Corteggio

For me this is one of the best male fragrances released in many, many years! The scent is just incredibly beautiful and full citruses, aromatics, florals and an absolutely stunning musk note. Naughton & Wilson promised to bring something special to the table with their long awaited summery, citrusy offering. They hit the mark on just about every level! It's sparkling and yet a little powdery, aromatic, a little floral and oh so musky. John Stephen knows his audience and produced a piece of art that I'm still trying to get my head around fully after several weeks and wearing every other day! I'm not scrambled because of the complexity of the profile, although it is certainly that! No, I just keep having to reset my brain because of how damn good this juice is and how well it does it's thing. Is it reminiscent of vintage mens perfumery? Very much. Is it modern enough for today's man? Absolutely. Does it perform? Oh yes. What they've managed to create here is a product that pretty much any man above the age of 25 will appreciate anywhere he wants to be and at anytime. Whatever the scenario you'll be doing it in style and a distinctive, classy individuality. For me it's not closely reminiscent of any other aroma that I know of yet several now spring to mind after many weeks of wearing and catching different nuances through out that time. It's wonderfully distinctive, how often can you say that about a modern perfume....or in fact about anything at all in the world we live in! Although initially created for the warmer months Corteggio has surpassed it's brief by a country mile. From other wearers and comments from enquiries they've all been in complete agreement that it's perfect to wear all year round. In the warm sun it'll shine for you. In the rainy, grey days and even when there is white stuff on the ground you'll be bringing the sunshine with you when you spray this. Corteggio will turn heads of men and women alike. Friends and family of all ages and facets have asked what I'm wearing and where to purchase it! This is such a versatile scent, suitable to wear with shorts and a tee on a boiling day whether you are in your back garden having a beer or snoozing on a sunbed in a far off land. Dressed in jeans and a sweater or/and a sports jacket, this is more than elegant and rounded enough for those casual days of shopping, cinema with the kids and all that a family man must endure! 😆 Suits etc for the Office, boardroom, working in a store of some description, no problem at all. Finally, finest clothing for dates, meals out, special occasions and the like. This will work it's heart out for you and make you stand out as the stylish, well put together individual you are. Performance, ha! Several sprays of this and you are set for the day.....or night....or both! It's strong, not to the point that it'll kill anything within a few metres but your presence will be noted and greeted with quiet, pure admiration and a knowing consensus that you are a man that knows what it's all about. It'll outlast any event you are physically capable of enduring with reserves leftover for when you awake the following morning. So, you've probably gathered that I quite like this product! My cards on the table, I'm a bit of a Naughton & Wilson fan these days, not because they're new and trendy but because they've consistently delivered on incredible quality, vintage styled mens perfumery for the modern times. The performance is a minimum of above average across their offerings and the price is excellent for such creative, well crafted artisinal products. N & W have truly earned their stripes and deserve all the success they are now receiving and will continue to do so, whilst deservingly being regarded as fine perfumers for the distinctive, discerning modern man. At the end of the day the whole range is outstanding but with Corteggio they've quite possibly gone to another level, one reserved for timeless scents that will stand the test of time, setting the bar for others to try and follow. I know it sounds like I'm blowing smoke up the backsides of the company but that's really not the case. I have hundreds of scents from vintage to modern, designer to niche, budget to bank busting, from all genres but especially old styles such as Fougeres, Barbershop, chypres and powerhouses from long gone times! I understand and appreciate quality. Of course it's perfumery and subjective but with my hand on heart the company, their products and their ethos are excellent. Filling much needed void! For me, they absolutely hit the spot and are worthy of your time, consideration, trust and hard earned money. A new benchmark!

CORTEGGIO is the recent release from the British niche house Naughton & Wilson (Mr Smelly77 is Dan Naughton). N&W is a traditional British gentleman’s niche perfume house in the vein of Floris and Geo F Trumper, though (in my view), a cut above both. CORTEGGIO is a citrus-forward fragrance but like none I’ve ever encountered in decades of wearing and smelling men’s citrus offerings. This is a distinct, refined, elegant, elevated fragrance playing on the same field as Dior Eau Sauvage and Chanel Pour Monsieur. It opens with grapefruit, lemon and bergamot, and there’s nothing surprising about that opening. But what makes CORTEGGIO utterly unique is ... wait for it ... powder. Yes, powder. There is no powder in the note listing but some of the mid- and base notes (perhaps the musk) create a distinct gentlemanly powder that rides right along with the citrus. I don’t know of a single citrus fragrance I’ve ever smelled that is a powdery citrus. Today the hype is around “juicy,” fizzy,” or “photorealistic” citrus notes. This is none of that. The image the fragrance brought immediately to my mind, and I mean within about 10 seconds after application, was the gentleman 60 years ago wearing a black suit and white shirt and matching tie with a red carnation in his lapel boutonniere hole. He is wearing an early citrus fragrance, perhaps an aftershave, complemented by talcum powder. Being a gentleman, his fragrance is not an independent component but part of the entire ensemble, which includes bearing, manners, attire, social status, and even character. This is the gentleman of the first half of the 20th century. This is the gentleman CORTEGGIO summons. CORTEGGIO is not a “beast mode”fragrance for the simple reason that this house gestures toward the idea of the classical gentlemen, and in those days, a “beast mode” fragrance would identify the man as a beast, not a gentleman. CORTEGGIO will not appeal to teenage TiketyTokers or diabetically gourmond twentysomethings, and these are not its target market. That market is the serious gentleman, whose fragrance says: “I take myself seriously, and I expect you to take me seriously.” I own every N&W fragrance, and this house most definitely has a DNA and no matter the notes and accords, every one of their fragrances can be described as: understated refinement. Our time is marked by an explosion of gourmands and blues and “freshies” and experimental, revolutionary androgynous niche fragrances. Some of these are excellent; some are disappointing; some are disgusting. In this fragrance climate N&W is a deeply counterrevolutionary house, essentially updating the gentlemanly masculinity of 30 to 70 years ago. The N&W perfumer is John Stephen of Boadicea the Victorious fame, and whatever he and Dan Naughton are cooking up in the British Isles, the secret sauce has captured in a bottle part of what it means to be a classic gentleman.