Nuvolari

Nuvolari is a fragrance that draws deeply from the legacy of its namesake, the legendary Italian racing driver Tazio Nuvolari. It is one of the rare perfumery works, where narrative is matched by complexity and wearability. In fact, with the blessing to use Nuvolari’s name and image, Rubini has crafted a scent that is not merely inspired by history, but actively channels it. This fragrance translate the spirit of speed, grit, performance and mechanical romance into olfactory form. Cristiano Canali has taken a bold, interpretive approach, constructing a composition that evolves with the same dynamism as a race unfolding on the track. The opening is marked by a fleeting citrus brightness (mostly neroli, according to my nose), quickly overtaken by a bracing blend of fuel, pepper, and a surprising flash of rum. These notes do not linger in a linear fashion; instead, they appear and vanish like glimpses from a speeding car. Rose, asphalt, and leather each making brief but vivid impressions. What follows is a drydown that leans into the industrial: asphalt, tar, and motor oil are rendered with a textural realism that evokes the heat of a sun-baked track and the scent of a vintage engine at rest. Yet, this is not a purely photorealistic exercise. The composition is tempered by woody and slightly creamy undertones, lending wearability and balance to what might otherwise be an overwhelming fragrance. Nuvolari distinguishes itself by stripping away excessive sweetness and synthetic density. Instead, it offers a drier, more grounded interpretation of similar themes, with a tactile and evocative sense of place: for example the leather interior of a classic car or the countryside air of Mantova. Despite its wearability, some may still find its intensity or "industrial character" challenging, but others will appreciate its conceptual clarity and the way it captures a legendary icon in time. Given its positioning (and price), it is not a fragrance for every day, but for those moments when one seeks to inhabit a story rather than simply wear a scent. In Nuvolari, Rubini has excelled in creating a fragrance that feels like a tribute to motion, memory, and the machinery of passion. Among those I tried from this house, it is certainly the most distinctive and the only one which I believe is full-bottle worthy.

If Terroni is the older brother of Black Afgano, Nuvolari is the older brother of Terroni - and I mean that in the best way possible. In my opinion, Terroni adds notes of volcanic soil, dried herbs, a Sichuan peppercorn spiciness, a touch of fruity sweetness, and a pronounced smokiness to the oud-y, cannabis-y base of Black Afgano, improving the complexity while retaining the performance and core DNA. However, the sweetness that often pervades across nearly all of Gualtieri's fragrances can sometimes be overbearing, and really doesn't fade, even after 24 hours of wear. While some might prefer this, I've always found it to clash slightly with my personality and preferences - the fruity, sweet undertones can become sickly, while the cigarette smoke motif gets lost behind the unapologetically synthetic "Gaultieri signature DNA" that pervades all his releases. Nuvolari improves in every single way upon Terroni, in my opinion. It removes the sometimes headache-inducing sweetness and synthetic qualities of Terroni, adds clearly perceptible (yet well-balanced) notes of a plush leather interior of a Ferrari baked in the hot Italian sun, hot asphalt beneath its tires, gasoline and hot engine smell / motor oil wafting up from under the hood. Someone's smoking a cigarette, leaning on this car, taking in the views over the countryside on a sunny day in Calabria. The cigarette smoke, car smell, leather, and fresh Italian countryside air all blend together beautifully, resulting in a less sweet, drier, fascinating, and shockingly wearable fragrance. Every time Black Afgano or Terroni are mentioned, Nuvolari should be mentioned as well - it's under represented, and in my opinion, superior to Terroni, as it's so closely related they can (and should) be directly compared.

Nuvolari by Rubini is a beautiful, incredibly interesting scent. Opens up with a strong, peppery gasoline scent, alongside a very slight hint of lemon. Not necessarily photorealistic, but with enough of that bitter clarity to remind you of a mechanic's workshop, while still pleasing the nose. After a little while, the lemon and pepper disappear, revealing a slightly metallic mint. In this stage, it's almost fresh, almost clean, but the oil envelopes the scent, bringing you right back into the workshop. As it dries down, It fully develops into a thick, dark, and captivating scent, the asphalt bringing a grounding end to this story of a scent. Don't entertain the whines of those who dwell in the shadows of undiscovery. This is a perfectly wearable scent, simply interesting, and definitely not something you'd smell every day. Lasts a good 11-12 hours, projects very well. Also, I absolutely love T Rex and Cuioum, but this is near entirely different.

This isn't challenging at all. I had no idea what to expect. But, it wasn't this. This is really close to Zoologist Tiger. Very close. Same creator, yet way different notes. Not sure what wizardry is used to take gasoline, motor oil, and asphalt and turn it into Tiger. This is better than Tiger. I like the unique difference. I picked this up as a sample. But for a FB it isn't cheap. The real question is even though I like it enough to spend way more than Tiger. Unfortunately, yes. I bit the bullet and bought a bottle (less than Tiger) only because there was a Black Friday discount from Scent Split. An added bonus was the free shipping. I received the sample with my recent purchase from The Perfumery Barcelona (excellent staff). There NBitor line is amazing. The downside is international shipping costs and time. Update: I like it personally on a level that i will make it my signature scent without worrying if others disagree.

