Spanish Cedar Eau de Parfum

I am floored by Spanish Cedar. It's another portal to childhood memories, leaving much longing when I feel so tethered to the unrelenting locomotive of life. When we are children, there is less noise to distract us from our fine tuned senses, sponging up everything with our eager minds, so we can discern, without the burden of analysis, our surroundings. It's something that we should not let the ravages of age erase from our memory. It begins with a quenching burst of citrus and galbanum with the top notes from the woods immediately present. Then the most beautiful plum pudding accord comes in. I grew up having plum pudding/Christmas pudding as a child, and here it is in the heart, underlined with smoky, clove-accented woods. The flood of nostalgia bowls me over. I agree with others that this can feel like drinking mulled wine or a hot toddy—I imagine doing so in a forest cabin in early winter, the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, with sunlight filtering through yellow larches and bare deciduous trees. As it dries further, I pick up guaiac wood and its thick, granular, almost mimosa-like qualities beyond its rosy smokiness and the sweetened cedar is dry, and it feels like I am by a fireplace at dusk with the one I love, reminiscing about our childhood Christmases. This is some special stuff—one of the best woody scents that I've discovered in some time.

A clear and obvious predecessor to the more recent Perfecto Fino by the same brand, Czech & Speake Spanish Cedar is less about the tobacco and more about the woodier aspects. It also has more zing throughout its development due to the bergamot and berries; the colour theme of the bottle/packaging is most appropriate as a result. In its deep dry down, Spanish Cedar leans quite masculine with the alluring and warm birch tar note. The scent projects surprisingly well, yet it does not overpower or get cloying at any time. This makes it ideal for year-round wear, including the warmer months. What is most commendable about this scent is the lack of any sweetness whatsoever. This is not your run-of-the-mill designer scent of the post-2010 era. Instead, it stands high above current trends, as have most of Czech & Speake's scents. All in all, a high-end, long-lasting niche chypre, sans any sickly-sweet accords. Worth sampling at the very least.

This is my second Czech & Speake fragrance I've tried (No88 EDP, splendid) and it's just as bloody marvellous. The opening is an amazing heavy fruity blast - a hot toddy, a mulled wine, a big glass of cola with a couple of drops of clove oil shaken in. I can understand why some may find it a bit overpowering but I'm bowled over by it. As this amazing spicy fruitiness eases off the rich resinous woody notes come to the fore. Cedar and sandalwood with a heavy smoky tar. This isn't acrid as it's held together with a smooth balsam like smell (the galbanum?) and the last whiffs of the plum and blackberry. Longevity is very good; after about 8 hours it becomes a soft skin scent. Sillage is moderate, though that's probably because I only put on a tiny amount. I have some more Czech & Speake smellies to try and can only hope they're as good as this. Spanish Cedar, excellent.

I tried Spanish Cedar on skin as well as paper. On skin it opens with a very beautiful, photo realistic cedar wood just the way you smell it in a sawmill (in the best possible way) accentuated by blackberry, cloves and Galbanum. It turns slightly smoky later. It reminded me of the saw mill and the smell of wood little away from my school. There's sandalwood too and the swirls of beautiful, faint woody smoke makes this one truly exceptional. Just as Perfecto Fino is leather this is woody and mild smoky. Imo this is not for party wear or casual wear. This is for people who are focused on building their own lives and can be seen in museums, yoga & meditation classes, violin & piano classes etc. Drydown is woody with faint plum and spices in the background. Its beautiful. Its nostalgic. These are memories. Bottled.

Opens full on cloves and galbanum, that will combine with the bergamot to give a light impression of mandarin in the background. Galbanum will be present during the whole journey. Shortly after, the cedar will step in with a light sweetness support (plum?), and a hint of vanillic woodiness (sandalwood? Guaiacwood maybe? who knows...), giving somewhat an impression of tobacco. It will stay linear like that afterwards. No news of the blackberry. Overall a very interesting fragrance of quite simple structure, but creative. I love it, but it might very well be too edgy for some, so not a safe blind buy. Best worn during colder days.