Cuir Imperial

Very nice--quite rich, but readily wearable. I don't know Layton or Détour Noir, but this combines a clean, presentable fruity-spicy top end (bordering on shower gel, but not in a bad way) with a (mildly but increasingly leathery) core and base reminiscent of fudge, caramel, toffee--one of those vanillic burnt sugar notes, anyway--in a way that very much reminds me of Mauboussin pour Lui in Black (and probably Werther's Originals). To me this smells like a well-blended, somewhat deeper and more grown-up, credible, cohesive version of the Mauboussin--fine by me, as I find the Mauboussin nice in principle but underwhelmingly thin in practice. This in no way smells like wading through a big saucepan full of caramel or whatever--it's brighter than that, and not at all cloyingly sweet, heavy or opulent--but that aspect definitely is prominent to my nose. Office friendly, and up to formal events unless you want to go all-out unsophisticated swinging dick. I probably wouldn't pay top dollar for this, but at TK Maxx price it's a bargain. Edit: the cardamom does indeed dominate this. I don't know Layton but I imagine that this is similar to the menthol effect that people mention in relation to Layton. Here it's camphorous to the extent that I would be wary of wearing this outside in the daytime on any but the coolest days. To me that would feel obtrusive the way heavy patchouli can. That would not be an issue in the dressier contexts for which I'm sure this was intended. (I've got Lalique White in Black on now and to me that is essentially a softer/lighter version of this, with pretty much the same scent profile except that this Zilli has much more cardamom and the Lalique is a touch more youthful and shower gel-like.)

This is PDM Layton's Older brother. If Layton is a early 30's guy, still living life on the bender, enjoying a lavish life without a care in the world; than Zilli's Cuir Imperial is the Older brother in his late 40's; who has seen it all and is now hardened Man, who still enjoys the pleasure in life; but is serious, stern and down to business. Zilli's Cuir Imperial is darker, woodier than Layton. It's definitely not as dense and luxurious as Layton; but still feels Luxurious in its own rights. The menthol vibe is there; but only for the firat few minutes; once it dries down; the spiciness take centre stage, and mentholated vibe is dialled back. Zilli is less sweet; and it's probably due to not having the apple pie accord in the opening. Now Zilli is not winning any points on creativity & innovation as Layton came out in 2016 and Cuir Imperial in 2020. I would say it's more an inspired by rendition by Zilli; and is about 75 - 80% closer to Layton. If you need a proper clone of Layton, cheapest and best option is Al Haramain's Detour Noir. Got it for £25 in TK Maxx; absolute value for money; as this is higher quality than Detour Noir, which I also have. Zilli's version is smoother in the opening and not as harsh as Detour Noir.

This is my second Zilli fragrance. Why have I never heard of this house until I discovered decants? Blue titanium is the best blue fragrance I have tried hands down. Then there is this, ambre, fruitiness and leather, boy does this smell good. After a piece it becomes a very strong leather, so concentrated that to me it resembles Oud, a good one, medicated bandaids. Performance is nuclear. I am at 12 hours and it is still projecting hard. I am sure it will still be with me when I go to bed and I won’t be surprised it I am still aware of it in the am.

This is like a stronger version of Layton by PDM, maybe just a smidgen less sweet, and a tiny touch more woody. Here in Australia this Zilli sells for AUD$250/100ml and is Parfum concentration. PDM's Layton sells for AUD$400/125ml and is EDP concentration. This is the price per ml equivalent, (AUD$320/100ml). I have run them one on each arm and...you'd be silly not to buy the Zilli.

I was looking for the review's of this one couldn't find them anywhere other than fragrantica and purfumo and few videos with not much information.just bought it on a very good price and it is really good one lasts 8 to 9 hours on my skin with very good projection.bought it after reading the review on fragrantica thx