Gringo
AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo

A wonderful airy-sweet concoction. Gringo is a challenging fragrance, but well worth the “effort”. It took me a few wears to consolidate all the notes and their complexity in order to experience its brilliant totality. One time I seemed to smell predominantly frankincense, another just the vanillic sweetness, a third time a combination of castoreum and citrus fruits and so on, but eventually, my nose got accustomed to the complexity and that’s when the magic happened. Hours and hours of an indescribably beautiful sweetness, always keeping the delicate balance between fresh and sweet accords. I usually hesitate to use the term “best of both worlds” as things described in this way more often than not involve the worst of both worlds, but here I think it is a worthy descriptor. Gringo indeed manages to strike a balance between fresh and sweet notes in such a way that the final result is more than the sum of its parts.

Upon application, a fairly strong minty frankincense note presents itself for a rather spicy opening. It certainly clears your sinuses, but after 10 or 15 minutes, just when it might start to be a little overbearing for some, the spicy warmth subsides and the sweetness starts coming to the forefront. It takes less than an hour for this perfume to fully settle and develop, and it is during this period that the lemon is most present, bridging the gap between the spicy freshness of the opening and the sweetness of the dry down. I would say Gringo is a linear perfume, but a rather special kind of its breed. In my experience, linear perfumes are usually, well, linear, meaning that you can smell one and the same thing for hours to come. With this perfume, though, the associations I get are constantly changing despite knowing the balance of the notes hasn’t really changed. So, while my nose knows I’m always smelling the same delicate balance of sweet notes, at one time it smells like vanilla ice-cream with raspberries, another time it reminds me of sherried single malt whisky or perhaps even a sweet bourbon and so on. It might seem like hyperbole, but I’ve cycled from associations of white chocolate pralines to raspberry jam, to nougat, raisins soaked in rum and also honey. Gringo feels almost like a sugar-infused fever-dream at times, in the best of ways. Subjective associations aside, the dry down is a balance of woody, sweet and slightly floral notes. The actual notes I get once it fully develops (in no particular order) are vanilla, sandalwood (think sawdust), rose, lemon, mint, frankincense, raspberries (probably a facet of the castoreum) and occasional whiffs of a white-floral component, jasmine or something similar perhaps, although this could be a result of certain notes combining.

On my skin, the vanillic sawdust facet of this fragrance is the strongest, followed by this wonderful raspberry note, which cuts the sweetness a bit. After the opening of the fragrance, the mint and the frankincense subside into the background, occasionally popping up every once in a while, but for the most part just ensuring the fragrance remains fresh, not dominating the olfactory experience. Apart from the brief opening, I wouldn’t describe this fragrance as “smoky”. The lemon and rose add a touch of juiciness, not too much, but just the right amount to make the scent even richer and more three-dimensional. I was approaching the end of this review and realized that I completely forgot to mention the patchouli… I think that says it all, really. While it is definitely there and probably supplies a lot of the chocolaty goodness to this perfume, it is masterfully blended in, to the point where almost all the musty, darker aspects of this note are completely hidden. The handling of patchouli in Gringo is bordering on sorcery, as is this entire creation - in my opinion, the perfect fragrance for those who like sweetness but don’t want to be overwhelmed by it!

Stardate 20170209:

This is my first Dubrana fragrance. I had high expectation cause of what people and critics say about him. Unfortunately, I was not impressed.
This is a decent run of the mill mint and patch plus a dash of animalics. The drydown has some chocolaty gourmand effect.

Nothing great or outstanding. Plus longevity is meh.

Gringo is my new favourite from La Via del Profumo. The funny thing is that I already had a sample many years ago and I liked it but wasn't wowed by it. A few weeks ago I ordered a new sample and it totally blew me away! First of all: Gringo is very persistent for a natural perfume. Folks who want decent longevity will be happy with this one. But to me the smell is the most important thing: The clever juxtaposition of very dirty (castoreum) and very clean notes (mint, citrus) is simply great. Gringo has a hefty dose of castoreum in it and one can smell its full power, but just at the moment when the scent would become too dirty the wonderful mint-note comes into play and covers the stinkier facets of castoreum up. I think there should be more perfumes featuring mint. Patchouli, frankincense, sandalwood and vanilla give the scent a solid and sweet body, so that the perfume appears almost monolithic, but paradoxically at the same time Gringo is kind of weightless and very easy to wear. A nice touch of citrus gives Gringo a Mediterranean feeling. Allegedly there is some rose in it, but to be honest I have problems detecting it. Probably the rose is somewhere in the background holding the scent together. Gringo doesn't develop much over time, so what you get in the beginning is basically what you get in the end - and that for many glorious hours.

