Cuoium

A year ago I wrote an impression of this fragrance, and my conclusion at the time was that it was probably the most difficult, and possibly the worst, fragrance I had ever smelled. Today, I own a bottle and absolutely adore it. So what is Cuoium about? Animalic, smoky, leathery, floral, and musky. There’s also something deeply nostalgic about Cuoium for me. It reminds me of visiting an uncle when I was a kid in the 90s. He was a top lawyer and politician. His home office looked like something straight out of The Godfather; Don Corleone.. The room smelled like cigarette smoke and ashes, expensive leather furniture, old wooden shelves, vintage law books, dim lighting, and a bar full of whisky bottles. There was no air conditioning, just a ceiling fan pushing around the humid tropical air. You could smell the sweat of my uncle, the leather, the smoke, the wood. Cuoium brings me right back to that office The opening is very animalic and smoky, almost pungent. There’s a manure-like nuance that Alessandro Gualtieri has mentioned many times in his rare interviews when describing some of his favorite smells. It feels dirty, old, and worn-out. Bitter, sweaty, animalic, like raw skin and leather. Someone described it as “a hyena wearing a leather collar,” down below. It’s extremely masculine, raw, and primal. But that aggressive animalic note starts to lower in volume after a while and becomes much more pleasant, iike an old leather couch that a hyena sat on a few minutes ago. The smokiness has a cigarette ash vibe to it. Very old-school, Peaky Blinders style. It adds a rugged masculinity and gives the fragrance a lot of character. As the minutes pass, an undeniable violet note begins to appear. This is where the fragrance suddenly becomes more classic and wearable. The violet gives it a refined elegance that even makes the scent somewhat unisex. I could absolutely imagine a very well-put woman wearing this, perhaps an older woman with presence, wearing black, super confident. I actually have a great anecdote about this. At a fragrance event, I met an older woman whose signature scent was Cuoium. She was buying her third bottle that day. She told us the fragrance felt like an extension of herself, and she even joked that her grave would probably end up smelling like Cuoium. Honestly, I could see that. Another anecdote: I have yet to encounter a woman who dislikes this fragrance on a man. I’ve received many compliments from women when wearing it. They seem to love the raw masculinity of it. About the leather: yes, there is leather, but I personally wouldn’t call it the dominant note. The smokiness, the animalic facets, and even the violet stand out more than the leather itself. There’s also a synthetic dark woody compound mixed with patchouli that reminds me a lot of Terroni. That’s why Cuoium sometimes feels like Terroni’s cousin. Now the drydown . It becomes muskier and metallic—like old oxidized metal, almost like an antique metal rug or object. Interestingly, this metallic effect resembles the fragrance’s cap. This isn’t the first time an Orto Parisi fragrance does this. Brutus, Bergamask, Risvelium, Seminalis, and even Megamare all develop some type of metallic character in the drydown. Each one has a different metallic nuance. For example: Brutus dries down with a coppery metallic note. Seminalis feels more like aluminum. Cuoium leans toward an oxidized metal type of smell. Performance-wise, there isn’t much to complain about. Longevity is nuclear. However, projection is more controlled than people might expect. It’s not Megamare-level projection. Cuoium actually feels quite airy in the air. Up close it smells intense, but in the air it becomes lighter and more diffusive, As for versatility, this fragrance is far more flexible than people claim. It actually works very well in warm weather. I’m not the first one to say this; many reviewers online have mentioned the same thing. People often see smoke or incense in a fragrance and immediately label it as “winter-only,” but that’s not how it works. The same thing happens with Black Afgano. People say it’s a winter fragrance, while in true, it synergies in warm weather better than in the cold. Just be mindful of the number of sprays. Both fragrances have an airy quality and some freshness that makes them adaptable. What else can be said about this? Some people even say Risvelium is a winter fragrance, LMAO. Conclusion: My opinion on Cuoium completely changed over time. I did a full 180 on this fragrance. Now I see it as a masterpiece. That said, you probably need a certain presence or aura to wear it properly. I’d say it suits someone 30 years old or older. Also, the price-to-performance ratio is excellent, especially if you find it discounted like I did. 9.5/10

