Warm, smoky and distinguished… Leather evokes an image of burnt ember, mingling with the lingering scent of tobacco. Elegant and animal, this note is synthetically reproduced to evoke the powerful scent of leather goods.
In fragrance, the leather accord is a complex mixture of raw materials. Leather notes include birch and styrax as well as tobacco and animal notes. Every perfumer has their own secrets to creating leather notes, adding their own personal thumbprint. The perfumer can add floral or powdery notes to soften a leather base, depending on their inspiration and desired effect.
Perfumery's first leather notes came from leather tinctures created by Maîtres Gantiers Perfumers in Grasse, one of the most prestigious perfume houses located in southern France. They created the notes using the incredibly soft leathers that were used to make the popular gloves of the time. The leather itself was tanned using silver birch bark in accordance with the ancient Cosack method. The leather accord was very popular from 1920 to 1960 when it was most commonly used in both women's and men's fragrances. Leather was even considered to be its own olfactory family.
Cuir de Russie is an olfactory nod to the wild horsemen life, light smell of tobacco and tanned with birch bark leather boots of Russian soldiers.
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