Assolo
Calé (2008)

Assolo opens as a really natural, albeit really subtle and almost unperceivable orange-lime blend with a graceful whiff of crisp white flowers. The feel is really airy, invigorating and breezy. I honestly don't get almost anything else except for a really clean, light woody accord (clean and plushy like “cashmere wood” plus some more ordinary cedar note), with a sweet-dusty kind of incense-like note, and a really subtle greyish musky base – or something similar. That's it. Once the zesty head notes vanish, you remain with a still enjoyable “fresh” cedar-floral blend. As much pleasant and bright as really light and discreet; nonetheless, it's there, and it provides a thin yet distinctive veil of crisp freshness – a faint shadow more than a “sillage”, but really classy and sophisticated. By “distinctive” I mean here that it has that particular feel of fresh, classy understatement of – for example – many compositions by Ellena, so if you're into the fresher and more “minimalistic” Hermès on the market (like the “Jardin” series), chances are you'll like this. Or anyway it may be worth a try if you are into clean light scents smelling natural and refined. Nothing groundbreaking but really pleasant and well done.

7,5/10

Usually I tend to dislike the combination of teak wood and cedarwood in the fragrances dry down since this tandem tends to provide a blatant intensely pencil shaving woody vibe which I find too much straightforward, sometimes (better to say often) gassy-synthetical (not particularly in this case, to be honest) and somewhat onedimentional. In this case Cale' Fragranze d'Autore Assolo provides immediately a cedary-fruity (hesperidic, vaguely floral and averagely tart) fist in your face which hardly evolves and that smells in line with a ton of new generation woody synthetic neo-chypres from Fendi, Armani or Bvlgari. Another element is the following: granted that conceptually the main olfactory intent was the one to perform an unripe apple "assolo" actually the perfumer failed on it since the tart lemony vibe and (even more) the intensely woody accord tend finally to subside (better....to submerge) the green apple "shy" feel. The fruitiness is indeed pungent, vaguely spicy-floral, somewhat fizzy and woody. I don't catch a lot more, just this immediately disclosing (lemony-orangy, vaguely aromatic and pencil shaving) vibe from the very beginning till the "fast" end. Not a bad fragrance "in se" but nothing enchanting or deserving particular attention.

Even if the name Assolo may sound something like A**hole for an english speaking, in italian it simply means "Solo" and it obviously refers to a musical solo. The concept behind this fragrance is to celebrate the apple note as if it were the main voice of an orchestra, and the result is quite successful.

Assolo opens with a blast of astringent artemisia, lime and unripe green apple immediately joined by slight floral patterns and a strong, almost scratchy, woody (cedar and teak) base. The overall effect is of a quite persistent "fresh" composition that's pretty enjoyable throughout (assuming you're into consistent woody fragrances). Good.

Assolo is available as EDT and as part of the Les Concentrés (EDP?).