I have used many other perfumes and I have to admit that very few times this sort of fabulous perfume has ever come across to my attention. I am not sure what is in it but I guess it's the mixture of precious musks, exotic ambers and semi-floral woodsy balsamic accords, that lead me to day-dreaming quite often when I wear it. This smells so different on my skin than sprayed on a paper blotter I used or tried before. It often leads forget the time, as I am at my office or on an outdoor event. Definitely one of the the most discreet and romantic perfumes that I have ever smelled so far. It has a luxurious and feminine scent that lasts all day without being overpowering.

I can't tell you how important it is to wear a fragrance for a long period of time before you decide to write it off or not. I did not like this at first. It was too masculine for my taste. After a few hours, it shifted and is now quite beautiful. I mean really beautiful. I'm so impressed by this line. This house! Different for sure. If you are too sweet fragrances I don't think this house is for you. For those of you who are like me and enjoy fragrances that are done right but are a bit different, you have to try it. That's all I need to say. You have to try it!

I work a boring 9-5 office job and stay on my computer all day, but when I wear Rubini’s Nuvolari I’m elbow-deep in grease at my dad’s garage, revving a motorcycle I probably shouldn’t be riding, and blowing my paycheck on parts for my grandpa’s old car. This fragrance is not clean or modest. This scent is all sharp edges—gasoline-stained asphalt, rough leather, and a seductive edge. It’s definitely not easy to wear, but when I get it right, the compliments don’t stop.

Stunning. This fragrance is dangerously sexy. The opening notes of gasoline, black pepper & lemon are exhilarating. The oud and motor oil are prominently dirty in the best way & well balanced with delicate floral underpinnings. On my skin, the oud blends toward asphalt in the dry down, that particular hedonistic scent every American youth has imprinted on our psyche... the freedom of the open road.

Beautiful, reminds me of Scorpio rising by Eris Parfum (another great parfum) but smokier, some oud and incense but still manages to be different, fresh and unique. IMO wearable all four seasons. I believe Canali nailed it with his idea and homage for Nuvolari. A masterpiece, not cheap crude oil, Nuvolari is solely running on Diesel, hop in. 5/5

Why niche? Here's your answer. Nuvolari is a phenomenally awesome fragrance for two reasons. First, it is not linear an goes through interesting development or, rather, evolution as it dries down. Secondly, the choice of notes results in a truly unique fragrance. The notes might raise an eyebrow, but Nuvolari is totally wearable. The opening contains a very short burst of citrus, which, as it dies away, reveals more of the fuel and peppery notes. It's a bit brash at first but then mellows out a bit. Suddenly, I detected a boozy rum scent which blocked out the fuel note. Totally new experience for me is that the boozy note disappeared as quickly as it came only to reappear after about 30 seconds and then disappeared again. At this point, a deep rose note quickly appeared and then disappeared in the same manner. Very surprising. At this point, the fuel note started to morph into an asphalt/tar type of scent. It was also kinda screechy and only gradually started to mellow out and blend more with the woody notes. The asphalt accord gave a sharp edge or bite to the woody notes which had taken on a slightly creamy texture. At this point, I found it to be really nice and quite wearable. My advice would be to apply Nuvolari about 30 minutes before going out or meeting someone. The asphalt note is there, but not immediately obvious to anyone getting a whiff. The first impression is more of a smoky note. If you concentrate on it thought, it's obvious that it is asphalt. As you might guess by the above, Nuvolari really made a big and good impression on me - a beautiful hyper-masculine fragrance. Performance was also quite good. I'm definitely getting a FB.

Nuvolari has an extraordinary and different composition. I was amazed when I first tried it, but over time it started to feel synthetic and unbalanced with regular use. Occasionally, we catch up with each other nostalgically, but it's not something to be used regularly, like most indie niche works. As for the scent, I can describe it as emphasizing notes of rubber, gasoline, and leather, but they have beautifully blended these notes with a sweet patchouli to avoid being too far from general appeal. Nuvolari has become a more subdued perfume rather than having the intensity of Gucci Guilty Absolute. I can also say that its performance is unnecessarily strong. It's not a perfume to be used in the summer heat, but I craved it, so I used it balanced with iso e super.