I've been using leather fragrances for over 20 years, and luckily that experience enables me to detect which notes/compounds are used in Cuoium. Right off the bat, I can tell that there's no civet, castoreum or hyraceum used here. Civet is very sharp, fecal and indolic, while castoreum is oily, resinous and leathery often with a urinous undertone. Hyraceum (hyrax) is dry, dusty, mineral and urinous and extremely sharp. So none of these animalics are used here. What we have in Cuoium is something fatty, skin-warm, slightly musky rather than sharp or dirty; and it is definitely sour tangy above all; which is the hallmark of Animalis. 💯 Animalis is a synthetic animalic base developed by Firmenich, and it gives off those warm-skin like undertones or warm-fur roudness with a sour fatty leathery depth. Now Cuoium is a leather fragrance that's built around a Russian leather accord (Birch tar) or cade oil, which are both rich in phenolic compounds. Birch tar smells smoother and more leathery, with smoky, tarry, slightly sweet facets that read as classic Russian leather. Cade oil is harsher and more medicinal, with sharper phenolic smoke, bitterness, and a drier, sometimes sour edge that can feel more aggressive. In short, birch tar gives polished saddle leather, while cade oil gives raw, scorched hide and smoke. Which is why I believe cade oil was used in Cuoium. 🌫️ So I'm certain by the scent profile of Cuoium that it contains cade oil and animalis, and there's a deep woodiness too in it; which gives you a a smoky slightly sour animalic leather fragrance with woodiness and slight earthiness. It definitely doesn't have saffron (the king of spices) which is a classic ingredient in leather accords. Saffron gives a luxurious sweetness and honeyed warmth with a polished suede-like effect in a leather accord; and that is definitely not the case with Cuoium which is ultra dry with zero sweetness! 🪵 Cuoium is extremely well-blended and the hallmark of that is that it is hard to dissect the individual notes; i'm sure it contains much more notes but it is very well-blended so it's really hard to pick them apart. I'm also extremely happy that such leather fragrances exist as this is a true leather fragrance where the leather accord stays with you from the beginning to the end, and it is dark and a very serious fragrance with gravitas 👑 Animalic notes are the heartbeat of niche perfumery and they give us that depth and character in a fragrance! ✨ The performance could be ten times better to be honest, and I find Emir Smoky Leather by Paris Corner which is inspired by Cuoium, to have a much better performance than Cuoium. It also costs a fraction of the price while giving a around 75% of the same experience. I have them both as leather fragrances are my passion, but if I had to chose one it'll be Emir Smoky Leather since the performance is way better than Cuoium. 💪🏻📈 There's definitely no oud here, as Cuoium stays linear, phenolic and leathery, which is not how oud behaves. Oud has a natural progression where it evolves and unfolds with complexity and resinous depth. Cuoium strongly reminded me of Falcon Leather Extrait, which is another leather fragrance built on a Russian leather accord. I have to mention Hard Leather by Laurent Mazzone which is waaaay more animalic than Cuoium but more opulent and luxurious with a multi-dimensional leather accord 👑 🥇 Video reviews of all mentioned leather fragrances are also available on my YT ▶️

It's very strange that I didn't do a review sooner, as I've been obsessed with it since early or mid-2024. However, I recently purchased it and I'm ready to do a review. The first thing I want to emphasize is: no, this fragrance is not terrible, or whatever the internet has told you. A pleasant, high-quality leather perfume that really has no alternative - in some ways it is truly special and unique. This is a leather scent that hasn't been smothered with tons of vanilla and other sweet notes to make it "wearable," which is what actually ruins other scents. So, what does it smell like anyway? I smell a beautiful combination of leather, tobacco, raspberry (yes, there is a hint of sweetness here, but it is very light, berry-like (and only in the top notes)), animalic, smoke, and a little incense. These are all the notes I found in this perfume. Transformation of fragrance over time. At first, it appears in all its glory, being very rich. The viscosity of good tobacco combined with raspberries, smoke and of course animalistic leather sounds incredibly pleasant and rich. In the middle notes, the perfume remains relatively the same, just becoming a bit more brutal and bitter. The base opens in the same way. Roughly speaking, over time the perfume becomes more brutal, bitter and primitive (in a good way). I could write a rave review in which I would choose many beautiful words to describe my love for this fragrance, but why? Among hundreds of opposing reviews, and hundreds of other positive ones, reading another one in which I cryptically tell you how good it is, you will simply get confused and not know who to believe. So I described this fragrance as simply as possible, trying to avoid enthusiastic comments, trying to describe it as objectively as possible. Also, I want to categorically deny the claims that this fragrance "smells like a pair of old leather boots" or something like that, as this fragrance is much more than just dirty, smoky leather. If I were to describe this fragrance in such words, it would be the base notes. Everything else is a definite no. RATING: Longevity: 10/10 Sillage: 10/10 (One accidental spray on my t-shirt more than two days before was enough to make it smell stronger than 10 sprays of another fragrance I was wearing that day) Smell: 9/10 Value for money: 10/10 (in my country(€100-€155), at least) Overall:10/10

