Treasure chest, Atelier Cologne Gold Leather

This season Atelier Cologne, French niche perfume brand specialising in colognes crafted in the modern and innovative way – Cologne Absolues, made one step further towards providing us new olfactory experience. The brand has introduced a new chapter and it’s called Collection Métal. This collection was inaugurated with two fragrances – one dedicated to leather and the other one to iris.

Gold Leather, as its name suggests, is a fragrance that contemplates a leathery chord in perfumery. This scent has a bright and boozy opening created with rum note (which actually smells more like cognac at first) with an additional flavor of bitter orange. Rum is a dominating aroma here, making orange just a background addition. Just 10 minutes later the golden shimmer of rum subsides making a place for two main ingredients of this Atelier Cologne.

Golden beverage turns black like tar when oud makes its entrance. I remember reading an interview with Jerome Epinette in which he stated he’ll never make a Cologne Absolue with lots of oud. Well, he didn’t keep his promise, but the creation he did, he did it right. Oud in Gold Leather is dark and dense. It’s much heavier than its hints in Rose Anonyme, but one doesn’t feel overwhelmed by it. It really is a great feeling to smell the density of the note and at the same time not feeling its weight.

5 minutes from the moment of the appearance of oud, 15 minutes since applying the perfume on skin the actual leather appears. It’s one of those unforgettable leathers that smell real, genuine, that are accompanied by the smell of chemical pigments used to tan it before a piece of this material will turn into a luxurious handbag or jacket. From this moment a leather accord is a dominating one, shining, muting all the other notes. What I really like about Gold Leather is the fact that it’s so fine and refined that it never develops a plastic vibe and it doesn’t give me a nose fatigue, while some other leathers do this to me.

Leather in this new Cologne Absolue is almost a solo player for the next half an hour and then it eventually slowly becomes more subtle. Then oud joins it again, but only for a short while before a plum accord emerges from the depth of the composition. Gold Leather has a nice plum accord. It makes the perfume a little bit more playful and laid back. It definitely smells ripe and at some points it evokes drier and more smoky feeling that perfectly fits the entire character of this fragrance.

My favorite part of Atelier Cologne Gold Leather happens close to the 3,5 hour mark when the fragrance gets closer to its drydown. At this point of development this perfume reveals the reason why it has a word gold in its name. Rum accord makes its return in more elegant, quiet yet mellow way. All its aspects are easier to notice now. The slight alcoholic vibe together with a lightly sweet smell of a sugar cane (used to make rum) bring warmth to the composition.

Later on, when it’s 240 minutes since I sprayed Gold Leather on my body, the perfume gets intensively red and mouth-watering. All because of the saffron that brings all its aromatic power and delicious smell into the perfume. It’s warm, it’s lightly spicy and lightly sweet at the same time. It reacts with all the senses and soothes them like a lullaby sung by someone with a soft voice. Many hours later the perfume smells kind of woody with hints of spices. After 12 hours, it disappears for good.

Gold Leather tells the story of a man who is content of his life, but still seeks fulfillment.

A man of such great power and charisma could have anything he asked. Despite it all, he could not have the only thing he really wanted. For the first time in his life, he had found the absolue woman and he was a better man for it. He would not let her go. Anything but that. He would trade all the gold in the world to be with her.

Perfumer Jerome Epinette was responsible for creating Gold Leather for Atelier Cologne. This perfume is created with the notes of bitter orange, saffron, rum, plum, eucalyptus, davana, fraction of gaiac wood and cedarwood, oud and leather accords. This fragrance contains 18% of perfume oils.

Gold Leather, one of the two creations introducing Collection Métal is an amazing perfume! It lasts all day (12 hours on me) and it has a decent sillage. Flacon of this scent is covered with genuine gold. The perfume itself will be available in two options: option 1 is a 100ml bottle, option 2 is a coffret of 200ml + 30ml petit flacon with a leather pouch. Lone 30ml won’t be offered in sale. Perfumed soap, as well as a candle scented with Gold Leather will be available.

[note] sample of Gold Leather was a gift from Atelier Cologne. Thank you Donatien!