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12/14/2020
FvSpee
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FvSpee
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Colonial goods XVI: Chain of associations rolled up backwards
The smallest state in the world is the Vatican City State (Stato della Città del Vaticano). But it would be a misbelief (though not a heresy) to assume that it exists only so that the Pope can act cheerfully like a state and receive and send ambassadors, who in the latter case would not be ambassadors but nuncios either.
After all, he could do all this even if the Vatican state were to be dissolved: As an object of international law of its own kind, the Pope as a person traditionally (and thus equal to states) functions under the company name "the Holy See" (funny English name: The Holy See). The German diplomat in the Via di Villa Sacchetti is therefore not the ambassador to the Vatican, but the ambassador to the Holy See.
The Spanish Embassy to the Holy See has been located for centuries in a place called Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Square) for simplicity's sake, and that in turn is the one with the famous (huge) Spanish Steps (which is only called that in German, the Italians call it something else), where tout Rome meets on balmy summer nights (I've been sitting there).
Pelle di Spagna has nothing to do with Piazza di Spagna, but with the sausage pellet. Pelle is one of the Italian words for skin or leather, and I suppose that it is the same word as in sausage skin.
I don't know why the Italian company Wally, about whom I might tell you something in a future commentary, called its Russian-leather-Cologne CUOIO di Russia, whereas its Spanish-leather-Cologne called PELLE the Spagna. Maybe there are subtle differences between cuoio and pelle, which the Italian sister chapter of Wolles Herner Truppe can explain to us.
So we have here a Spanish leather scent and there the question arises what the heck is that actually? I didn't really know myself until today. According to a perfume database search, there are maybe two dozen fragrances called "Spanish Leather", "Spanish Yukon", "Spanish Leather", "Pelle di Spagna" and the like, and they all have in common that they are all quite old and most of them have already been discontinued. Many of them are colognes or aftershave and most of them combine orange notes with coarse man stuff like pithy spices and leather stuff.
Until someone offers something better here, I would suggest a working definition: Spanish leather is a traditional, now rare, fragrance, especially for men's fragrances, whose main components are orange (and related notes) on the one hand, and spice, wood and leather notes on the other. So you could say it's a kind of cross between "Eaux de Portugal" (light citric colognes with an orange hint) and what I call "brown colognes".
So much for the theory. Now for the practice. I can't draw a comparison yet, because this is the first Spanish leather scent I'm testing and I like it very much. This is, oenologically speaking, certainly not a Grand Cru, but a pure, rock solid house wine, from which the inclination to higher things flashes up.
For me, this rather linear little water captivates with an almost unique orange note. First of all, it is extremely long-lasting (three, four hours if you splash, at least). Secondly, it is also very special in its nature. It is free of all superficial effervescence and freshness. But it is also not this characteristic bitter orange peeliness, but rather a very special, almost noble-woody astringency with a completely subdued sweetness, like a fine dark chocolate with a subtle orange admixture.
The opposite pole is formed by a bouquet of very pithy, masculine spices, nailed to a rough wooden beam. On the manufacturer's website as well as here in the perfume pyramid it only says generically "spicy notes", I would say allspice, a dark cinnamon and of course the rich juniper (juniper is explicitly mentioned, I buy it from the company immediately, I cooked with juniper yesterday and still have the smell fresh in my nose). Whether now a breath of leather is added, or whether the whole thing again creates a leather illusion (as in the old birch tar story of the Russian leather) is left open
What's certain is I like this Wally. Spee's wife also: In her opinion of the three bought the best. As mentioned, durability and sillage are very decent for a cologne (but without cheekily crossing the borders of the genre). The price is moderate: The 500 ml splash bottle costs 34 Euros. Unlike e.g. the "Clasica" of the same series, the fragrance is not also offered in the 100 ml spray bottle (with a vintage puddle puff) (then it would have been 28 Euros).
Supplements:
(1) Out of gratitude for the fact that I was not (yet) murdered for my yesterday's denunciation of a women's fragrance that is very popular here, nor (as far as can be seen so far) the numerous charming followers of this unspeakable product who have broken off diplomatic relations, I have today returned to familiar territory. The Cologne-uncle makes infotainment a Lockdown II. Everything back to normal. Snore.