I mostly agree almost to a tee to zippyarnold's description of this fragrance. This is extremely citrus-forward in the beginning, then eventually becomes a mix of motor oil, mint, and floral notes. I unfortunately didn't get gasoline at all from this, nor did I get any asphalt or metallic whiffs. However, from what is there, this is something I think I'd try to wear. It's nicer than I thought it would be, honestly. It's just not as interesting as I thought it would be. This is also the fragrance where I realized lemon and citrus are pretty nice as notes in fragrances, so I'm sort of building up to something I think I'd enjoy enough to buy a full container of.

Wow this is very different to how i expected. Pleasant, weirdly fresh, wearable and lovely. I went into this expecting a dark rich gasoline heavy fragrance with a tar smell however this primarily plays into the beautifully fresh lemon, bright refreshing white florals. Seeing those "need a perfume that smells like this" and its always italian summer and nice cars, this is that exact scent

I had to try it out of curiosity. I was surprised by how wearable it actually is. It reminds me of Bentley for Men Intense. Not really my cup of tea, but I’m glad I gave it a shot.

I’ve lost all desire to keep testing this one; the gasoline and motor oil impression is just too dominant. I’m aware it’s clearly niche, even a bit fringe; not something I’d wear day to day. I might still reach for it occasionally for the olfactory experience, but that’s as far as it goes. Edit: 1.5 years later, after over a thousand tries and an olfactory journey of my own, I'm smelling this again. It seriously smells like a gas station. Motor oil, gasoline, leather, smoke, but there's no dirt here. Slightly fresh, a tiny bit of sweetness. This is a futuristic and unique piece. At the same time this gas station feels like it's in the middle of a forest, with a cold forest breeze and vetiver especially, with its herbal, dry but green quality. This one also has a wet oud similar to the one in Meo F's Last Season. Even though I can't picture it on myself, sometimes when I want to smell things like thinner, glue, rubber cement, nail polish, gasoline, when I'm imagining marginal things, this scent comes to mind. Tag(s): futuristic, unique, weird, edgy, gas station, atmospheric

Opens lemon forward, with a pepper bias, then transitions to a motor oil forward (though muted), supported by a mint with florals on the far flank. I don’t get any asphalt, or metallic facets here, but you can make out the faint oud, and vetiver that’s in here. The ambroxan helps round out the profile, but overall is a smooth and reserved motor oil forward, faintly smoky, fougere-esque fragrance. The mint is the anomaly here, but it does subside substantially and becomes more of a profile support (IMO, it’s gone). OK gasoline frag, but really was waiting for an asphalt abstraction—no dice here. This profile is here to stay, and though it’s a presentable take on motor oil, it’s not quite my forte.

I really wanted to enjoy this perfume. The story behind it is great, the accords and notes sound interesting (especially if you love gasoline/asphalt/mineral notes like me). Yet after trialing a sample that I ordered online, I simply could not bring myself to enjoy this at all. It smells like an ashtray. If you imagine walking into a smoke filled bar in the early 90's, and getting a good, deep sniff of an ashtray filled with cigarettes, and perhaps getting some of the ash stuck to your face, this to me is the Nuvolari experience. I dont know if I have some nasal receptor mutation that makes me unable to appreciate this perfume, perhaps I am perceiving smells differently than others, but this was something I couldnt enjoy at all. My wife is able to pick up a grassy note mixed in with the ash. I have had it on me for the last few hours and am about to wash it off. Objectively, fairly long lasting but limited projection. 6 sprays (3 skin/3 on clothes) yet limited ability for others to pick it up unless they get close. Leans masculine. Did I get a fake? Something in me doubts it as sample was ordered from a reputable seller.

After running out of the precious little After Every Ounce of Joy (Leaves My Body) by Chris Rusak I had left, I’ve been searching for another gasoline/asphalt/vinyl perfume to hit that spot instead. My search brought me here to Rubini’s Nuvolari I wanted to love Nuvolari. Really I did. Alas, it is yucky. I made it 6 hours before scrubbing. I really wanted to stick it out, experience the shifting notes the other reviewers mentioned. All I got from start to scrub was thick, cloying oud under a thin veil of sickly whatever-the-fuck. Rosy cough syrup, maybe. Nuvolari was sweeter than I was expecting, which made it a little skanky. Cloying, skanky, suffocating, medicinal oud. Forgive me papa 😔

An extreme, intense, artistic piece of work that I can't see many people opting to wear. A rubbery leather, with a refreshing burst of citrus and mint, but by and large, it's mostly industrial-automech accords throughout, which, whilst interesting and even noteworthy, can't really be worn, in my opinion... The weird thing about some types of scents is that the spray source itself may be horrible, but by the time the scent works it's way up to your (and others') nose, it becomes something else a lot more stomachable. This is okayish, I feel, when about 60 - 90 cms from the nose, but even then it's not something I'd like to smell like...

In the opening the gasoline accord (which is very similar to the one in HdP's Petroleum) is a bit overpowering. But the tarry, leathery and woody drydown is ok.