Hermèssence Cuir d'Ange 
Hermès (2014)

After an opening dominated by an agreeable heliotrope, but soon a violet adds sone depth and casts an olfactory shadow on the heliotropic brightness. Wafts of almong with a fruity undertone come and go.

Later on the leather arrives. A smooth, slightly sweet new soft leather, it is on the brighter side; it is the opposite in Knize Ten, for instance.

A darkish musk develops further down the track, softened and attenuated by a floral counterpoint, constituted if a lightly applied narcissus as well as an iris; the latter is light, quite green, and lacking any powderiness. The touches of an ambrette seeds at the end are a final touch that is adding depth.

I get moderate sillage, quite a decent projection and nine hours of longevity on my skin.

This sent for warmer autumn days appears superficial and generic/synthetic quite a lot, but Jean-Claude penchant for laboratory components works quite well with this leather; leather is extremely hard to produce the natural way and usually an synthetic blend anyway. Here it works well. 3/5

A brilliant, almost harsh reminder of what leather can smell like...that, soft, supple, and beautiful.

If you want to break things down, there are spices like cumin, florals like mimosa/Cassie, and something buttery, but none dry.

Excellent, but can you wear it all day without wanting a break? Not sure. I'd love it in a candle.

Wonderful soft leather suede with hints of orris and violet. This is the softer version of Aleksandr by Arquisite. Absolutely beautiful and a leather than can be worn by anyone. Everything blends exquisitely together and one I will definitely add to my must have wish list.

This leather fragrance is very soft, subtle and sensational. So many of these soft suede like leathers fall flat on one note of ambrette or saffron suede, but not this one. Cuir d'Ange is very real with living breathing qualities of warmth and cold darkness that move back and forth within the framework of a soft livable suede leather. Darkness of violet with clear soft iris and sueded ambrette with slight warmth from heliotrope and mild animalic musk. Without question this is one of the finest leather fragrances I've tried in a long time. The elements work together and change throughout the progression for a very high quality leather scent. Close to perfection for JC Ellena and a great addition to the Hernessence series.

My favorite Hermèssence and quite possible Ellena's best work of the last few years.

Somehow, Cuir d'Ange is both completely weird and utterly comforting, in a way that I've never experienced in a leather perfume. It's utterly original, yet somehow familiar.

So what does it smell like? Well, that's complicated... It's got that mix of cumin and sweaty-old-man leather that Le Labo uses a lot (probably most famously in Rose 31), and it's also got a mix of brown sugar and molasses and New Orleans chicory coffee that should smell gourmand but instead is sort of leathery and woody. I don't smell most of the listed notes, but can understand, at least intellectually, how they could be background players.

Yet Cuir d'Ange is way more than the sum of it's parts - this odd combination of woody sugary funk somehow simulates the smell of a horse and simultaneously manages to not smell gross at all, despite itself. In fact, it actually smells fresh. I'm baffled how this works, but very glad to have it to smell. Highly recommended.