Black Saffron
Byredo (2012)

Linear magical juice.
Unfortunately the leather accord is too reminiscent of Tuscan Leather for some people...and I was in that category for a day or two until I wore it for longer then I was able to focus on the fruits in this. It is NOT a Tuscan Leather clone. Far more polished and less rough around the edges. Comforting in cool weather.

A nice perfume, very well made, which may please many.
For me, however, Black Saffron is too sweet.
If the raspberry could be turned down a notch, I feel sure a great perfume would present itself.

A soft, smooth and gentle suede starts off rather immediately, but soon it is given a fruity - raspberry candy- and herbal undertone. In the drydown I get the saffron. It is rather weak and submerged into the other olfactory components of this blend.

The continues with the herbal side retreating, being replaced by a nonspecific woodsy impression.

I get moderate sillage, adequate projection and seven hours of longevity on my skin.

This autumnal scent develops a suede-like leather that is not bad, but lacks richness and intensity. Suede as such is not easy to express in the fragrance - partly due to the nature of the manufacturing process of it - but, to
take an example, Tom Ford's White Suede is a bit more convincing in that territory. The saffron here is more perfunctory compared with, for instance, Sultan Safran by Comptoir Sud Pacifique and not very satisfying. Apart from these two main players, the rest is too generic to entice - this product's ‘black' mark? Not bad but not really good either. 2.75/5.

This leather aroma chemical has been doing the rounds (see Tuscan Leather). It's not something I would want to wear.

Black Saffron was the first leather themed fragrance I ever enjoyed.

It is so peculiar.

This smells like a goth guy, I was dying when I first tried it!

It's like a leather jacket and cold, night-time air. This literally smells like the sweet smoke from a clove when it gets absorbed into someone's hair. It's like smoke break at the goth club and you're all huddling together in front of the door with freezing fingers, and someone has boozy cherry schnapps still on their breath.

It feels like it's time to go reapply my black lipstick.

When you finally get home at four in the morning, your clothes smell like last night's shenanigans. Glorious.

Immediately reminiscent of Tom Ford Tuscan Leather, Byredo Black Saffron is sort of a more saffron- and herbal-leaning take on Tuscan Leather.

It has many of same characteristic notes, not the least of which is the pairing of raspberry and suede.

Performance is decent, consistent with other more cold-weather-leaning Byredos.

I'm not the biggest fan of Tuscan Leather (I haven't deemed it or PDM Godolphin to be full-bottle-worthy) but it's certainly superior to Black Saffron, so those looking for a slightly cheaper clone should look elsewhere, but those looking for a twist on TL might enjoy this more.

7 out of 10