Description
Salamanca is a Spanish university town halfway between Madrid and the
Portuguese border, an island of culture in the middle of “charro” (cowboy) country,
the part of Spain where bulls are raised for the ring, and acorn-fed pigs are raised
for the famous air-cured jamon (ham). The countryside looks a bit like the African
savannah.
To capture the midsummer atmosphere of dusty, sweet fields of dry grass and
weeds, old stone buildings and the leather goods sold in the shops on the Rua
Mayor, Ellen Covey used a generous base of French hay absolute along with tonka,
mitti (an attar made in India by distilling the scent of clay), vetiver, immortelle
absolute, African helichrysum oil, labdanum absolute, opoponax, a leather accord
created especially for use in this fragrance, and a touch of yellow mimosa absolute,
which lends a subtle floral quality that perfectly complements the leather.
Salamanca is for all lovers of leather, hay, hot sun beating on dry grass, and water
evaporating from wet stones by the trickling river. Most of all, it’s for those who love
old stone cities, hot sun, and wide-open spaces basking under a crystalline blue sky.
Salamanca is available in parfum or EdP concentration. Salamanca was launched in 2012.
nemiro – :
My boyfriend said I smelled like a shoe. I guess that’s the leather he’s picking up – I took it as a compliment. This scent is hay, leather, musk, mineral/metallic/clay, and vetiver. Mostly hay and leather. The vetiver isn’t too obnoxious, blending into the wet grass / hay accord. The clay note isn’t as realistic as, say, Zoologist’s Bat, but it’s there. There’s also a touch of something ozonic, even slightly metallic, that I’m not crazy about. I think OO puts that note into a few of the “place” scents to give a sense of fresh air, and I could do without it. Still, I’ve been craving leather lately and this is has a great leather note. I’m not sure whether I like it or not on me but it was an enjoyable sniff.
cherkasov – :
Wow, this is such a complex scent. So many things are going on, it keeps changing and revealing new, fascinating aspects of itself. Many of the scents from Olympic Orchids are very atmospheric and evocative, and this scent is no exception. Sniffing it feels like watching a short film about Spain. It smells distinctly spanish to my nose. I’ve been to Spain several times, and I feel like I’m back there when I smell this. It’s astonishing.
The opening is incredibly strong and harsh. It smells very raw and unrefined, like leather and clay that hasn’t been prepared for usage and sale yet. There is a chemical facet to the opening. It reminds me of the places where yarn, fabric and carpets are being coloured, in huge colour baths, usually outdoors.
After the first sharp blast the scent softens slightly to a fascinating combo of rich spanish leather and wet clay. The kind of clay that is ready to be used in pottery or to be crafted into a sculpture or bust. It’s a smell of creation and artistry.
Towards the heart i detect facets of bitter almond.
Slowly the perfume becomes more salty and savoury. The leather and the clay is still very much present, but keeps changing personality due to new, interesting nuances that comes and goes. That savoury smell brings to mind cooking. It’s like I’m at a spanish hacienda. I can smell the dry stone walls of the buildings, the stables, horses, leather saddles, some bulls are out on a field near by, the kitchen door is open and whiffs of a slightly spicy vegetable broth or soup reaches me. I think I smell cellery, leeks, potatoes and cabbage.
Towards the drydown the smell of wet clay slowly disappears, but the leather is still there. Softer now, a more approachable leather, not so masculine as it was initially. And the softness becomes even more pronounced when a beautiful, demure floral nuance appears. It’s so unexpected. Such a wonderful surprise. It feels like getting a rare glimpse of a shy, yet sensual, spanish senorita hiding her face behind a black lace fan.
The drydown is mostly spicy and savoury.
This is a earthy, raw, unapologetic smell, a forceful creature full of contrast and colour. Highly expressive and energetic. If Pablo Picassos paintings had a smell, it would probably be something like this. Salamanca is truly a work of liquid art.
Sillage is strong at first, but dries down to a medium. Longevity is fabulous. I get 10-12 hours out of it.
A must smell for everyone who loves the unusual.
sashaloev – :
at once dark and sundrenched, there’s a wild deadpan comedy to salamanca. it manages to embody the clownish act of presenting the world as it is. i’m stunned by the exact translation of clay or wet stone of the calcific kind. nothing here brings me to a farm or barnyard. there’s no manure and it’s definitely clay and not fertile soil represented.
each note comes through clearly and unmuddled by the others which is nice as they all seem to have powerful voices engaged in level conversation. the initial sweetness of the tonka is subtle but makes the opening quite accessible. i get no powder but rather a stone-like dustiness.
after a while the sweetness gives way to a saltiness i believe stems from the leather accord. all throughout salamanca remains very classy and to me, not rural at all. it rather carries the meditative mood of day-to-day life in places where the frantic pace of modern life is not established. beautifully daring, it feels arty without pretention and sensual in a statuesque way.
