Mahon Leather

I must admit, I’m not usually a fan of leather fragrances (still, I've got a few), but today I wanted to buy something from Floris. After sampling a few, I found myself unexpectedly falling in love with Mahon Leather which became my fragrance #120 right away. From the very beginning, the leather note is unmistakably present and dominant, yet softened in a refined way. This isn’t a heavy, dirty or animalic leather—rather, it feels light, airy, almost sweet. The brightness of citrus on one side, and most likely the jasmine/saffron/sandalwood combo on the other, round off the sharpness of the leather beautifully. Perhaps I’m influenced by Floris’ centuries-old heritage, but this fragrance isn't definitely modern. Instead, it carries the aura of sophistication and tradition—think of a well-dressed gentleman in a double-breasted suit. It even conjures images of an elegant Englishman grooming his horse, polishing fine leather tack before heading out for a hunt. There is an undeniable old-money quality to it—timeless, dignified, never ostentatious. Despite this classic character, Mahon Leather is perfectly wearable in a contemporary setting. Projection and sillage are moderate, making it an excellent office fragrance. Because it avoids the animalic, “dirty” side of leather, it can easily appeal even to those who generally prefer more crowd-pleasing scents. If I were to compare it in spirit rather than in scent, I’d place it in the same category of wearability as TdH. Like TdH, it’s the kind of fragrance you simply can’t go wrong with—but unlike TdH, which is quite common, Mahon Leather feels unique and rare. That uniqueness is something I value greatly, especially in a world where certain perfumes (Baccarat Rouge 540, Aventus, Megamare, and the like) have become so viral that they are almost omnipresent. As for the presentation, the packaging is refined: a simple yet professional-looking cardboard box and a bottle in that unmistakably English style. The glass feels weighty and substantial in hand, and the sprayer is efficient, if not exceptional. The only weak point is the cap, which feels somewhat cheap—lightweight plastic, a little disappointing compared to the rest of the presentation (considering I paid 200 swiss francs for it), even if it does grip securely. Personally, I still prefer the bottles from Penhaligon’s, which feel a touch more luxurious. In summary, Mahon Leather surprised me. It’s refined, elegant, and distinct—exactly what I would expect from a house like Floris. While it may not scream modernity, it whispers timeless class.

Awhile back a friend told me about a sample sale that Floris was having. 5 x 2ml samples for $7.95. Hmmmm the chance to explore 5 new fragrance for under 8 bucks? I really didn't know much about Floris at the time, but did I mention, 5 new fragrance for under 8 bucks?? Yes, I had to try Floris out and I am VERY glad I did. Mahon Leather was the first sample I tired out of the bunch and it was love at first sniff. This is such an elegant and classy scent, that has a little of everything I like. Leather, barbershop, boozy, warm, spicy, sweetness and soapy cleanness. I am not a big floral or citrus fan, but these are so well blended in this composition that they add depth vs overpower the scent. Mahon Leather is a masterpiece IMO. On another review I talked about fragrances bringing back memories. When I was a little boy sweetened cereal was a treat for my bother and I. It was for rare occasions, so we savored them. I vividly remember being hunched over the breakfast table with a fresh bowl of Frosted Flakes cereal. Loving the taste, texture and even the scent of the cereal. Mahon Leather brings back that memory. I am not saying ML smells exactly like FF, but I am saying I get a similar vibe. Every once in a while while wearing this I am transported back to being that little boy again with a fresh bowl of Frosted Flakes in front of me and loving life. I get good projection and great longevity out of ML on my skin. It works great in any occasion, casual or formal IMO. I wear this in jeans and in a suit. I love this one so much I just purchased a backup bottle and moved it into my top 5 favorite fragrances. Herod my be challenged in the future as my signature scent. Bottom line, if you like leather scents try a sample of Mahon Leather. Check out the Floris Sample Sale. I would also recommend you try Leather Oud and Honey Oud in this line. I will do reviews of those in the future as well.