If you're familiar with Dubrana's work, the palette here is quite the same of many others among his masculine offers (notably Tabac and Don Corleone), here with a bolder animalic-musky twist: civet (rich, dirty, sweaty), patchouli, oak moss and a light floral breeze which together with the earthy-indolic base, kind of reminded me of Rabanne's Ténére and Bogart's Furyo at first. The rose petals floating over a pile of steamy animalic stuff is somehow the same here as regards of the abovementioned fragrances, well supported by sandalwood and its peculiar sweet-syrupy woodiness. A few notes, all vibrant, sharp and clear, as per Dubrana's style. Another great example of dark, natural, intense masculinity in a bottle (I know it's outdated to classify scents by gender, but sometimes it works – surely it does for this brand). The smell here is earthy, woody, sweaty and from times to times even moldy-indolic thanks to civet; easy to think of many old-school masculine chypres. Still it's all more natural here, so in a way, smelling more rich, more “alive”, more effortless, less “formal” and less tamed down (and less synthetic). For some reasons not a “wow” entirely, perhaps for a sort of boring linearity, but overall surely a fascinating and solid scent.

7,5-8/10

Yes an interesting fragrance with a compelling minty lemony opening. The note of lemon is throughout heady but tends to become progressively smoother, earthy, more animalic, incensey-resinous and vanillic. The rose (by soon vegetal and green) is wisely connected with patchouli, earthy notes and incense in order to provide a fantastic "neo-retro" atmosphere. Brightly avantgarde (neo-yippie) and vintage concoction at once, indeed. In particulare castoreum, sandalwood and lemony vanilla are so smooth, sensual and intense as surrounded by a subtle steady minty undertone. Evocative about cozy dodgy (yippie) parties in the East London secret venues. Castoreum and earthy patchouli provide an elusive slightly stuffy existentialist atmosphere. The evolution performs a sort of aromatic earthy "beyond-retro" rose-frankincense earthy-hesperidic accord absolutely delightful and nonconformist. Cultured, nostalgic and indipendent is the Gringo's wearer, he is an eccentric fellow, reads Jack London, wears vintage fabrics, loves aromatherapy, weeds and oriental aptitudes, dislikes conventional glamour parties and prefers aromatic candles, english gardens and moquette far down in the suburbia clandestine venues.

A suave and rather arresting fragrance that showcases some dry, dusty frankincense with a touch of aromatic woods and spice. I'm almost positive there is some tobacco flower in there as well. I thought it smelled like Grezzo d'Eleganza without the sweetness.

As the story goes, GRINGO was originally composed for an Italian stylist who turned it down as he thought it was too audacious to be appreciated by his customers. Seriously? What a moron! With all due respect, this stylist probably wears thin watery crap all day and hangs around AdG-drenched clients. That's just too bad for him for this 'charming rogue' is definitely one of my favorites from this house.

If you've tried Grezzo d'Eleganza, you might be reminded of it, especially the opening phases. At first I thought it was Grezzo with extra citrus and some peppermint. Is that the shared castoreum, perhaps? And then it develops into a really complex set of accords which to my nose is dominated by peppermint, with Mysore sandalwood (creamy smooth), rose (to deepen and join with the sandalwood), a hint of vanilla (to sweeten and kiss the others), and frankincense (to sparkle a little and raise our heads). A really interesting and enjoyable experience. I have only just tried it though and will be interested to see what it might be like in larger doses and in different weathers (it's winter right now).

Lasts ages, has good sillage for 2-3 hours and then retreats gradually to medium/low sillage - just above skin level. (A really good tip, if you don't know it already, is to put some on the front of your wrist. Every time you raise your hands towards your face, you'll smell it. I also like to put some on my sideburns - the hair seems to hang on to the oils longer/evaporation is a little slower.)

How does it make me feel? It's quite a zingy feel from the lemony peppermint, which is youthful and with the castoreum a bit frisky, but it's also sophisticated and centred, rather as L'Aventurier perhaps has already commented. I will certainly enjoy the rest of my small sample and, depeding on how my other Via Profumo samples pan out, it may well reach the Buy a Bigger Bottle list!

Ingredients that are mentioned at Profumo's page:Patchuli, Frankincense, Peppermint, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Rose, Castoreum and Lemon.Gringo is one of the most interesting fragrances that i've ever smelled.It's very elusive...like a mad time traveller. It's plentiful with the power of a hurricane. It's retro and avantgarde at the same time...sentient and rapturous.This fragrance evokes a remembrance of Ludwig van Beethoven. C-minor? Yes...why not;)p.s. Gringo's longevity? Well...27 hours on my skin of dorsum of hand. Go figure!

Before I looked at the notes, I identified the frankincense. This perfume smells like sticking one's head into a bag of frankincense resin and snorting the dust like cocaine. It has a euphoric feeling, like a drug high. It is rich, heavy, and high-quality. Anyone who enjoys incense fragrances ought to try this one, especially those who like Messe de Minuit.
It satisfies my patchouli craving, too. The patchouli adds an earthy mustiness to the scent, and it brings with it its sweet, chocolatey undertones. The mint and lemon freshen and lighten the scent. And the vanilla rounds it off with softness. I cannot smell castoreum, per se, but it adds a bit of "butchness" with its faint, rubbery, leathery aroma. This fragrance was supposedly turned down by the person who commissioned it to be done because it was too bold. His loss, my gain, because it's available to everyone now. I'm no swashbuckling pirate, so don't let the description at the website put you off if you're not one, either. This is a top-notch, unique composition with that "I can't get you out of my head" characteristic that keeps you coming back for more. It's a great example of the fine work by this perfumer, who finds and uses the best all-natural ingredients available. Do check it out.