Ottoman Leather – PARFUM D'EMPIRE | Eau de Parfum - Iris, Leather & Tolu Balsam

A leather that begins with light and ends in warmth.
Powdery, resinous, felted — an enveloping presence that doesn't let go.

Leather in perfumery often evokes dryness, hardness, a frontal and sharp presence. Cuir Ottoman by Parfum d'Empire offers another vision — an Ottoman leather, meaning a leather worked according to a tradition of softness and richness, coated with resins and flowers, enveloped in a balmy and vanilla warmth that makes it almost cottony. Marc-Antoine Corticchiato, independent perfumer and doctor in plant chemistry, signs here one of his most accessible perfumes — accessible in the sense of immediately seductive, not in the sense of simple.

In this Eau de Parfum concentration, the composition opens with a surprising powdery and slightly floral light. Iris, cistus, and Egyptian jasmine create an elegant and slightly textured softness — iris with its powdery and slightly earthy dimension, cistus with its amber and slightly resinous warmth, Egyptian jasmine with its creamy floral sweetness. It's an opening that doesn't smell like leather — it smells like what's around the leather. Leather, Tolu balsam, benzoin, and styrax then arrive at the heart in a material of remarkable density and velvety warmth. The leather here is dry and slightly smoky, worked in its noblest facet. Tolu balsam — a South American resin with slightly vanilla and slightly cinnamonic facets — envelops it in a unique balmy sweetness. Benzoin and styrax add their resinous and slightly medicinal depth. Incense, vanilla, and tonka bean settle in the base in a round, enveloping warmth of exceptional persistence — incense that elevates, vanilla that softens, tonka that closes in a slightly coumarinic sweetness. Cuir Ottoman is a perfume that deepens — the more you wear it, the more you understand it.

Cuir Ottoman is the fragrance for those who thought they didn't like leather — and who hadn't yet met the right version.