Review based on usage of a dab-on sample (not sure if dab vs spray makes a difference). This is really a very nice scent. I had smelled some Floris scents in a local store and they didn't excite me, so when I received a carded sample of this I just put it with my others and forgot about it. Having been on a bit of a leather kick recently, when I saw this in my samples box I decided to give it a whirl. I found this to be a pleasant and extremely wearable leather scent. It has a slight citrus+clean jasmine note as it opens, which quickly gives way to a gentle leather with a rich sweetness, which I thought was vanilla until I looked up the notes, so probably tonka. This was sweeter than, for example Cuirs (Carner Barcelona) but not quite as sweet as Cuir Ottomon (Parfum d'Empire). After a few minutes the iris note came forward (I am just loving leather/iris combos of late!) making this a pleasant sweetly floral leather. Later on a woody muskiness joins and the florals take a bow and exit stage left, leaving a slightly sweet (tonka?) woody leather drydown with just a hint of sweet musk. This was a lot sweeter than I had anticipated, it is not mega sweet and not really a "sweet perfume", but it was sweeter than I expected. It was also a lot nice than I expected, I do like this! Sillage was quite gentle, longevity moderate. Oh and this is DEFINTELY UNISEX!! It is packaged, listed, named and marketed for men but this is to me completely unisex.

What a beautiful, easy to wear, extremely unisex leaning towards feminine leather. This is in the vein of Knize Ten with a luminous, camphoraceous leather note like brand new leather goods--or newly polished. It's not black but rather a soft grey held together by an animalic (saffron?) amber that recalls more a beautiful, expensive driving glove than car seats or a handbag--it is supple and it's been worn, and there is human warmth suggested with the amber. The fragrance warms up with with time into an ambery leather with light white floral notes (jasmine?) layered over a rich iris, and sandalwood--perhaps its the effect of the vetiver, but I would never classify this as a vetiver fragrance. Not too heavy in the heat, it's a gorgeous fall perfume that increases in projection as it warms up. After 3 hours it's still detectable with about 3 inches of projection and lasts all day. This is a satisfying fragrance. This definitely fits in with a group of floral leathers in which I include Knize Ten, Cuir Cannage and Cuir de Russie. If Knize Ten is the least floral and most masculine, Mahon Leather is the lightest of these more feminine leathers, then Cuir Cannage (dark heart contrast with orange blossom white florals), the Cuir de Russie (dark heart and dark iris florals).

**Aristocratic, antique leather saddle, just washed with saddle soap** This is a truly stunning leather, but not for those that only love dirty, animalic leather. To me, this smells like an old, high-quality, antique leather saddle that is still in use and has just been deep cleaned with saddle soap, giving off a fresh, powdery, floral leather with just a hint of musky, animalic notes that are just too deeply embedded in the saddle to get out completely. It's an aristocratic leather, certainly. This is what King George III's gloves would have smelt like. This is perfumed and powdered leather in the most ancestrally-defined elite way. This has 'old money' vibes through-and-through. But not the jet setting, mercantile, Monaco-esque 'old' money that was made a few generations ago. If you're looking for that vibe go elsewhere. This is proper, English, noble old money. Just like the English aristocracy, it's outdated, but that's part of its charm. This gem is a rare find these days, so grab it whenever you can. Fair warning though: you'll probably be competing against me me for it.

Wow, what a delicious scent! Starts with a burst of floral notes slightly citric, citric goes away very fast and gives way to notes of leather, after a few minutes it is possible to distinguish between jasmine floral notes, and then the saffron also appears in a remarkable way. The evolution not stop, I feel like every minute a new note was added to fragrance. I feel the tonka bean appears, making this rich, resinous, more dense and sweet as aroma. The floral notes, leather and resins, turns on my skin, and at times some notes stand out more than others. An hour and a half, maybe two hours after you apply the perfume settles on the skin, keeping the main notes leather and tonka bean and jasmine in the background, noticeable but smooth. In the end I feel the aroma and creamy and less sweet, but still very rich, I think perhaps the sandalwood acting here, it remains so for a while and will soften and eventually disappear.