About a year ago I did something I never do: I washed a fragrance off immediately. Not “Hmm, not for me...”, but full-on soap-and-warm water emergency protocol. The culprit? Cuoium. On first spray my brain didn’t register “leather” or “animalic”. It registered literal fragrant manure. The kind of realism that makes you check your shoes (or your life choices). Fast forward to today and Cuoium has pulled the greatest trick in perfumery: it didn’t change... I did. The opening reads as ashy leather, charred at the edges like a well-worn jacket held close to a campfire. There’s a violet streak running through - not the "polite makeup-powder" violet) - but something darker. Imagine purple petals pressed into smoke-stained suede. Then, slowly, the whole thing drifts into it's final incense phase: not churchy, but dark-resinous yet oddly airy, as if the smoke has been filtered through a high ceiling. Where did the animal go? Where is the poop? I genuinely can’t find those anymore. And that’s the point. Smell is not a fixed instrument: it’s a skill issue. Remember the first time you drank coffee? Wine? An IPA? Bit into 99% dark chocolate? You didn’t “learn the taste”... your brain learned how to read it and (slowly) expanded your frame of reference. Perfume works the same mysterious way, at least for me. Am I disappointed that Cuoium no longer drop-kicks me into the stable yard? Absolutely not. Because a few months after that first incident, I started getting acquainted with artisanal perfumery: naturals, musks, and animalic materials on a completely different level. Cuoium didn’t soften... again, my frame of reference expanded. I am absolutely convinced that Gualtieri knows exactly what he’s doing. Shock first (it helps the house's mythology and sales), then reveal: a composition that’s ultimately wearable and strangely compelling. Add the whole Orto Parisi package: the art direction, visuals (Gualtieri's videos are quite cool), tactile bottle and the "object" quality. And the cherry on top is that it’s also fantastic value, especially from discounters. Moral of the story: sometimes the fragrance isn’t challenging. Your nose is just still in training. Don't stop at the first sniff. Enjoyed the read? Find more of my fragrance ramblings on my NEW YouTube channel: @mostly_just_perfumes

Have you ever felt "designer" fragrances just didn't hit the spot anymore. Not only in performance but in their profiles? A year or two ago I found myself tired of the same old same old and was directed to the more artisan (niche) offerings available. I still enjoy my old offerings on occasion but find myself gravitate towards something out of the ordinary most of the time these days. For me, Orto Parisi is at the top of that chain and with Cuouim, it's a creation that just exemplifies everything about individualism and creativity. Something that offers a different view and a step away from the herd mentality. The Fragrance itself is without a doubt a total beast for its performance and longevity but that's not a really fair appraisal, it goes far deeper. It's a true leather fragrance that's uplifted and accompanied by a myriad of other wonderful nuances, incense, smoke, a couple of floral/vegetation essences from across the spectrum, then something a little more menacing, lurking in the dark, something primal. Many hours later it keeps giving, feeling like I've recently applied it. Remarkable. Obviously, not a fragrance for the feint of heart but surprisingly wearable if you like the strong deep and dark side. Just be mindful not to wear in confined spaces with others over a prolonged period of time. 😆 Not everyone shares the same appreciation or passions for everything we like, for that I'm thankful, the world would be one hell of a tedious place otherwise. This may well be an acquired taste as with most from this particular house so what you adore the person next to you may dislike. Now the scent overall is actually quite a wondrous piece of work, something a little special, a glimmer, a shining example of how amazing something can be amongst the everyday grind. It's like mining gold for years on end and suddenly you find a hugely valuable nugget, Jackpot! Otro Parisi just seems to be on my wavelength, I guess it's not on everyone's! Buy hey, we love what we love. Wear what you like and enjoy what you wear.