Taking into consideration perfumer Patricia de Nicolaï’s description1 (and name) of her new perfume and its notes list2…you might expect Parfums de Nicolaï Cuir Cuba Intense to be the scent equivalent of laying inside a new leather trunk on cushions stuffed with highly scented cured tobacco leaves. In press materials, Nicolaï raves about the aromas of dried tobacco leaf, unlit cigars, and even cigar boxes.
Cuir Cuba Intense is too sophisticated to simply replicate, literally, tobacco and leather aromas; it’s so sophisticated it barely brings them to mind at all!
When first applied, Cuir Cuba Intense smells of vibrant minty lemon mixing with anise and licorice; Cuir Cuba Intense's first hint of smokiness is provided by a rough sage note, muddled spices and dry herbs. A smooth cumin note mixes with the herbs to provide a savory gourmand “cooking” aroma in mid-development. Also introduced in Cuir Cuba Intense’s heart is an airy and fresh floral accord (smelling of no specific flower...well, maybe synthetic "magnolia"); this accord keeps the fragrance from becoming too dense or "solid" but it keeps me from loving Cuir Cuba Intense. Perhaps this flower accord was designed to add tobacco's floral element, but a natural-smelling (and indolic, not fresh) tobacco flower (nicotiana), or even rose, jasmine or iris, would have been more welcome for me than artificial, clean magnolia. (The florals last and last and become even more apparent in Cuir Cuba Intense's extreme dry-down.)
Cuir Cuba Intense’s base is subtle but long-lasting; its muskiness seems provided by tobacco leaf’s (and leather's) darker/semi-animalic aspects; I don’t detect any tobacco notes that remind me of cigars, cigar boxes or fresh tobacco leaf. (I’m from Virginia and I KNOW those aromas.) Cuir Cuba Intense’s base also contains caramelized amber notes with lots of sweet patchouli (but even those notes can't compete with the fresh floral accord).
In overall character, Cuir Cuba Intense reminds me of the Thierry Mugler A*Men Pure scents, but with added dimension and a tad more “risk”/uniqueness. My only gripe? Cuir Cuba Intense's too-fresh, too-clean, white flowers. Cuir Cuba Intense's floral accord may please YOU, so, do give the perfume a sniff. Fragrance lovers who usually don't like straight-up tobacco in fragrances may find Cuir Cuba Intense's "abstract" tobacco easier to enjoy.
Parfums de Nicolaï Cuir Cuba Intense Eau de Parfum is available in 30 ml ($65) and 100 ml ($185). For buying information, see the listing for Parfums de Nicolaï under Perfume Houses.
1. Read product intro here and at the Parfums de Nicolaï website.
2. Listed notes of lemon, anise, licorice, magnolia, ylang ylang, sage, lavender, geranium, mint, cumin, coriander, patchouli, iris, tobacco, hay, cedar, musk, civet.
Ah, Virginia tobacco. (I used to horrify my mother by insisting on sniffing pouches of pipe tobacco at the drugstore, when I was a kid. Luckily never picked up the habit of smoking.)
I’m still interested in smelling this, but am put off by the mention of sage. I think it’s the sage in Aromatics Elixir that makes it smell so urinous – every time I pick up the AE tester at the mall, I sniff and think again, “Yep. Somebody peed on a rose hedge.” I don’t know.
Just out of curiosity, Kevin, is there a tobacco fragrance you particularly like? I can’t remember. I did rather like TF Tobacco Vanille, though it was a little… hmm… flat in places, before it burned down to that gorgeous vanilla-liqueur drydown, my favorite part of the scent (and I’m not even much of a vanilla fan). And I adore SSS Tabac Aurea.
mals: I wear Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque more than any other tobacco perfume
Another Fumerie Turque fan here – definitely worth trying!
Too bad. Kevin, I liked your description of lying in an old wooden trunk full of tobacco-stuffed pillows better than the description for the actual perfume. 😉 I’ll probably pass on it since I was hoping for something more like Pure Havane.
AbScent: Pure Havane is nice…and I’d wear that much more than this one. Again: the flowers!
Thanks for reviewing this.
She made the undeniably great New York. I’m wearing her discontinued Nicolai Pour Homme today(Erin is responsible for my owning it, so credit there.). And I kinda like her Vetyver.
But don’t you think that, when Ms de Nicolai considers producing something for men, she maybe kind of seizes up these days? Maybe thinks too hard about what we might like in principle, which keeps her from making something great in fact? I don’t mean to be negative. But I would like to see another Great Man Frag from her…
donnie: it does seem I’m drawn more to her “unisex” perfumes than to the masculines.
The. perfume name and the notes (except cumin) appealed enough for me to order a sample from STC. I am eagerly awaiting its arrival. I hope it doesn’t smell like the early stages of curing tobacco which smells like ammonia!
Hajusuuri: no ammonia to my nose, but cumin you shall smell.
It’s been a while since I’ve really liked a PdN.
I remember trying Czech & Speake Cuba and liking it. Have you tried that one, Kevin (or commenters)?
Noz…I have a carded sample here somewhere…did it have tobacco?
Kevin, here are the notes from Basenotes: Top Notes – Lime, Bergamot, Peppermint, Rum; Middle Notes – Rose, Clove, Bay, Tonka; Base Notes – Tobacco, Frankincense, Cedarwood, Vetiver. Some reviewers also mention leather, and some warn of (or delight in) a fecal note.
I remember it as interesting and intense – more deserving of a name like “Cuir Cuba Intense” than the PdN. I didn’t buy it; I guess I thought it was a bit rugged/masculine. It comes to mind from time to time, though; I should try it again.
Noz…just sniffed Cuba… lots of mint and clove, but so far not much tobacco. (Clove is not my friend)
Mint and clove sounds weird; nonetheless, I’m curious to try it again before too long.
Here is a challenge for you. I have a wide collection of men’s colognes in a variety of scents. They range from Hermes, to Guerlain Imperial to Safari. I hate strong colognes that suffocate with too much alcohol like Invictus.
But the one cologne that I used and was discontinued was Monsieur Venet by Philippe Venet. I have tried to get the components of the formula to have it re-bottled no no avail. Can you either recommend the closest comparative or direct me to where I can get the formula. Philippe Venet House of Venet has been closed since 1997.