A beautiful and very wearable leather, sweetened by Tonka and with a perfectly balanced interplay between leather, jasmine and saffron. It is a soft, warm and sophisticated leather, but not soft and romantic as e.g. Cuir Ottoman (Parfum d'Empire). For some reason I associate Mahon leather with the beautiful saddle room in a very well managed, local, public stable. I recall the humble but proud horsewomen and horsemen at various ages I have met there. Probably vetiver and sandalwood has a role to play here, bringing in a woody touch to the composition. For me Mahon Leather is a must have.

Colin Maillard's review is (as usual) impeccable. To add, this is a delightful fragrance - one that I am enjoying wearing. It is gentle, yet projects well... I am using a sample, and so am dabbing the liquid on my forearms and the base of my neck. Working in my office, the scent infuses the room lightly, and get lots of compliments ("it smells nice in here"). Still, in line with Colin's comment - it is a little boring for me...

A very debonair leather which envelops the wearer in a rapturous mantle of suede, warm spices and uplifting soft florals. Resolutely genderless, this scent has a hushed, understated quality that darts across the invisible boundary between bitter and sweet; relaxed and sophisticated. An absolute triumph amongst leathers which, in the past 10 or 15 years, are now a dime a dozen.

Wow this is fantastic !!! Boozy saffron and jasmine on a dry and waxy orris base with loads and loads of leather. On me, the dryness is very toned-down compared to what I've read in other reviews and there's a very strong underlying sweetness from the tonka bean and amber base I believe. I feel like I need a bottle immediately...

Soft and elegant leather scent. Not the heavy, oriental, intensively reeking leather (like e.g. Parfums d'Empire). Very wearable and distinguished.

I sprung for a whole bottle of this when it first came out, and realized when I reached for it tonight that I've barely worn it. I can't remember if I had a sample first or if it was a total blind buy. It's not that it's horrible, or that I don't like it, but the oud fragrances hit the market nearly minutes after Mahon Leather did and I got caught up. It could happen to anyone. Mahon Leather's problem, if any, is that it smells like leather furniture. Specifically those round soft leather ottomans that were popular in the 1950's, and cheaper then too. Or in the "world of imports" stores in the 1960's and 1970's. I seldom venture into furniture stores anymore, so I don't know if they're still selling them, but I sort of doubt it. Nothing moderne about those things. But they smelled good. However, I think most perfume buyers may always associate leather, especially brown leather (and with all the brown motifs on the Floris bottle) with brown or tan leather jackets. Well those people will be disappointed, especially if they've had to pay full retail. Floris Mahon Leather is all about furniture leather, with some dry non-sweet pipe tobacco thrown in. Or even very expensive cigar tobacco. Tobacco isn't a listed note here, but Mahon Leather came out a year or so before perfumers discovered listing tobacco would sell. I smell it, and it's not the vetiver. It could have been helped out with more vetiver, and labdaman too, but then it would probably been an entirely different scent. As I said, it isn't horrible, but so many oud fragrances cover this territory better.

This is definitely a unisex scent - boozy and warm with a hint of leather and iris in the drydown. It develops so interestingly on my skin. I miss the floral opening that others have noted; instead, for me, this scent opens as a gourmand and the first few minutes are a wash of boozy caramel. At this point, the scent is sweet and a little bit syrupy. In fact, the first hour our two reminds me distinctly of Dries Van Noten par Frederic Malle, which I perceive as syrup-drenched belgian walffles (but only the most chic and refined belgian waffles that $200+ can buy, of course). After about two hours, the boozy caramel notes burn off and the leather emerges. It's a soft, almost suede-like leather - a pair of vintage driving gloves, rather than full-on briefcase or riding tack. It's only here, at hour three or four, that I begin to perceive the floral notes. I get no jasmine, but a gently powdery iris persists well into a slight musky drydown. I sampled this in concert with Leather Oud and Honey Oud and this was by far my favorite and the most wearable of the three. Although it has more leather than the Leather Oud, it's well-mannered and distinguished. It's slightly less sweet than the Honey Oud, which is a positive in my opinion. All in all, a well-balanced fragrance that, while not revolutionary, is very wearable and refined.

