MATIERE PREMIERE
FALCON LEATHER
2019
PERFUMER
Aurelien Guichard
Saffron
Labdanum
Birch
Benzoin
Oud
‘INITIAL IDEA : “create a leathery scent inspired by falconers’ gloves”
MAIN INGREDIENT : a vegetal leather note, Birch Tar Finland.
CREATIVE APPROACH : Exacerbate the power of the note at the start thanks to Saffron. Unfold and enrich the texture of Birch Tar to evoke both sides of leather: highlight the smooth full-grain side with Ciste Labdanum Andalusia, amplify the soft suede side with Benzoin Absolute Laos.’ – Matiere Premiere
Falcon Leather originated as Harrods exclusive, before becoming available to the public elsewhere. Leather fragrances are usually lovely, although I rarely want to wear them often (the full-on leather centered ones); this is up there with my favorites. The Falcon Leather Extrait that followed, is also well-done.
Straight from the opening you can feel this is a woody leather. You get a hint of saffron, making it instantly recognizable as a leather that you see a lot in perfumes, but it feels equally like a smoky woody fragrance.
The listed notes support that notion; birch tar, labdanum (smoky resin), oud, benzoin. You definitely get the sweetness as well. To my nose, I get a clear tobacco-ish scent after a couple of minutes and all the way through to the late drydown. So it’s a balance of leather, wood, tobacco and a hint of sweetness.
The sweetness isn’t like a Parfums de Marly Herod or Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille, nor a sugary leather like Memo Irish Leather. It’s almost nutty or dark chocolate to me. Not that the overall fragrance is comparable, but some wafts make my think of Dior Homme Parfum. Falcon Leather is darker though and within the Matiere Premiere line-up it’s a bit of an outlier in how heavy and dense it is.
Performance is above average and I love the minimal, yet high quality bottles. I’m a big fan of the brand in general and Falcon Leather is definitely one of the best releases.
Sidenote: The Oud Seven released that followed up Falcon Leather has as much, if not more of a (rubbery) leather scent to my nose, while I think Falcon Leather has more of a woodiness. I don’t like Oud Seven however.
