ZOOLOGIST
CARDINAL

2022

PERFUMER
Rosendo Mateu

Green Leaves
Bergamot
mandarin
Lemon

Leather
Clary Sage
Rose

Oakmoss
Patchouli
Vanilla
Musk

Zoologist was one of my favorite brands to try in recent years and Cardinal marks my return to sampling them after quite a while. This isn’t my favorite from the house, but I was intrigued for the entire wear and ended up enjoying it more than I expected to.

Cardinal starts off dewy and a bit green; like leafs and grass after rain. A lot of the reviews I’ve seen say its best suited for Winter, but I strongly disagree; I pictured Spring. Cardinal is rather fresh and has a sparkling, citrussy eau de cologne or shampoo vibe. The citrus is slightly bitter citrus and there seems to be a lot of oakmoss underneath with a subtle rose.

In the reviews I’ve read, people seem to detect a lot more of the leather in this than I did on my first impression. I can picture a faint, fresh aromatic leather, but overall, it didn’t register as a leather scent at all for me on my first wear.

It’s slightly spicy, at first making me wonder if I smelled cumin, but only a hint? Or maybe a bit of immortelle. However, later I perceived it as tomato leaf for a long time. It has that tomato leaf and basil, slightly sweetened green aromatic vibe. This would usually be a turn off for me, but Cardinal never veered into a dislike at all for me.

That being said, it’s definitely not my usual style or something that I would likely end up having in my collection. Yet, Cardinal finds a really good balance between the uniqueness fitting in with the Zoologist brand and a relative mass appeal.