Cuir de Russie

Gigi, thank you for your fantastic review!

Review was from a precious sample from a mid-20th century bottle, for what it's worth! The version I've smelled of this clearly owes its lineage to Mitsouko and Guerlain's own scent simply titled "Chypre." The overall effect, to me, is of some smoky, delicious birch tar incorporated into a vat of Mitsouko...which is a lovely experience! It does read as somewhat of a "flanker" of Mitsouko because the peachy chypre background is definitely there (Mitsouko en Cuir?). It's a beautiful, smoky, animalic scent in its own right, though I strongly prefer Chanel's Cuir de Russie which just feels more shaped and calibrated to be its own unique perfume. the Guerlain CdR just kind of makes me want to smell Mitsouko or, even better, the later Coque d'Or which has a certain leathery to it that is more plush and luxurious.

Fragrance Review For Cuir De Russie By Guerlain Top Notes Lavender Rosemary Thyme Middle Notes Iris Styrax Labdanum Benzoin Birch Base Notes Amber Musk Civet Vetiver Oak Moss Resins Somewhere in the long passage of time, this Guerlain fragrance has been forgotten and it's seldom mentioned by even the most diehard Guerlain perfumistas. I had the honor of smelling and inhaling the little remnants of this fragrance at the Osmotheque in Versailles when I was there last year. They have cataloged and collected every perfume ever created and the classics are marvelously displayed as museum pieces. This one is in a glass bottle that looks like an oil jar. Cuir de Russie (Russian Leather) is not to be mistaken with the Chanel version. This came before, and in fact, this is a 19th century perfume! It was composed in 1872. This was long before aldehydes, and curiously, even before Guerlain's Jicky! As such this is a very ancient smelling aroma, and has nothing in common with today's modern perfumes. I have smelled Jicky and it's the big attraction at the Osmotheque but I was fascinated and drawn to Cuir de Russie. This smells like nothing I've ever smelled before in my entire life. It was also very freaky to smell this and think: "Bal a Versailles!". Bal A Versailles was not released until 1962, by then the middle of the 20th century, and should not have anything in common with a perfume oil from 1872. And yet it smells a bit like Bal a Versailles. They share some of the same notes in common and some of the textures: musky, leathery, powdery, iris, woodsy. There is a lavender and rosemary pairing at the opening which hits your nose and is quite strong. I love rosemary and this was a gorgeous rosemary. This is the same rosemary and also iris found in Bal. You are transported into the countryside, the south of France, Provence. It smells like actually walking around in a horse ranch or farm. The scent of birch wood is also evocative of being outdoors. This perfume is therefore pastoral and has that barn yard aspect. The flowers come and go and the true nature of the scent is revealed: musk. A real civet secretion dominates this scent. When I smelled it while I could detect the rosemary, the lavender and the birch wood, the musky civet was taking over it, as if it was making itself comfortable in the barn, sleeping on the ground. It didn't really smell too powdery, although because of the iris there was a little powder. It is terribly musky, and has that "dirty unbathed animal" smell. And the Body Odor thing was even bigger because this is a scent from 1872! So while others at the Osmotheque didn't really want to smell this for too long, I was very captivated by the essence. It felt like somehow Jean Desprez had smelled it too and came up with the idea for Bal a Versailles, which would be a more "wearable" version of 1872 Cuir de Russie. This is an equestrienne cologne for the Cossacks of Russia and the Ukraine, the master horsemen of history. It smells like men on horseback. The saddle, the men's boots, the riding crop, the reins. It's all here. It smells masculine, and it has a seductiveness and prowess like you're right there on the horse with the dark haired Russian. This smells like a cologne for Leo Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, Dostoyovesky and the Russian Tsars. This smells like being out in the Russian countryside. It's sexy musk, it's a commanding perfume. I am so overwhelmed by this fragrance. I don't ride horses but I do like to do it in my imagination. Fragrances fires up my imagination. I am so emotionally attached to fragrances and I always feel like they are my friends, taking me to places I can't always go to in the real world or they are a time machine and take me to different centuries. I wish this fragrance can be reformulated and brought into today's modern perfumery. This is absolutely fantastic.

a well written and picturesque review.......the scent poem that you wove was alluring and it took me into te fragrance in as much as one can as a reader.....thank yo for your review...I am an animalic scent lover and this one seems tantalizing to say the least. I wish so many of our "modern" fragrances could be more individuated by the inclusion of the "old" classic headier notes. So much of todays scents are like DE oderants......not enhancing our own.

The "Mitsouko" smelling version -was a remake Jacques Guerlain did in 1935. It is not the original from 1872 by Aimé Guerlain. Jacques actually used Mitsouko as an ingredient in his Cuir de Russie version.