Description
““I know what I am about to face: Death, blood, battle await me. But freedom is worth all this, I am nothing more than a slave, but I shall earn my new life. I will turn the tension that paralyses me into strength”.
“Rudis” represented both the beginning and the ultimate goal of the life and career of a gladiator. It was a tool, but also a symbol, it did not harm, but offered relief.
The scent inspired by this object, therefore, had to simultaneously consider strength and gentleness, battle and freedom, life and death, virility and weakness.
The representation of the sword’s wood was then countered by an accord between leather, and rose with geranium which combined evokes metallic helmet. However, the scent had to represent this man who, contemptuous of danger, sets out to regain his life, crossing the threshold of the arena. The gladiator would drink himself into a stupor before a fight, with wine made from grape juice and fermented fruit, which we found again in this perfume with marc note, blended with bergamot, dried fruits and fruity notes to deliver courage. Saffron gives personality to the heart, cedarwood makes it precious, cloves put something more in the mix. The final patchouly seals the masculinity of a exhausted gladiator, employing its last efforces to win. Vetiver and helicrysium makes the victory reachable, like a musky and incense-smell dream” — press release of the brand. Rudis was launched in 2014. The nose behind this fragrance is Antonio Alessandria.
mirk444 – :
Opening slap with barricaded grappa, grapes, figs and dried apricots, saffron, leather cuts and a rotten rose. Yes, this is rude and well describes the history of the gladiators.
After about 20 minutes I can distinguish the bitterness of geranium, carnation and immortelle.
Once the alcohol has evaporated, remains the smoky smell of a wooden barrel, cedar and above all vetiver.
Not bad, I would say rather unusual but on my skin it soon ends in a Ford style patchouli.
I think it’s more suitable on a young skin. A mature man could be misunderstood for a chronic alcoholic.
I personally do not like it because I can not stand the note of the rose water tonic.
After application, avoid driving during the first hour. You may be subject to alcohol-test if there are patrols at checkpoints.
aspepDipnem – :
In 2014, Nobile 1942 decided to launch a new collection of more opulent fragrances, representing the movement of the market, including in the niche segment and reinforcing that they were ready to follow the changes in the industry. The classics of yore were losing space for the most modern perfumes filled with notes of incense, leather and Oud. The consumer, in turn, had also become more demanding. Was born, then, The Premium Collection.
Rudis came to represent strength, power. Rudis is the name of the wooden sword that was used by gladiators, during training, in ancient Rome. But it was also the symbol of liberty, for it was the gift that a gladiator received upon being released as a slave after having shown great value during the battles. It was the object that represented the beginning and the end of his career.
Following its style and tradition, the company invited an Italian perfumer to give life to the fragrance: Antonio Alessandria. He understood the concept and thought of a fragrance that represented the image of a virile man, always involved with drinks (because of the narcotic effect), but ready for the fight. He wears pieces of leather that withstand blows and lives to prove his worth.
For this, the perfumer worked with bergamot, dried fruits accord, fruity notes and marc, in the output; rose, geranium, cloves, saffron and cedar, in the body; leather, patchouli, vetiver, immortelle, musky notes and incense, in the base.
By feeling the fragrance of Rudis today (middle of 2018), it can not be said that it is extremely innovative. Even so, it is current and has everything to keep that way for a few years, as long as the current style remains like this.
When applied, the scent of Rudis resembles fermented wine, with that smell felt by those who have stepped on grapes and had the shins immersed in juice and barks. At the same time, the nuances of cloves and saffron give a fuller tone and the aroma comes to remember the smell of brandy. There is not much evolution, but it is possible to feel the metallic rose, which brings the blood effect (portrayed on the box made of real leather and the bottle, both dyed in red), as well as the saffron which, in my opinion, is the great point of this composition.
Rudis is not a perfume of great projection but exudes masculinity in a rustic form, nothing elegant. Especially when the nuances of leather and incense begin to exhale, stating that the movie that tells the story of the gladiator is coming to an end. The fusion of dirty and aged accords is so unique that makes us understand why this fragrance won one of the categories of the Fifi Awards in 2015.
