afternoon, dusk is falling, I'm outside walking beneath birch trees amidst fallen leaves, wearing a leather jacket, and there is a big blazing bonfire somewhere nearby! Love this, but not sure I'd ever buy it. But I respect it as an aromatic and holistic experience. I am a big fan of smokey bonfire smell in real life, and have often longed to smell like one, and this is exactly what I'm getting here. Update, 4 hours later: I was waiting to see what happened during the drydown. Not much to report, alas. All that remains is faint smokiness. No sweetness, no cinnamon, and oddly – compared with previous reviewers – longevity is somewhat lacking. This is now merely the faintest of skin scents on me, and there is next to no sillage. (I used not quite the entire 1ml sample on my neck and inner elbows.) Perhaps I'm anosmic, but I don't really think so. Nevertheless, it really is a fantastic, evocative fragrance, in its own peculiar way.

Love this scent. Very masculine, very smoky, very leathery. Opening is quite medicinal and quite addictive Strong projection for the first hour or so, almost overpowering. I imagine a confident, self assured man 30+ wearing this. This is not a fragrance for the younger generation. When wearing this the air around me smells warmer and almost has a humid feel to it. A unique and individual scent which is unapologetically masculine. Scent 9/10 Projection 9/10 Sillage 8/10 Longevity 7/10

Think of Clint Eastwood in High Plains Drifter. How should he smell? Like this, I imagine. Smoky, leathery, masculine. Very rugged. Nothing like any other Czech & Speake fragrance, and yet still recognisable as coming from that house. People like this on me. I love it.