6: Cuir Grand Tigre

Intense, fairly heavyweight fig/patchouli/oud. Like brocade fabric, it’s intricate, structured, and dense. A bit on the dry & powdery side. The tuberose doesn’t really feel present if you’re looking for it, but if you focus on the other notes, it makes itself known. Not a “easy” wear for me, but an interesting one.

The little tiger wanders through the grass, his fishing rod on his back. He has dressed up nicely, his fur is clean and rubbed with pepper. It shines softly in the morning sun. The air is filled with the scent of wood and resin. The bear is chopping firewood, how lovely! Over by the field, the tuberoses are waving. Oh how nice, I will go over there, thinks the little tiger. The tuberoses smell sweet and intense. No tiger can resist that, and he lies down. Suddenly, figs come rolling in. They bounce on him, cover him in cream, until he can no longer move. Then they cover his eyes, it gets dark, but no blue dream awaits him, only darkness. Then the cream also covers his nose. One last breath and then… ‘Phew, I had a really bad nightmare,’ says the little tiger. ‘Oh, that’s terrible,’ says the bear, ‘but now everything is alright again, because I am here and watching over you, so nothing can happen to you!’ ‘And I will watch over you!’ says the little tiger, ‘Isn’t life beautiful?!’ ------------------ Right from the start, I perceive something resinous-leathery, lightly spicy and peppery. It is a clean, bright leather without any animalistic notes or dirt. Suitable for children’s books, so to speak. It is underlaid by some spicy wood, which is probably due to the oud. This opening is somewhat muted, but quite pleasant. It lasts about 10 minutes. Then fate takes its course, in the form of distinct tuberose, which becomes more intense, sweet, and heavy. One might briefly think of a jungle (as my predecessors did), but I completely miss the green note here. Unfortunately, it does not appear for me. However, it wouldn’t help, as fig joins the tuberose, making it even sweeter and heavier creamy. Fig and tuberose, a duo infernale of the sweet, mushy kind, then dominate the scent for a long time, the beautiful opening is already a distant memory. In the base, the spicy-woody oud does indeed reappear somewhat, which unfortunately makes the blend worse rather than better for me. To conclude this report on a somewhat conciliatory note: the vanilla hardly makes an appearance. For me, so far the biggest disappointment from a rather average but very confidently priced brand. But let’s see what else comes.