Cuir Cuba Intense: Paris Havana

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by: Serguey Borisov

I want to congratulate the gorgeous woman and independent perfumer Patricia de Nicolaï on the anniversary of her perfume house. She created the family company Parfums Nicolaï, now called Nicolaï Parfumeur-Createur, with her husband Jean-Louis Michaud, and it is already 25 years old!

Cuir Cuba Intense EDP has appeared on the horizon, as some sort of olfactory fireworks from Nicolaï Parfumeur-Createur. It's the newest addition to the new collection Intense, which also appeared recently. Judging by the name, it should be a resounding tobacco-leather perfume that mustachioed macho Latinos from a Tarantino film could like, wearing rough-studded leather vests and a hat, chewing a thick cigar. But ... not!

Cuir Cuba Intense smells like a highly experienced sweet tooth was forced to love cigar smoking. Like, for example, Cuban guerrillas captured Pierre Guillaume and forced him to smell the subtle elegant cigarillos in vanilla sauce straight out of the cedarbox, or even a humidor. And in his mind he starts brewing some ideas about tobacco, sandalwood, vanilla and his favorite lactone part (recognizable but unknown by name).


Or as if cigar tobacco were dropped into South American condensed milk “dulce de leche” and left to infuse, in order to make some Tobacco caramel. 
The rapid development of Cuir Cuba Intense's tobacco and caramel and its slow decay resembles so many different perfumes and so many ingredients that one would better have impressions numbered in this redolent aromatic kaleidoscope.

The first bright and fresh notes—like lavender and sage—fly fast. Anise is delayed a little, and then a strange sweet note is the one to stay. This sweet, creamy and burnt caramel note, seems to have a lot of faces: a crust of bread, roasted coffee, condensed milk, maple syrup, and toffee. And it's stretched through the entire perfume. Like a sword with a Maillard reaction on it (say,Feuerzangenbowle on an open fire). This special note hides all the floral notes mentioned in the perfume description behind itself, and the flower essences are left to play a supporting role in the crowd—to keep the spicy, tobacco, wood and fragrant sweet notes full and breathing.

Cuir Cuba Intense's development intersects with the Tom Ford Tobacco Vanillestoryline, and it bumps into the memory of everyone who tried this perfume. The “Tobacco-Tonka-Vanilla” accord has already appeared in sequels and prequels—Serge Lutens Chergui, Phaedon Paris Tabac Rouge and Parfums de Marly Herod. And there is nothing wrong in these unsimilar similarities—any good storyline experiences a wave of its popularity. And this “the most sexy story in the world”—albeit an additional line—was exploited so long ago (in the aldehydic oriental fragrance Lagerfeld by Karl Lagerfeld (1978)). Moreover, Cuir Cuba Intense is self-quotation for Nicolaï, as their home fragrances range includes a Havane scent (anise, sage, tobacco) as a spray, candles and oil burner liquid.

Everyone will find the features of this Cuban stranger differently. Someone would  seeCuir Cuba Intense as a posh Back to Black by Kilian relative, someone else would find him in his favorite dens of Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque, and I smell spicy Serge Lutens Santal de Mysore with its sandalwood-lactone lingering, with spicy cumin and a sweaty scratchy styrax saddle in Nicolaï's perfume sillage.

Today it seems that Serge Lutens and Christopher Sheldrake have commented on almost all topics of oriental fragrances and it's impossible to find something original out of the Serge Lutens range—the team have already started to look for new themes in other gardens. And yet, oriental Cuir Cuba Intense by Nicolaï has something special and original—a French accent? The apparent simplicity? The original non-pretentious approach to the familiar story?—as it did not become a cloying gourmand, and remained a leather with caramel shades.

I'd rather say, the secret is hidden in the covenant of Pierre-Francois-Pascal Guerlain, Guerlain founder and Patricia's ancestor. “Have simple ideas, apply them scrupulously and never compromise on quality.” And the simple idea of Cuir Cuba Intense is an attempt to draw a just opened box of Cuban cigars by fragrances, not by colors.
The most interesting part of this Cuban lightweight is its base. Well, you know—heavyweights throw one devastating blow for the knockout while fidgety lightweights are trying to blow through the series, jumping around all twelve rounds. They win by numbers of exact landed slaps. So Cuir Cuba Intense is made of different slaps.

Its drydown seems like a pencil and civet, and then weightless thin leather, then velvety iris as a dried starched rhizome, then salty milk candy, then salted ylang-ylang, then almost imperceptible patchouli (so many different things, so hard to build). The civet is hot and the spicy, salty cumin taste is reminiscent of the swarthy thighs upon which women rolled cigars in Cuba (although the animalic notes are here just to warm up the perfume to body temperature and add some life to the leather).

Besides the milk-tobacco fireworks, the anniversary is also marked by book Nicolaï, Parfumeur-createur, Un métier d`artiste, which was written by the couple. The book is bilingual, with the main text in French with English translation. I think everyone will be able to find it—and I find it important to quote the preface of the book, written by Jean-Louis Michaud, husband of Patricia, in the light of recent acquisitions in the world of niche perfumes.

“For many people, work is separate from the rest of life. In founding Nicolaï, I tried to make it an integral part of our existence, with its intense moments and joys and challenges as well; my aim was to have an enriching, creative, lively, active and prosperous life. Prosperity is fifth on the list, even though a prosperous business is the basis of a sustainable company. Had I put prosperity first, I would have chosen a profession in finance, certainly, or sought to develop a company in order to sell it a few years later, as a profit.

The Nicolaï house is oriented to artistic creation; it is a way of life, a philosophy of existence, the desire for a different approach to our individualistic materialistic world. …There's a secret to it, however: you have to like the people you work with, like your products and like your customers. In fact, it`s simply a story of love. Is life anything else?”

After these words, I feel like niche perfumery is here to stay. At least, while Jean-Louis and Patricia are alive to run up the work of their life.

Cuir Cuba Intense

Top notes: Sicilian Lemon essence, Anise, Licorice, Fuzzy Mint;
Heart notes: Lavender essence, Geranium essence, Magnolia essence, Ylang-ylang essence, Coriander essence, Cumin;
Base notes: Patchouli essence, Cedarwood, Tobacco Absolute, Liatrix essence, Hay essence, Sage essence, Iris, Musk, Civet.