The longevity is very good, although it stays close to the skin after about five hours. On my last evening test, before I publish this review, I was still able to feel the fragrance on my arms after twelve hours, in the next morning.
Rudis: more than a tool that did not hurt, a symbol that represented relief, freedom.
Motoenconia – :
confession 1: only smelled on paper-strip, so no idea on the evolution on skin, longevity and sillage or drydown.
confession 2: had I smelled it on a man, would have probably gotten inappropriate ideas and would have needed all my strength not to consume him like a black widow. haha. luckily most men stay away from perfumes thick and sensual like this, so my public image remains intact.
vasya – :
Rudis opens with WHISKEY, so strong that it does actually smell like you spilled some on your arm. The other reviewers weren’t kidding! It gave me flashbacks to my college drinking days – I thought I was cool because I drank whiskey shots instead of sweeter drinks (eyeroll). Eventually, other notes begin to peek out from behind the whiskey – vetiver, incense, geranium and a little fruit. In the next stage, the whiskey turns to wine / grape juice as our gladiator sobers up. The wine note doesn’t smell like real red wine, but more like grape + boozy. It’s paired at this stage with geranium, rose, vetiver and leather (with background base notes of patch/cedar). The leather is not that strong. The late drydown is a musky leathery cedar booze. Poor longevity. Overall, it’s a well made scent with a nice story-like progression but the strong vetiver and whiskey are not for me. I do like the interesting grape note, though, and wish that it were more common in perfumery!
бейби2010 – :
I tested it and at first sniff safron and rose are prominant and leather after 15 minutes make it sharp .it proceeds till incense give a smoky slightly dark to it.
sysanin – :
opens with woody single malt, quickly transforms into sweet wood and leather and later turns into sweet wood and resin. scotch is not that obvious after the first hour but still present. masculine and interesting perfume. lasts on me ~8 hrs but after the first 4 like a skin scent, including the very last hour when it becomes nearly non-existent. seems that lasting time of this EDP is like of a good EDT
RADKA1763 – :
Nicer;-)
inga1979 – :
You gotta love Rudis :0) Thanks to my favourite niche perfumery having a sell-out before redecorating I own a bottle now. The combination of leather and a rich, red wine note is irresistable. This is a perfume that certainly works for women too, wine, roses and leather, for me it delivers. I put some on while watching the first two episodes of Penny Dreadful today, Rudis fits the atmosphere completely: mysterious, warm, gothic. Pretty unique. The bottle is gorgeous with the wooden stopper on top of red, matte glass with the name mounted on it on a copper plaque. And the box is completely made of the most beautiful, red leather. Just looking at bottle and box makes me happy. Together with the sniffing: perfection!
che88 – :
Suadenti rosa e geranio velati d’incenso, addolciti da frutta secca e scaldati da cuoio e vetiver…
La prima nota è dolcemente alcolica, il profumo del vino passito di Pantelleria che esalta la frutta secca (soprattutto uvetta) e zucchero dorato.
Quindi sbocciano rose e gerani, velati e sospesi, soffusi d’aldeidi e muschi.
Il profumo si chiama Rudis perchè rude doveva essere il gladiatore che si accingeva al duello, dopo aver consumato bevande a base d’uva e frutta secca.
Ma per me questa fragranza non ha nulla di rude o macho, anzi…E’ un bel fiorito/fruttato morbido e gentile, con un drydown cuoiato elegante, rifinito da spezie leggere.
La nota di frutta secca connota anche l’evoluzione.
Si espande lasciando una scia importante e acquista forza sui tessuti. Raffinato e originale. Confortevole ritrovarlo ben saldo sul collo del dolcevita dopo 12 ore. Bellissimo anche per i non gladiatori.
serg11000 – :
Discovered this promising beauty in her majesty’s official grocer on Picadilly. The Perfume department here has recently been revamped and flexes its muscle for exclusivity against a leading retailer in Knightsbridge (both are fantastic treasure groves that perfumistas flock to in droves).
