DaAnderRevs

I had been on the look out for a pleasing smoky fragrance for quite some time so I decided to try a sampler trio of Rook perfumes as they all seemed to lean toward that olfactory property. Unfortunately they were not for me at all. Suede, of the three, was easily the worst. It smells to me like a chemical fire in a medicine cabinet and I had to scrub it almost as soon as I applied it to my skin. Despite doing this I still got a few raised eyebrows when I met my folks later in the day as they asked me what I'd been up to to smell so strangely.

I found the perfume extremely harsh and the people I was around later were perturbed even by the lingering residue despite my best efforts to remove it. I'm not a lover of overtly challenging scents like this as you have to consider others as well as yourself when wearing something so uncompromising. A big no from me for this one.

I have now had a chance to wear Renier Perfume's Cacique on a couple of occasions and thought I'd share my thoughts. I knew I would like Cacique when I was introduced to its perfume pyramid via a post on Instagram a few weeks back. It certainly hasn't disappointed.

I find this extrait de parfum to be quite a complex blend of quality components, with lasting and alternating oud and musk aromas that hang around for an absolute age. At initial application I get hits of juniper and patchouli and, although it is listed as a base note, I get transient whiffs of the burnt caramel quite early on but find they soon shy away as the oud notes expand and become more prominent.

Longevity for this on my skin is absolutely immense. I went to bed on the first day I wore Cacique and woke up the next day still able to smell it clearly on my person. Sillage appears to be moderate. I can smell its presence lingering around me almost continually, yet when I asked a socially distanced colleague today if they could catch a waft they said they couldn't.

I'm finding this fragrance enjoyable to wear and the scent is very pleasing. I have convinced myself that I need to pick up a full-sized bottle of this when my sample is done - another bottle to add to my already too large collection!

I've managed to get a few days wear our of my Strawanza after super quick delivery to the UK all the way from Vienna, Austria. This was one of my first ever fragrance blind buys, a decision I made after talking to Roman, one of the brains behind the fragrance (the other is his wife) who I can honestly say is a pleasant and enthusiastic fellow. I feel it's always important to support projects by passionate people and I speak from personal experience having received plenty of support from strangers when it came to releasing my fiction books a few years back. I was a bit apprehensive whilst waiting for my order seeing as I hadn't had a chance to test the smell but now it has arrived I can safely say it was a very good purchase despite the perceived risk.

Strawanza evokes in me images of when men were real men, and I can clearly see dapper gentlemen from the 40s/50s wearing this as they kick back in a smoky taproom after a hard day's labour. I believe the scent is a modernised take on a vintage, discontinued cologne from around that period and I can clearly imagine my grandfather wearing this in his heyday. I get warming clove at the initial application which dries down into something really earthy and peppery then develops into something fresh with a subtle mintiness. It's a masculine smell and usually my partner likes me in something less manly, but even she enjoyed this intriguing and unique fragrance.

Longevity is good for a cologne and I was still catching pleasing whiffs of Strawanza some five to six hours after I'd put it on. I wore it when out with friends yesterday and, even from a Covid-safe distance, I got a few compliments about how good I smelled. Roman, your creation is getting a lot of love over here in England!

It's probably natural to feel some apprehension when buying unknown brands or artisanal fragrances but if you fancy something made with a bucketload of love, passion, and effort, something a little bit different, something incredibly masculine, or something old school you could do much worse than trying Strawanza.

For me, this scent is a real winner and I'm glad I took a chance on it.