Recently I decided to pay a little more attention to Xerjoff and Casamorati in particular and set out to test some fragrances from this house. "Naxos" and "Alexandria II" I already knew and so I tested some scents on the "V Collection" and especially Casamorati. Here I already knew "Mefisto" about which I then also came to "Silver Mountain Water" or then ultimately to "Club de Nuit Sillage".
So I went to the perfumery, after this had finally reopened after a long lockdown time, and just took me this brown bottle, which was relatively well rated here on Parfumo, even if he was not at the top of the top list. And what can I say...It has made Zoom!
I was instantly smitten and could hardly believe my luck. The scent was strong, had a great tangy note and really appealed to me. Initially, I gave the fragrance a 9 and also wrote a statement about this great fragrance; I'll come back to this later. After some time, especially after I still smelled the fragrance on my sleeve, I had to correct my rating then but again, and upwards - to a 10!
Now it is so that I give a 10er rating really relatively rare. In 136 tested fragrances I have a total of only five times awarded a 10, so on average only 3.67% of all tested fragrances. In my personal 10 club are industry greats such as "Oud Wood", "Layton", "Reflection Man" and "Epic Woman", the latter intended as a fragrance on women, less so on me, although I could imagine that happening. And now so "1888" by Casamorati / Xerjoff as the fifth in this exquisite round!
And so I now could not help but to get me a bottle, even if this is really not exactly cheap and Xerjoff basically also offers no discounts. Now he stands but in all its glory in front of me (in the 30ml version) and I can not feast enough on it. But now a few words about the fragrance, where I would like to go back to my statement mentioned at the beginning.
Fragrance
The statement read:
"A really great fragrance. Masculine, spicy and elegant. But am I the only one who smells out a clear cola note here?"
And I still stand by this statement, even if the comments on this were that neither Cola would smell out, nor the fragrance is particularly masculine. That did not want to let my olfactory ego sit on itself and so I researched a little on the Internet. First of all, Xerjoff itself classifies the fragrance as rather masculine on their website. There, for each fragrance, there is a 3-point scale with more masculine, unisex or more feminine; "1888" has its point on the far left, so on the masculine side. Also here on Parfumo, 73.6% men own the fragrance. But I will absolutely not deny that the fragrance can be worn just as well by women!
Now then to the cola note. For this I was on relevant English-language pages fündig. Here it was not said that "1888" remind of cola, but very well to "Root Beer", this non-alcoholic American drink that in German probably corresponds most closely to our malt beer. There was talk of a "fizzy" and "sparkling" note, which I then probably perceived as a cola note. In this respect, I can be corrected here gladly and correct me insofar as I now replace cola by malt beer.
This note then also remains in the entire course of the fragrance, but later then keeps a little more in the background. For this, the floral notes come through in the following, which makes the fragrance so special and noble for me. A little reminds me the fragrance here of "Mefisto" or "Silver Mountain Water", at least you can recognize a distant relationship. In the drydown, the fragrance then becomes a little creamier, due to the woods and especially the amber. By the latter "1888" then even reminds something of "Grand Soir", of course still supplemented by this cola vibe, whereby also something "Enigma" of Roja resonates.
So the fragrance remains then 8-9 hours on the skin and pleases just initially not only one, but also his fellow men in the immediate vicinity. "1888" is not a "sillage monster", but the fragrance is nice and strong and gives the wearer a great aura.
The fragrance is also basically always wearable, no matter what the occasion, no matter what the season and thus becomes a real all-rounder or "ever walker".
The bottle and the overall presentation is Xerjoff according to outstanding. I find the Casamorati flacons less kitschy than, for example, the "V-Collection". The bottle, even the small one, has a decent weight and seems very high quality workmanship. Incidentally, the brown color of the bottle is quite reminiscent of a cola or even malt beer bottle. Coincidence?
Conclusion
I probably do not have to write much here. The "10" actually says everything. For me, the fragrance is something very special and he may even become my signature fragrance. Only the price is a small Wehrmutstropfen, but for a "10" you can indulge yourself so something already times.
So who is looking for a "tangy", spicy, but at the same time floral and elegant fragrance, "1888" should at least have tried. Cheers!
Top Notes
Coriander
Carnation
Pepper
Saffron
Heart Notes
Rose
Neroli
Ylang-ylang
Base Notes
Sandalwood
Patchouli
Amber
Birch
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Notes
Jvorlicek
RisingChaos
MariaS
BertolucciK
TimVR
DavidBraz