In short, the packaging proves to be more impressive than the content, for it looks like a long lost bottle from some recovered ship wreck anno 1836 or so; very Johnny Depp “Caribbean of The Sea”. This juice is a beautiful rich and dense mix of leather, resins, dried fruit, amber, incense and all what a crafty pirate of the Caribbean would pick up on his trail of theft. It is a truly rich, pleasant and magical scent that triggers all the blockbuster memories.
Sadly it only lasts for less than the length of the movie on the silver screen…..it seems the skin (or at least mine) just drinks it and leaves a harmless, leathery skin scent, somewhat reminiscent of dried fruit and incense.
It is £175 for 100ml, so you would expect a little more in terms of sillage and longevity. (Try Michael Kors for men that is somewhat similar and to be had for much less money).
Verdict 5/10. 🙁 Otherwise, if it lasted and developed a bit more, it could well be a Pirate’s ultimate pleasure!!
loothebor – :
Booziest scent I’ve sampled so far. It’s like I spilled hard liquor on myself.
nokia3250999 – :
I did not test Rudis myself, but I had the pleasure of smelling its development on my boyfriends skin during a trip to Munich. He was intrigued by it because it smelled so much like a bottle of fine single malt to him on the test strip. And indeed the opening is a wonderfull whiskey-soaked wood (or is it wood-infused whiskey?) accord. Warmed up by the skin, fruity notes develop. While the woods stay fairly close to the skin, it’s the wine-soaked fruits that project and add a playfulness to the fragrance. The boozy woods develop further to a smokey vetiver-leather combo, with an added burned maple syrup note from the immortelle. The whiskey however, never completely disappears.
Rudis is a great fragrance, warm, cozy and quite sexy. Great for cold winter and fall evenings, but it wasn’t too heavy in the 28 degrees Munich afternoon. What I love about the fragrance is the combination of wine and whiskey (even though these notes are not in the pyramid, they are very apparent to me). Through these notes Rudis unites two types of gentlemen; the calm, distinguished Scottish and the hot blooded Italian. And it is exactly this juxtaposition which maked Rudis both interesting and extremely versatile.
In terms of longevity and projection, as I said earlier, Rudis does project quite a bit, but it’s maily the wine-soaked fruits rather than the wood-infused whiskey. I was quite disappointed in the lasting power of this fragrance, not 15-20 min like the reviewer below experienced, but 5 to 6 hours. After that, you are left with a very vague immortelle-vetiver mix. This may be due to the high temperature in which the scent was tested, but still, for the price I expect more.
In any case, Nobile 1942 performs again!
iivan297 – :
it is the smell of a warrior: blood, wood, bravery, courageous, leather Sheath, metallic, And some sweet frutti essence, & incense from the king’s cabinet with a slight roses from the queen’s fragrance. it’s a scene, a play, and victory!
uggboots574 – :
this is one of the best of 2014 in my book. a fabulous take on leather, booze and a subtle spicy & fizzy labdanum. in the far drydown the vetiver makes an appearance but only in a supporting role. i absolutely love the interplay between the leather, a red wine note and whisky as they shift for the first hour, settling down to a more conventional spicy leather accented by wood from the whisky. i get no florals from this and would never consider this a ‘vetiver frag’. rudis is an impressive balancing act that shows real skill in its complexity, strength and subtlety. it’s quite ‘masculine’ and comes in an over-the-top package of handcrafted leatherand wood. expensive but worthy
mmf792speagoessenda – :
Another complex and non-descriptive fragrance. But I think it’s all about vetiver-leather combo – sweet, balsamic and spicy with some floral and sour notes, definitely masculine. I give it thumbs up for being unusual. I like unusual. Great fragrance.
nod – :
Mostly I smell leather and vetiver with a bit of immortelle. Maybe a splash of citrus. It’s an interesting scent. I’m not sure it really comes together for me, but it’s an interesting enough effect that I’m sure I’ll revisit it. Most of the vetiver scents I’ve tried are so similar to each other, so it’s nice to try one that’s a bit different than the standard.
otsey – :
From sample I received today… sadly, this is very weak and not at all impressive. The notes sounded very nice, but it all blends together into a rather nondescript blur on my skin. All I’m getting from this is a lackluster leather dusted slightly with some floral that I can’t name. Disappointed.