Only one word to describe me: artisan.
"All my perfumes are hand-made and hand-bottled. The artisan behind the logo is myself.
I moved to Switzerland to make perfumes, because I love Switzerland and because it’s a great place to live and be an independent perfumer.
All raw materials used in my perfumes are carefully chosen by myself from a selection of the best quality raw materials produced around the world.
I love Switzerland, I love raw materials, and I love to make artisanal perfumes".
Alter
"Alter is the jasmine of sensuality and seduction.
Sambac Jasmine with rose and incense create a secrete mix of old fashioned beauty.
A little bit of mimosa and an hint of animal mystery.
A perfume for woman, for man and for woman and men together".
Sammarco is all about the juice. No verbose backstories, no fancy packagings and, most of all, no hype and no cheap-poetry. A bunch of extremely high-quality ingredients effortlessly blended into little masterpieces that are way more complex than an initial look might suggest. A great example of a lost kind of perfumery that relies on the main player: perfume.
Alter is basically a massive indolic jasmine of rare beauty enriched by a subtle and yet quite remarkable civet note and something bitter and kind of almondy (mimosa or maybe heliotrope). The opening is extremely vivid and portraits the main ingredient in all its natural raw quality. Indolic, unprettified with a sort of freshly-cut mushroom facet and obviously very floral. The pairing with civet is perfect and instead of enhancing the potential challenging aspect of the combo, it provides a warm and carnal vein while other smooth yellow florals serve as refinements. It's a striking fragrance that doesn't need to rely on volume to make its statement. Instead it's calm, close to the skin and yet somehow, dangerous and daring.
If you're up for a *pretty* jasmine, you should probably look somewhere else. Instead, if a true to life, high-end quality white floral is what you're after, Alter will most definitely fit your bill. A fragrance that's fascinating, visceral and educational at the same time. Think about some of the best JAR minus the pretentiousness and you're there.
Sammarco doesn't need to promise, it just delivers.
Rating: 8.5/10
Bond-T
"Bond-T is a perfume born in Pisa, during a tour in the chocolate factory of the best Italian Maitre Chocolatier.
It is the smell of the chocolate factory, it is a smell of exotic place, the cocoa absolute with patchouli and a touch of osmanthus.
A gourmand dark perfume for anyone who want a powerful and dark perfume".
Sammarco's fragrances are great examples that you don't need much complexity to deliver something noteworthy. None of their offerings is particularly complex as they all revolve around very few accords and essential notes list. This doesn't mean they're simplistic…au contraire.
Bond T makes no exception and deliver a top quality earthy patch paired to a dark, unsweetened cocoa note. It has an overall headshop-vibe and yet, somehow, it avoids speaking of bongs. The pairing with the cocoa, despite not being very original, is handled with class and avoids the gourmand aspect of this combo by enhancing the general darkness of this fragrance. Subtle and yet remarkable animalic notes serve as an essential element of disturb while the fragrance shines in all its brooding earthiness.
Think about a unlimited budget, high-end version of Borneo 1834 minus the opening and with smooth leathery animalics thrown in the mix and you're there.
Very good.
Rating: 8-8.5/10
Vitrum
"Vitrum is a perfume made for a journalist: Federica, who loves vetiver and ask me to make her bespoke vetiver.
It is based on an extraordinary vetiver oil mixed with rose to give a touch of softness and black pepper to give power.
Very smoky, very gentle.
Federica likes it".
Vitrum reached me during a personal phase in which I thought I was seriously getting bored by vetiver-centered fragrances…and it proved me wrong. It made me realize I was probably bored by average quality vetiver essential oils diluted in alcohol and sold as a *compositions*.
Yes, Vitrium is still quite a simple fragrance but the outstanding quality of the ingredients sets it apart from most other similar offerings available on the market. It's basically all about a tremendously multi-faceted vetiver note that ranges from smoky to fresh, via salty, earthy, woody and even mossy undertones. The opening is quite straight forward but the fragrance unveils soon an incredibly elegant and sophisticated essence when the rooty note is paired to a never overdone rose which enhances both the dark and the fresh sides of the main player providing quite some movement. There's something really special about Vitrum, something simple and yet so striking which I guess is that certain *je ne sais quoi* that makes the difference between something good and something really exceptional.
Fantastic. Surely a must have for anyone into vetiver but also highly recommended to people more simply interested in great quality fragrances. Reference type of stuff in my book.
Rating: 8.5-9/10
Ariel
"Ariel is the most feminine perfume of my collection.
It could be called a green floral poudré.
The key of Ariel is the angelica-tuberose heart, enriched with luxury flowers as jasmine, osmanthus, violette and rose, a creamy base of sandalwood, a top of mandarine and ginger, a little bit of tobacco and davana and an hint of orris concrete.
A romantic and sensual perfume dedicated to redheads".
From the notes I expected Ariel to be my least favorite in the Sammarco's range but it comes out I was wrong. Another extremely good fragrance and probably the most complex out of the four from this line.
The opining is a juicy citrusy-fruity thing pervaded by a sweet tobacco note. It quickly moves into a magnificent floral middle phase in which smooth white florals are paired to rose. There's also a soft powderiness going on, probably provided by the orris / violet combo, but nothing to worry about for me. Again, the overall quality is honestly undeniable and while I'm generally not drawn to these kind of fragrances, there's something so nailed about Ariel that makes of it something noteworthy. It's a familiar, classic accord that, at the same time, doesn't rely on nostalgia or old-fashioned themes. The white florals are plush and devoided of any angular facets but they still feel rough and visceral as opposed to overly polished and prettified.
The base breaks in pretty soon unveiling a sweet-n-dry sandalwood that I find completely intoxicating. Ariel strikes as an ageless fragrance, something that doesn't follow any trend or style, something that goes beyond genres while maintaining a relevant perfumey allure throughout. In this context, it's quintessentially perfumey and kind of a textbook-type woody-floral. My only complain about Ariel is that it gets pretty calm a bit too soon. Projection is really moderate after the initial phase even if longevity is decent, especially considering it's apparently an all-natural composition. With that said, I still find Ariel completely noteworthy and, composition-wise, probably my favorite in the whole range.
Note: It does miracles on fabric.
Rating: 8/10
For further infos about the brand, check their website here.
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