(2) Despite the name component PELLE, this scent is 100% boiled sausage-free even in my oversensitive nose (with a Kosher and Halal seal, by the Pope himself).
After all, he could do all this even if the Vatican state were to be dissolved: As an object of international law of its own kind, the Pope as a person traditionally (and thus equal to states) functions under the company name "the Holy See" (funny English name: The Holy See). The German diplomat in the Via di Villa Sacchetti is therefore not the ambassador to the Vatican, but the ambassador to the Holy See.
The Spanish Embassy to the Holy See has been located for centuries in a place called Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Square) for simplicity's sake, and that in turn is the one with the famous (huge) Spanish Steps (which is only called that in German, the Italians call it something else), where tout Rome meets on balmy summer nights (I've been sitting there).
Pelle di Spagna has nothing to do with Piazza di Spagna, but with the sausage pellet. Pelle is one of the Italian words for skin or leather, and I suppose that it is the same word as in sausage skin.
I don't know why the Italian company Wally, about whom I might tell you something in a future commentary, called its Russian-leather-Cologne CUOIO di Russia, whereas its Spanish-leather-Cologne called PELLE the Spagna. Maybe there are subtle differences between cuoio and pelle, which the Italian sister chapter of Wolles Herner Truppe can explain to us.
So we have here a Spanish leather scent and there the question arises what the heck is that actually? I didn't really know myself until today. According to a perfume database search, there are maybe two dozen fragrances called "Spanish Leather", "Spanish Yukon", "Spanish Leather", "Pelle di Spagna" and the like, and they all have in common that they are all quite old and most of them have already been discontinued. Many of them are colognes or aftershave and most of them combine orange notes with coarse man stuff like pithy spices and leather stuff.
Until someone offers something better here, I would suggest a working definition: Spanish leather is a traditional, now rare, fragrance, especially for men's fragrances, whose main components are orange (and related notes) on the one hand, and spice, wood and leather notes on the other. So you could say it's a kind of cross between "Eaux de Portugal" (light citric colognes with an orange hint) and what I call "brown colognes".
So much for the theory. Now for the practice. I can't draw a comparison yet, because this is the first Spanish leather scent I'm testing and I like it very much. This is, oenologically speaking, certainly not a Grand Cru, but a pure, rock solid house wine, from which the inclination to higher things flashes up.
For me, this rather linear little water captivates with an almost unique orange note. First of all, it is extremely long-lasting (three, four hours if you splash, at least). Secondly, it is also very special in its nature. It is free of all superficial effervescence and freshness. But it is also not this characteristic bitter orange peeliness, but rather a very special, almost noble-woody astringency with a completely subdued sweetness, like a fine dark chocolate with a subtle orange admixture.
The opposite pole is formed by a bouquet of very pithy, masculine spices, nailed to a rough wooden beam. On the manufacturer's website as well as here in the perfume pyramid it only says generically "spicy notes", I would say allspice, a dark cinnamon and of course the rich juniper (juniper is explicitly mentioned, I buy it from the company immediately, I cooked with juniper yesterday and still have the smell fresh in my nose). Whether now a breath of leather is added, or whether the whole thing again creates a leather illusion (as in the old birch tar story of the Russian leather) is left open
What's certain is I like this Wally. Spee's wife also: In her opinion of the three bought the best. As mentioned, durability and sillage are very decent for a cologne (but without cheekily crossing the borders of the genre). The price is moderate: The 500 ml splash bottle costs 34 Euros. Unlike e.g. the "Clasica" of the same series, the fragrance is not also offered in the 100 ml spray bottle (with a vintage puddle puff) (then it would have been 28 Euros).
Supplements:
(1) Out of gratitude for the fact that I was not (yet) murdered for my yesterday's denunciation of a women's fragrance that is very popular here, nor (as far as can be seen so far) the numerous charming followers of this unspeakable product who have broken off diplomatic relations, I have today returned to familiar territory. The Cologne-uncle makes infotainment a Lockdown II. Everything back to normal. Snore.
(2) Despite the name component PELLE, this scent is 100% boiled sausage-free even in my oversensitive nose (with a Kosher and Halal seal, by the Pope himself).
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