Biasiamak – :
WOW! Another amazing fragrance from Ms Covey. Its the most leathery fragrance I have ever tried and thats saying something. This would be fab on my fella. I get the immortelle and the mimosa amongst the dry dustiness of the hay. I guess the mimosa contributes to the dustiness with its powderiness. Sweetness from the tonka and opopanax. Good sillage and great longevity.
Akacyki – :
Dry, bracing vetiver & leather. The hay and immortelle have a rich softness that pulls against the sharp vetiver and leather. I don’t know my resin notes very well yet so I can’t speak to those specifically.
This is a really fun one for me–it’s strong without being heavy or murky. I think if my partner hadn’t been wearing Encre Noire most days for the past 1.5 years I might not have been quite as receptive to this one. But he has been, and also my appreciation for “weird” smells is growing by leaps and bounds. As it is we’re pondering buying a bottle to share.
ksysha_slava – :
Beyond strange. Hard to wear and enjoy but intriguing none the less. Opens up with a strong blast of leather and hay. Astringent and dark, almost like sniffing a permanent marker or wood varnish. Shortly after the vetiver comes out of hiding, and I actually like this middle period. The vetiver is recognizable as the rooty, grassy, slightly bitter version I’ve smelled in other frags i’m fond of. Eventually it all dries down into an extremely strange, peppery (no pepper listed but I cannot help but smell black pepper) mustiness that I’m just not sure of. I still catch a trace of that likable vetiver in the dry down and theres also a slight sweetness that makes it friendlier. On my skin it has a salty mustiness that keeps me from enjoying it. I can’t say that I don’t like it, but I can say it thoroughly confounds me. Quality and performance are amazing (for better or worse).
diggerman – :
Salamanca is once again available in the Olympic Orchids store, and I am pleased to report that the reformulated version is as good or better than the previous edition. On my skin, it lasts even longer!
Sasha8480 – :
I don’t think it’s my imagination. I immediately recall an early childhood memory in rural south Florida (and there is such a thing) – three-digit temperatures, leather, clay, sunburnt grassy fields, and the strangely comforting aroma of cow pasture enveloping me in a warm breeze.
tfhthth – :
An olfactory experiment in hot rock and motor oil .. not a fragrance so much as a blunt force nose trauma.
StypeOweree – :
I’m with Yohji on this one. There is no “perfume” here for me. My caveat being that so far no perfume from Olympic Orchids has smelled good on me.
This is my first steampunk fragrance. I get metal, hot oil, a bit of industrial solvent. The closest scenario for me is the factory in Metropolis, heat and heavy industry.
glargen – :
Weird, weird, weird, as weird as it can be)
Reading reviews and note description – nothing like that. I only will quickly agree with cytherian – no sweetness in Salamanca whatsoever and no flowers at all. And Hey, where Is my hay?!.. I spent summer after summer on my Grandad’s huge farm, helping to harvest the hay. I slept in hay-barn for so many nights..so no, no herbs and hay in Salamanca!
Prediction from Cervantes was “Salamanca, que enchechiza a voluntad de volver a ella a lodos los que de la apacibilidad de su vivienda han gustado” which is ( first – pardon my Spanish) would be something like “Anyone who visited Salamanca would be bewitched by it and will return to it over and over again”
No, thanks. Sorry, but I just must say it from behalf of my nostrils.
So what I have got – same thing on my skin as from the bottle really – lots of iodine (colour – as diluted iodine as well) at first. Immediately memories of all my grazed knees, on which my mum generously poured bottles of fresh iodine, – which gave me stomach cramps even now
Secondly – nothing changes for three hours, apart that I have been in shower trying to get ride of heavy wave of bitumen after iodine…Then yes, after three hours you smell fresh raw cattle hide…I think now is a time for hot bath…
I admire imagination of lovinghealien or – should I borrow his skin in order to smell what he smelt in Salamanca?)
Its a SMELL, its not a perfume and even – not an experience. And at some point it was fun to struggle that much. Knowing that I Am leaving Salamanca behind.
Thanks for the sample, flowers-in-the springtime! )
oleksabigtorrent – :
This has to be the most unusual fragrance I’ve ever had in my collection. How my nose and skin chemistry reacts to it seems to be a bit off from the description. Sweet is listed as the top accord. I do NOT get sweetness from this, barely if at all. How could it be the most prominent?
