MADRID
MADRID
Madrid Is bold yet pleasant to wear. Based on the lemony-woody lit-from-within quality of the magnolia flowers in front of the Royal Palace of Madrid and an animalic-cedar men’s fragrance that was everywhere on the street there in 2015, this has contradictory facets with the heightened naturalism that is typical of our fragrances, but is also more straightforward than previous releases. It’s lemony and a little dangerous, clean yet dirty, raw yet refined, old school yet cutting edge. Unisex but leans masculine, it’s more woody, animal and spicy vs floral and has a raw cedar bite with contemporary transparency.
Notes include rosemary verbenone, lemon, magnolia, ginger, cedar, gasoline, oiled leather, white musk.
This will soon be re-released at EDT concentration because of new IRFA restrictions on one material that put it just over the new limit (which isn’t in effect yet for existing fragrances). Because it’s a fairly assertive fragrance, especially at first, it makes sense to dilute it a bit more rather than reformulate and it fits well with the other citrus-floral-woody-spicy EDTs.
I can't get over how much I love this fragrance!
Madrid opens with a sharp lemon bite. The opening has everything I like about the cutting, sour smell of a lemon cleaner, but with none of the secondary unpleasantness. That quickly resolves into a fresh cedar scent with a tinge of pepper. Underneath it all, there's a really comforting smell that I can only describe as "hayride", a smell I associate with yearly visits to the pumpkin patch growing up. After a full day of wearing it, the scent profile seems to settle down into a calmer cedar, the mild scent of dry straw, and a barely floral muskiness that holds echoes of its former acid glory.
In typical Clandestine Laboratories fashion, despite the striking edginess, there's something really old-school and classic about Madrid. It smells a lot like the way my violin smells when it's returned from the shop - revitalized wood mixed with the scent of lemon oil polish. It's both comforting and fresh, like a beautiful piece of furniture that's been brought back to life by an artisan.
Unlike many bold fragrances, Madrid never becomes exhausting to smell. Every moment with this fragrance thrills me and makes me enjoy it more. This has quickly become one of my favorite bottles on the shelf, so I can't help but highly recommend it. If you like the idea of an edgy acidic scent with a classic backbone, this is one to pick up.
-Inkwell on Basenotes