Let's take a look at some considerations: 1. Wow, what a difficult, difficult, difficult and really difficult perfume. Anything you can imagine about being difficult about a fragrance won't even come close to what Mahon Leather's real difficulty is. 2. It excites me in the world of niches, the creations that I believe that only those who created it and about 7 other people in the world appreciate such creation. Something eccentric, out of the ordinary, that mistreats, stomps, spits and rolls up any standard square model, beaten and closely recognizable. 3. Jasmine plus Citrus, imagine, the dirtiest and most amazing thing in the world, it comes to smell like a stuffy cloth and then in a matter of minutes everything is clean again and then it gets dirty, filthy again. 4.Leather with Vetiver and Saffron?! Smell of fresh asphalt, more cloth used after a safe fuck with the smell of skin, fluids, secretions and that "fundum" that only those who allow themselves to feel after such an act. 5. When all seems to be lost, behold, an oriental odor emanates, with some sweet ones, something of people who have blue blood and went to spend a vacation in some Middle Eastern country. Warm, well behaved and rich; thus says goodbye to Mahon Leather's eccentricity. Don't try to understand it.

This scent is Special 127 all over again for me, but from some other epoch, a later one. British Empire. Maybe it takes place in India. He defeated everyone and everything again, he smells of bloody blood, forest and things leather (not horse skin though... I think), he brought a flower for his lady, and she was glad again.

It opens with a jasmine accord with citrus and a touch of iris, then you get a luxurious plush realistic leather accord like you are in a leather store. After a while this gets slightly powdery and sweet and a little woodier, the jasmine makes a re-appearance here too. Smells very nice and well behaved.

Dry, smoky vetiver, wood, powder, soap. Very nice!

On me, this is extremely powdery, and the iris is at the forefront. It smells very soapy. I wish I had the same experience as the other reviewers, but I'm really just barely smelling any leather at all. After several hours, a vaguely mahogany accord appears from the base notes melding with the iris. It's interesting, but the iris note is still definitely front and center with far too much prominence. It's not terrible by any means, but it's not what I was hoping for at all.

Leather rubberized! Reminds me of rubber products. It is very elegant, balanced. But it would be better less saffron and more tonka

This is a very nice blend, but as has been stated in other reviews it is somewhat understated. The leather is the strongest note and thankfully it is not that common suede that seems to be in everything these days. Instead the leather is more particulate/drier and stronger, though not birch. I can detect some of the other notes but they are all subordinate. It is strong enough so that you get wafts of the leather from time to time but this is definitely not In the same league as vintage The Knize Ten In terms of strength. UPDATE: After a couple of hours it's a lot closer to The Knize Ten but still at least a bit more refined.

I completely agree with ALFAROM 's review: it's a soft sweet-ish leather fragrance, unisex, nicely crafted, modern and classic at the same time, none will say it's bad or weird or eccentric. Perhaps boring? It's nice, starting off with a very short citrussy whiff followed by something vaguely camphoraceous, and then the heart of the fragrance, with powdery ionones, tonka beans and creamy sandalwood. Maybe a hint of tobacco too. I like it but I'm not going crazy for this one. I have a bottle, 'though, and right because of its bland appeal on me, I'm very likely to choose it those days I feel undecided about what to spray

A gentlemanly leather. A no-surprise leather with the right doses of sweetness, earthiness and soapiness that drive it right away into classic-masculine territories. I like it but, somehow, I feel like I really have nothing to say about it. Kind of a mild positive reaction that, after several testings during the past bunch of years, still leave me sort of uninspired. I guess I just like it but it's definitely not love. With that said, if you're up for a well behaved, groomed and moderately complex old-school masculine leather, this is a valid option. rating: 6.5-7/10

highly floral leather, the lighter side of knize ten, discreet and classy...hope it won't fizzle out like its sampler! edit: moderate sillage!