Unreleased, coming July 2025.

Who is that tall, masked stranger who always smells so good? Is he a better driver than me? Why do I keep waking up on the ground?

RACER-X is an unusual, crisp take on a summer ‘sport’ fragrance, but this being Clandestine Laboratories it probably doesn’t smell much like anything else, other than (reportedly) something done in a classic cologne style. An enigmatic and sophisticated sport fragrance for a masked race car driver with a mysterious past, perhaps. The main structure was created in 2019 and evolved through multiple wearings until 2022, when we began sending out a few samples and received such an enthusiastic response that we made a couple bottles for regulars and quickly ran out of juice. This past couple years has been such a whirlwind of work that we’ve only just recently mixed a new batch - and as usual it features new natural materials and reflects our perfumer’s increased skill and confidence. By ‘we’ of course I mean me - for those who don’t already know, this is a one-man brand. In fact, RACER-X was my Usenet username back in the early days of the proto-internet; it seemed perfect for an emerging medium in which everyone is semi-anonymous, our thoughts racing along the ‘information superhighway’ at breakneck speed.

While the overall character leans lemony and fresh, this is hardly a ‘citrus freshie’ and has enough sophistication and depth to make it appropriate for evening wear, especially in warmer weather. The topnotes are anchored by a healthy dose of mimosa absolute with dark fruits and animalics, along with light woody-incense notes that are a recurring theme here. Racer-X lasts well without losing its essential character and evolves in subtle and interesting ways well into the drydown.

Notes include lemon, bergamot, mandarin, bitter orange, rose geranium, rosewood, clary sage, cardamom, mace, dark fruits, salty sea air, teak, frankincense, balm of Gilead, mimosa, vetiver, cedar moss, patchouli, muguet, and musk. Leans traditionally masculine.