Sartoriale

Pal Zileri is a Venetian couturier who makes awesome suits so I had very high expectations for Sartoriale. Blind bought this because I’m always in the market for a nice sandalwood and I'd heard it was similar to Rush for Men. It’s a linear composition - warm, rich, sensual, and luxurious, dominated by a sweet Indian sandalwood note. Sartoriale is beautiful and if only performance were better it would be legendary. Might even be wearable. Longevity is terrible - within half an hour it’s barely a skin scent, so faint as to be virtually undetectable. Maybe it’s just a temporary organic chemistry issue that will improve over time - some fragrances need a good shake, limited exposure to air and a period of time to steep after they’ve been in storage. After applying, it smells utterly incredible - rich, sweet, resinous sandalwood-vetiver that is vaguely reminiscent of Gucci Rush for Men only with even worse longevity. By the time you walk out the door it’s like wearing nothing at all. At this stage it’s not olfactory fatigue or an Iso E Super aura effect, it’s undetectable because it’s just not there. Not sure what kind of sandalwood ACs are in this but they have worse longevity and tenacity than any I dabbled with in my embarrassingly amateur DIY perfumery attempts to concoct a home-made sandalwood ambrosia (about ten years ago I went through a clueless noob phase of imagining I could create a masterpiece. And failing. Bit like the eternal optimists certain they can recreate a discontinued classic with essential oils). Sartoriale is a voluptuous but linear composition built around a sweet, creamy interpretation of sandalwood, hamstrung by atrocious performance. Sometimes using an improvised Fond de Parfum of something like fractionated coconut oil before applying can improve longevity. Spraying it on fabric can extend it a bit (btw never spray perfume on silk, wool, leather, suits, or anything vintage - best to use cheesecloth, muslin or a handkerchief unless you only wear crappy clothes). I’ll revisit in after letting it steep for a while in the hope the performance issues will resolve. —————— Update: Maybe there was some kind of problem during formulation and bottling as it’s hard to believe this could’ve gone into production with such dreadful performance issues. Just noticed that 50ml and 100ml bottles have different coloured content: blue-grey instead of yellow - is this by design or is it a visible symptom of a formulation/production issue? I’ll revisit in a week or so. The one I have is the 50ml with the yellowish juice - I’d be curious to see if the 100ml with the darker juice has the same performance issues. As one of the reviewers below suggested, if you like Sartoriale, Azzaro Visit is an excellent alternative, with a closer resemblance to Gucci Rush for Men and infinitely better performance.

This is a fragrance that is easily found on discount channels now. But unlike so many that "smell like their price", Sartoriale is an exception. It's not in the same class of sandalwood fragrances like Santal Noble or Gucci Rush, but for the price it's excellent. EDIT: I have to say that Sartoriale seems to straddle this peculiar zone between Diptyque Tam Dao and Gucci Pour Homme 2003. Really curious... longevity is decent. It's best to hit some body hair to help it continue. I've found that upon spraying it on my arm, I'll still smell it the next day before I shower - that's impressive! I was pleasantly surprised to find how similar this is to Gucci Rush, IN THE START. Sartoriale is very similar upon first spray, but then into the drydown it differs. It becomes drier, missing that warm sweetness you find with Rush.. But Sartoriale is a very good close second. Easy to wear. Easy to enjoy. You can pick it up fairly cheap these days through various discount channels. Worth a blind buy, which is what I did. Fragrance: 8.5, Longevity: 8.5, Value: 9.5

Sartoriale by Pal Zileri Review A sandalwood masterpiece. If you like the note of sandalwood whatsoever, this will be right up your alley. This smell is easily one of my favorites in my collection. It's absolute perfection. Unfortunately, the performance on this is incredibly lacking. Both the sillage and longevity are among the weakest in all the fragrances I've tried. Keep in mind that, in general, I'm an incredibly light sprayer. It's rare that I go more than 2-3 sprays on a fragrance. This one just doesn't cut it with twice that amount. If you like this fragrance, I highly suggest you check out Azzaro Visit. They smell similar to me. Visit is a darker and spicier fragrance, but it's a wonderful alternative that performs much better! Best Age Group- 25+ Best Season(s)- Spring/Summer/Fall Occasions- Casual, Work, Formal, Date Projection/Sillage- Soft Longevity- 3 Hours Smell- 10/10 Overall- 7/10 YouTube Channel: theaveragecologneguy

Fantastic underpriced little gem. If you like creamy sandalwood, you will for sure enjoy this one. This is practically Tam Dao without the cypress and cedar. And ultimately this is pretty much what Tam Dao dries down into. Sure the Tam Dao is tad bit more refined, but the price does not justify its performance. Now lets talk about the performance of Sartoriale, in short: its a gentle skin scent with soft sillage. Now if you consider that poor performance then I suggest you steer clear. For the price this is a no brainer for any fan of sandalwood.

Pal Zileri Sartoriale is a high quality perfume that almost matches Gucci Rush The problem: the projection is very low (you need to be hugged or really close to someone in order to be noticed) and longevity is 1-4 hours top. The high quality and resemblance to Rush made me even more frustrated by its performances. If you are looking for your next bottle of Rush: Pal Zileri Sartoriale would be a low cost substitute It is a shame that such a work of art has such bad performances. With better performances it might have been one of the best ever