Cordova

#1397 in my "Tour de Fragrance" I bought my first Rayhaan scent, "Elixir", a year ago and was impressed with the composition, the quality, the $19 price tag and how much it came off like JPG "Le Male Elixir" minus all the honey, which actually made it more likeable for me. Picked up "Pacific" a few months ago, $20 on Amazon. It was quite close to Louis Vuitton "Pacific Chill", a nice scent, but not among my "must haves." Still, it was pretty nice, and also an excellent quality scent. Now I've determined to try them all. This "Cordova" is a superior leather scent. So many scents that otherwise have most of these same notes, from Halston's classic "Z-14" to the more modern Gucci "Guilty Absolute" (this is NOT a clone of "Guilty Absolute". It's better), all take away from that "saddle shop leather" experience I crave by tossing in citrus or other fruits. This doesn't do that, but it does have a nice, potent cypress note that makes so many scents attractive to me: Penhaligon "Halfeti", Gucci "Guilty Absolute", Widian "London", Crivelli's "Iris Malikhan." Too many to bore you with here. This may well become my favorite leather scent of them all. This is masculine, business or pleasure versatile, year round wear. I think anyone that smells it (and the sillage is excellent) will love it. A five star blind buy for me.

WOW, WOW, WOW. This is a good one. This is one blind buy that has definitely made up for many others. The perfume creates a clean and solid masculine presence. It doesn't open very loud but damn! It's ever so present for the rest of the day. And in the evenings? Simply solid. I will be getting a backup bottle for sure.

This is so beastly I'm afraid the leather scent will remain forever in my skin and some cowboy will try to skin me. Scent profile is interesting enough to make me want to keep testing/enjoying during the next 5 months of cold season. Will keep updating as I do. Update 10/26/2025 - I sprayed a bit (2-3 sprays) to a spot on a faux leather chair I have that I like to spray leather scents to test their effect/aroma 10 days ago... Cordova is so beastly that I can still smell it on the spot where I sprayed - and I wipe the spot after spraying to avoid too much residue/alcohol to remain there and cause damage to the surface. Performance is really that impressive. Update 11/16/2025 - 1 month and I can still smell a faint "skin" (surface) scent on the chair. I kid you not, be careful with this beast.

I have had this fragrance for over a year and I really enjoy it, but it’s a polarizing scent apparently. It’s just very strong and isn’t something you can daily. It’s a dark, realistic leather scent that reminds me of an old school leather store in mall with a hint of doctor’s office. I recently bought some of the banadir samples which included #50, their version of LV Ombré Nomade. The 50 smells very close to Cordova. As this surprised me and I didn’t know what the LV smelled like, I ordered an Ombré Nomade sample. In comparison, I can safely say that Cordova is a ON dupe and it is extremely close. The banadir is much stronger than the LV (both are great scents IMO), Cordova is a little more subtle than that but still a little bit stronger than the LV.

Cordova by Rayhaan, from my honest perspective, is an overwhelmingly powerful fragrance, a true beast mode scent that commands attention with its bold and intense aroma. However, it is important to note that this particular fragrance may not appeal to everyone, as it possesses a unique olfactory profile that could be polarizing. It's certainly not a fragrance that you should purchase without sampling it first; it's definitely not a safe blind buy. I just received my bottle and am experiencing a myriad of mixed reactions, which range from fascination to hesitation. I'll need to let it settle and observe its evolution over time before forming a definitive opinion.