Il Dieci
Bogue Profumo (2019)

Il Dieci X by Bogue had a very short run of 50 bottles produced in 2019, so perhaps it doesn’t even make sense for me to write about it. But I have to say, if you’re like me and curious about what a sandalwood from Antonio Gardoni might smell like, then this review might surprise you. First, because the scent’s linearity and simplicity are not properties normally associated with Bogue’s Italian apothecary style. Second, because if you assumed, like me, that the extreme limits placed on production pointed to the use of a very vintage Mysore santalum album oil, then you’d be, like me, dead wrong.

Instead, Gardoni seems to have made the decision to produce a turbo-charged version of the citrusy, sour-yoghurty, and pine-like facets of Australian sandalwood (santalum spiccatum), when he then drapes over a traditional barbershop fougere structure. I respect this decision, even if this means that I would have to morph into a 60-year-old wet shaver for Il Dieci to be to my personal taste.

Objectively speaking, though, this is one heck of a handsome masculine. The topnotes smell like a silvery shard of wood stripped from a young tree, rubbed with citrus peel and mint for extra sting, while the basenotes smell gently powdery and clean, like the scent of your hands after washing vigorously with sandalwood soap. And in between, there is that astringent, but not unpleasant aroma of a freshly shaved male cheek, complete with hot towels, shaving cream, and the hiss of steam. I think my father would have loved this. Oh, don’t worry – he’s still with us. But given that this doesn’t feature – to my nose anyway – anything particularly rare or exclusive, I don’t understand why Il Dieci is not.

Il Dieci from Bogue Profumo. To me, the easiest to wear of all Gardoni creations. Not overly complex, with no animalistic touches, just a gorgeous showcase of sandalwood sprinkled with the right auxiliary notes to help round it up.
My skin tends to amplify both woody and animalistic notes, therefore I get a lot of sandalwood here as soon as I spray it on. It smells of the Indian variety, which is my favorite. It is front and center, supported by the other notes that come and go, mostly playing alongside the wood facets. Juicy citruses in the opening that linger for a while, clever use of fennel lends a beautiful anise-like powdery sweetness, beeswax builds further on that, and juniper adds to the sandalwood's woody profile and provides an extra aromatic touch. I don't quite pick up the cypress here. The signature benzoin in the base lends the well-known vanillic-powdery touch. I think fennel and beeswax beautifully compliment the powdery and honey-like facets of the sandalwood, while the citruses and the juniper help to create that aromatic, clean, fresh touch, pushing the perfume into the masculine cologne direction.
Overall, it does smell like a fresh, crisp, elegant woody men's cologne, with an Oriental twist, by putting sandalwood at its center. I believe anyone who loves sandalwood would love this one, and appreciate it for the original way it explores this note. Easy to enjoy anywhere, anytime.

IG:@memory.of.scents

A fairly uneventful, sweet, woody scent. Decent, but nothing as special as you might expect from the limited edition nature. Worth having as a collector of the house, but not worth otherwise pursuing in my opinion.