My initial exposure in good measure (meaning 2 full sprays on my neck) gave me a pungent waft of… the business end of an artist’s studio. The smell of paint brushes mixed with turpentine. Very astringent and somewhat bitter, without being medicinal. There’s a fermented hay and leather accord too, which you’d expect to smell at a tannery. So all this at first and you’d be like “why did I put this on myself? what was I thinking?”
I don’t get any floral quality. And I’m not one to have skin that kills the floral accord. For instance with St. Dupont Pour Homme on me, the florals come on very strongly. So with the whole composition looked at broadly, I’d say this fragrance is seriously masculine. At least on me. Maybe for someone women they may find the floral/aromatic note comes out ahead.
Into the dry down different notes seem to come and go. I don’t know if it’s something to do with how my nose interprets what it picks up over time. I find Salamanca very complex. If you want to smell distinctive, this is the one. Chances are NOBODY anywhere around you will be wearing this.
Longevity is a bit lacking for me. I think I need to moisturize more when applying during the colder months as the dry air probably encourages absorption.
In looking back over what I’ve written, you’d think I am sour on Salamanca. No, not at all. I really like it. It’s so unusual, so different, so rich in character. I call this the “thinking man’s aroma.” As Yohji put it, it’s a smell, not a fragrance. Whenever I need to get deep into my head on a subject, whatever it may be, Salamanca will be my aroma of choice for inspiration. Dr. Covey has come up with something most unusual here. 8.9/10.
dasha123321 – :
I just got a sample of this with my other sample order. My first reaction is this smells just like Indian Hina attar. Smoky,sultry, and tad bit medicinal. I can smell the vetiver, Opoponax, but I cannot for the life of me smell the leather. Rich, opulent, like walking through a temple full of incense. A wonderful fragrance for winter or cool evenings. I wanted so much to smell the leather, but for me, it is just not there.
lxq202elipseskism – :
Oh my!! This is a perfume for perfume geeks! This is not for the faint hearted or the new to fragrances perfumista.
The initial spritz (go easy on this one), is a very harsh blast of earth mixed with sun drenched hay and intense flowers. There is a balmy, medicinal, almost disinfectant like smell to this. It clears the head and awakens the senses, to make way for ‘Leather Central’.
I am now transported into the narrow cobbled streets of Spain, in midsummer, where the heat is searing and leather bags and purses adorn every shop doorway. The smell of the leather is so strong as the sun makes them sweat, giving off that almost perfect heady sweaty saddle on a horse that’s just run 10 miles smell!
This leather is perfect, just perfect!!
The smell of this fragrance is powerful beyond words and a light touch is recommended when applying. I must add that there is a sweetness to the perfume which most certainly complements the leather smell but please don’t think that this is a sweet subtle scent.
This is not a perfume, it’s an experience! You won’t get people rushing after you asking ‘what is that gorgeous smell”?
I can see its appeal, I appreciate the quirky genius, the purest of notes and the scene that this perfume is trying to re create.
Longevity is astounding, it can’t even be washed off the skin and it packs a powerful punch!
10/10 for originality.
Would I wear it, hmmmm I’m not sure that I could pull it off, but I intend to work with it for a while and see.
claivatty – :
Oh, my. Sniffing the bottle, this is pure black leather. On skin, however, something really unique happens. The scent of sun baked clay, hot, dry grasses, buzzing dragonflies, and endless blue sky blows over like a wind at first application. It gets hotter and drier after a while, and leather, immortelle, labdanum, and a touch of farmland are the major contributors. Overlapping everything is a dry, arcane vetiver quite unlike almost any interpretation of vetiver I’ve smelled in the past. Everything is rendered in high-definition, the way one recalls sights, sounds, and smells from a memorable vacation. There is a sharp, poisonous quality here, and it reminds me very much of an even more difficult Djedi, if that can be imagined.
Meama nailed it when he stated “Une beauté étrange comparable peut être à ces femmes qui se maquillent et se coiffent avec de la terre rouge ou le parfum d’un égyptien de l’antiquité.”
I often crave the strange beauty of this fragrance.
The perfumer has it all; raw talent, great taste, great passion, and an incredibly wide range. A brilliant fragrance that is part of a brilliant line by a brilliant perfumer.
ctac_bv – :
178) Return of the Djedi
Nom de …., encore un trésor caché.
Ok c’est plutôt pour les perfumistas en quête de bizareries, mais franchement si vous avez l’esprit ouvert et que vous n’avez pas la manie de devoir associer des odeurs avec des objets pour les aprécier, vous allez découvrir quelque chose de terriblement élégant et d’une beauté rare.
C’est sec et floral, sec comme une poterie de terre cuite et floral comme l’immortelle et le labdanum (la signature du Nez)le sont.
Une beauté étrange comparable peut être à ces femmes qui se maquillent et se coiffent avec de la terre rouge ou le parfum d’un égyptien de l’antiquité.
