Parfum d’Empire Cuir Ottoman: Review.
Since we started the new year on a very pronounced ‘leather’ note, it made sense to continue the theme with another leather-based fragrance: Cuir Ottoman from Parfum d’Empire. Parfum d’Empire is a niche fragrance house, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato is the house nose and creator for this scent as well. The leaning of this fragrance, according to their scent profile, is unisex; however, your mileage may vary and most will find this a very deep, smoky, animalic scent that relies heavily on an incense/leather/benzoin base to achieve its result. In our view, this is much more masculine than feminine, and that statement isn’t one taken lightly or meant to infer that any feminine scent should be flowery or light.
Before we spoil the plot much further, let’s dive into the overall review:
Parfum d’Empire Cuir Ottoman (2006): This scent is intended to invoke a sense of the Ottoman Empire in the use of leather, incense, and deep florals to achieve a rugged and masculine-profiled outcome. An Egyptian Jasmine and Iris begin the composition, and are somewhat green, deep, and only mildly floral against this backdrop. Almost immediately, the leather and incense notes in the heart of the composition take over and remain throughout. The result is a nice yet smoldering leather scent that presents a rugged sophistication, tempered and bridled but clearly the focus of the fragrance. The base begins to drift in after some time, and here is where the effects of the benzoin and a very nice Tolu Balsam round out the experience. Both serve to enhance the effect of the leather without upstaging it, and the blending works quite well.
This is a fragrance best approached carefully with a mindset of a very pronounced leather, surrounded in the smoke of a soft wood and nicely polished by a resiny effect, so the finish is best described as somewhat “tarry” though not unpleasantly so.
As we mentioned earlier, we don’t agree with this being a feminine scent, but that’s a decision best made personally. While with Aoud Cuir d’Arabie we were decidedly leaning toward a masculine profile, this is somewhat less specific.
Sillage and projection are average to good for an Eau de Parfum concentration, longevity is excellent. We found this to have at least a 12 to 14 hour durability, give or take depending on the wearer and skin type. Cuir Ottoman is a near perfect execution of a fall/winter experience and best used in those seasons. Pricing is typical to slightly below average for a niche fragrance — we found it for around $140-150 for a 100ml bottle, around $90 for a 50ml, both quite reasonable for a scent of high quality. There was no synthetic effect within this at all, and good balance in the composition. It holds well to the skin without being heavy or cloying, which is an accomplishment with the notes chosen.
Parfum d’Empire is a niche house about which we hear very little. We’ve thus far had the pleasure of sampling/purchasing three of their 13 products and look forward to experiencing more. There is little we would suggest changing in the composition, other than a bit of animalic and musky flair in the opening. The combination of the two floral notes at the top is slightly — and we mean very slightly — earthy, but dissipates within five minutes. It’s not much of a negative note in the overall experience, though it may be slightly off-putting to some.
The verdict?
Rating: 4.5/5. Highly recommended. This is a well-developed, well-conceived, and very well-executed fragrance that strikes the right balance without sacrificing a decidedly assertive profile. We were very excited to try this, and added it to my permanent collection.
Bottom-line: For someone seeking a leather fragrance of high quality, unadulterated, and truly representative of the note, this is an excellent choice. It more than adequately occupies a niche away from other scents such as Tom Ford’s Tuscan Leather or Montale’s Aoud Cuir d’Arabie, yet it isn’t a soft presentation like Christian Dior’s Leather Oud. Cuir Ottoman maintains a very respectable price-point that does not exploit a niche status, but rather makes it accessible. While it’s not easy to locate (MinNY is one of a few retailers), it’s very much worth the search.
I'm Andrew Buck, the man behind the words. I'm a published author, project management practitioner for over 20 years, work on Wall Street, and am a fragrance aficionado. I've had a passion for fragrance for 30+ years, and enjoy trying scents and adding to an expanding and rotating collection for some time now. This site is dedicated not only to fragrance, but also to the notion that quality matters now more than ever. 
