Spezie 
Lorenzo Villoresi (1994)

Average Rating:  28 User Reviews

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Spezie by Lorenzo Villoresi

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About Spezie by Lorenzo Villoresi

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Lorenzo Villoresi
Fragrance House

Spezie is a men's fragrance launched in 1994 by Lorenzo Villoresi

Fragrance notes.

  1. Top Notes

  2. Heart Notes

  3. Base Notes

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Reviews of Spezie by Lorenzo Villoresi

There are 28 reviews of Spezie by Lorenzo Villoresi.


Has anyone ever noticed that Villoresi employs a very similar base accord to Andy Tauer in much of his work - meaning that dusty, almost stale/flat fizzing into the ether of greyish minerals, incense ash, balsams, and spices? I notice it strongly in both Ambra and Spezie. Maybe it is an Italian thing, though, as there is something very similar in the construction of most of Maria Candida Gentile's work too.

Here, unfortunately, the effervescence and 'space dust' airiness of that accord cannot save Spezie from the rather sour, sweaty-smelling spice. The clove is metallic, there is either turmeric or cumin for that, em, human dimension, and the oily purity of the rosemary or bay is a bit too close to the screech of Epsom salts for my liking. The fresh tomato stem note is welcome when I can smell it, which is mostly towards the tail end. In general, though, the riff between the dry, sweaty spice and the cooling vegetal slap of tomato leaf is discordant rather than cohesive.


With a healthy splash of Spezie on the backs of my hands I sat in front of my herbs and spices drawer. One by one I worked through 30 spices, with particular care and focus on cumin, coriander, fenugreek, cardamom, turmeric and fennel seeds.

In the opening there is a very very brief brightness to Spezie. Think the citrusy blast you get when crushing open fresh cardomom seeds. For the next 4 hours all I'm left with is a linear, dry and spent, turmeric powder. To my nose the absence of sweetness, that either fenugreek, clove or cinnamon would provide, makes this into a very unappealing, dull and fusty scent. I don't like the smell of stale turmeric in the drawer and certainly don't want it on me. Being honest with myself I'm really just saying, "this doesn't hold a candle to 'Piper Nigrum' ". In the dying end of the fragrance, at the 6 hour mark, the fustiness has mercifully passed, leaving only a mild soapy odour. Perhaps this might work as a layered fragrance combined with a bright aquatic?

Below you'll find folks that are able to pick out much more than turmeric, but with actual spice in one hand and Spezie on the other I'm left scratching my head and doubting myself somewhat.


Those who think they know spicy fragrance have yet to experience something that is so wholly and truly spice and herbs as Lorenzo Villoresi Spezie.

This showcases that dusty sensation that comes with spices such as bay leaf, nutmeg, and clove, with the wonderfully bitter, astringent leafy qualities of oregano and the earthier, muskier elements of white thyme and caraway. Of course cinnamon serves as the backbone, carrying it all through the heart and base, while the dry down has the hues moving from olive greens to tawny browns, feeling like rye, rosemary, the sensual layer of perspiration enhancing one's own skin, with a puff of heliotrope rendering it a bit sweet and powdery, just a smidgen.

Spezie is worth seeking out if one is a fan of ingenious Diptyque L'Autre or the delicious Serge Lutens Arabie. It is Villoresi's love letter to all the raw herbal and spiced elements in nature.


Lorenzo Villoresi is a genius of italian perfumery, a Maestro of balance and perfection. Spezie is perfect measure and olfactory resinous/aromatic bliss. Actually if you are in to herbal/spicy/aromatic resins (and partially in to liquid spicy frankincenses) this juice could be a must for you. You could love Spezie if you are in to barber-shop "fluidy" frankincenses as well. Spezie is a lovely green and soapy-resinous clove/cinnamon/cumin's symposium. The latter smells kind of waxy/incensey, rosey, vaguely liturgical, "by kurkuma-veined", balmy and aromatic. Tomato leaves, aromatic garden's herbs and sage provide a powerfully "cool" green feel. The scent which more than others conjures me Villoresi Spezie is Cerchi Nell'Acqua Usmar Venezia which is a more resinous but less spicy/aromatic kind of experience. Maria Candida Gentile Cinabre and partially Sideris with their spicy/resinous exuberance are fragrances partially jumping on mind as well. There is also a classic "toiletries/room cleaner barber-shop" kind of aromatic waxy undertone all around. Peppery? Herbal? Mmm, yes but not exclusively. Soapy/aromatic? Liquid/resinous? Right, yes, this is what this fragrance smells more properly like under my borderline nose of province. Spezie, in a nutshell, is definitely rich of aromatic herbs and spices but overall is a soapy, smooth, cool and resinous mélange. Spices and herbs are just central parts of a more articulate smoother affair in which smoldering balsams and aromatic-soapy resins are mastering (and where spices flavour up and colour the resinous "basis"). It seems (ostensibly) like some ferns take part to ceremony. Dry down is a vaguely talky/rosey piece of spicy/aromatic powder. A spark of neutral floral sophistication emerges gradually from the soap. A tad of frankincense (combined with myrrh and labdanum) a la Etro Mess de Minuit? It seems to catch partially that feel. Soapiness is finally warm and erotic. A unisex piece of waxy sensuality.


ya' gotta LOVE cloves, to dig this. Its a flat out, heavy, clove monster. And it is delicious. Has a velvety feel to it..powdery...and a tad, tart with the juniper in it. A very hip scent. A favorite of mnine.


The Window by Vito D'Ancona

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