Techniquement je pourrais imaginer cuir-foin mais il y a un tel effet d’ensemble que je ne trouve aucune note comme étant dominante.
Excellente tenue et sexy comme un luxueux costume sur mesure (unisexe).
Name of G…. still a other hidden treasure.
Ok this is rather for perfumistas in search of bizare things, but frankly if you’re open-minded and you do not have the habit to associate odors with objects to apreciate them, you will discover something terribly elegant and a rare beauty.
It is dry and floral, dry as a pottery of clay and floral as immortelle and labdanum (the Nose signature )are.
A strange beauty may be comparable to those women who makeup and style hair with red earth or the perfume of Egyptian antiquity.
Technically I could imagine leather-hay but there is such an overall effect that I find no note as dominant.
Excellent longevity and sexy as a luxurious tailored suit (unisex).
pbu377InsuffBooni – :
Leathery, earthy. Salamanca almost has a “sweaty” smell to it. I think it’s the immortelle, clay and seaweed adding a sweet/salty tone.
If you are seeking a leather fragrance that evokes memories of a horse farm, this would be a good choice. It’s not just the tanned leather though, it’s soiled hay + hot breath.
I don’t dislike it or find it offensive in any way. It simply does not move me.
sanya242 – :
What a peculiar perfume. very, earthy leathery, wet, dry and raw. It reminds me of my grandfather’s barn where he hung and oiled all the leather harnesses for the horses he used to have pull the plow. something smells aromatic, (probably the hay) A very comforting rural scent. There is something sweet blooming that adds to it… mimosa? and clay. a very distinct wet clay. It’s a wet and dry perfume at the same time, and smells totally different depending on the humidity of the air. I also smell the vetiver adding the old wooden barn to the picture. No animals though, I’m happy to say! There is also an oily undertone, like the smell of spilt oil in the machine shop. It’s… like a summer in the barn out in the country, with your nose to the dirt. This is smoothe, rugged but raw. A delight for the senses. Not for the faint of heart, but for a lover of earthy unusual leather fragrances.
shiency – :
I’ve been dying to try these perfumes for some months, and recently acquired a lovely and generous sample set (ty!) and had the pleasure of wearing and trying. While Salamanca is not your typical leather fragrance, it is very reminiscent of Hermes Kelly Caleche ~ just on more niche scale.
The opening is distinctly leather. Its loud and quite harsh; it has a wet, raw, and rather brutal quality that reminds me of a tannery (minus the chemical component). My stepmother lives 200 yards from a leather tanning factory and the leather in this perfume is an almost copy of wet, raw, tanned hides in production.
The labdanum is very prominent, it adds a wet, musty overture, perhaps reminiscent of wet hay that has dried leaving that dried musty grass note, but for me the mustiness is perhaps overdone, at least in the opening. Fortunately it improves with wear time and dulls down to something quite acceptable. Vetiver also prominent adding a smoky earthy quality thats not remotely subtle. Gentle overtures of florals, most notably mimosa – a welcome relief to the initial opening.
The drydown is really pleasant, a slightly vanillic/tonka leather scent with a warm resinous balmy but still very smoky note – all the “wetness” found in the top and heart becomes warmer and “dryer” through the drydown, the base is quite cozy. Surprisingly there is strong spiciness found in the base that grows to be come a prominent base note which complements the smoky aroma nicely. The attraction of the spice which is quite unusual comes probably more from the niche quality than the absolute fragrance itself, it seems slightly oddly placed.
Sillage good through the first 4 hours or so after that remains close to the skin. Longevity is wonderful, 7 hours after initial application the scent has the same intensity at skin level as at application, and I did apply sparingly.
Overall this is something I may end up acquiring a full bottle of. I’m a leather fragrance lover, and this little beauty is no exception. Its a rather complex leather fragrance, though somewhat linear at least until the base evolves, the notes are well blended and I could see myself wearing this like most other leathers I own.
Word of caution, use a light hand in application, fortunately unlike cheap generic perfumes this perfume does not need dousing in! And keep your expectations open, this may be a little too niche for most wearers.
дюри – :
This fragrance was the first contact I had with Olympic Orchids Artisan Perfumes and I must confess that this one is very different from all other I have in my collection, it does not mean that it is bad, it is a classic and complex leather well done fragrance.
It is a mix of os notes very difficult to understand due to its complexity, opening with a very dry and different smoke leather accord and patchouli that keeps strong for such a good time. In the drydown everything turns comfortably soapy and a green and floral notes appears to let the fragrance a little bit creamy.
It is not an easy fragrance for those who is not familiar with real Spanish leather fragrance.