Scent No. 1 - Bergamot Sage
Cognoscenti (2012)

Bergamot Sage opens with very delicate and quite beautiful sparkling pink grapefruit, bergamot, slight fig and light woods and light musk as a base. The first few sniffs were very nice, then its gone. This fragrance does not have enough contrasts within it for the the delicate and pretty notes to stand up against. I tried it a couple of times and it always disappears quickly after a very nice scented opening. Turn up the contrast and brightness controls please. Sorry it doesn't work for me.

An interesting first release from a new niche company specializing in the masculine end of the spectrum. It kicks off with a mix of topnotes incorporating everything from an old-school bergamot to something sort of minty to suede and sage and some sort of chemical brightness. It's a little bit jumbled, but smells good enough.

Things come together shortly as a leathery darkness becomes the focus of the scent, slightly fruity and flavored with the bright notes from the beginning. As the initial notes fade, it ends up in a "woody amber" rubbing alcohol stage that reminds me of Nasomato's Black Afgano. Eventually, a dark burnt-smelling pine that verges on leather comes in under the rubbing alcohol smell, later joined by some deep green resins with just enough sweetness to warm the burnt/alcohol smells.

I personally don't like "woody amber" rubbing alcohol notes, hence my neutral review, but as a first perfume, I think No. 1 is a good entry into the market. That being said, I wish it had more of a "hook". The topnotes are fine, but it's more a jumble of smells than a cohesive whole - there's nothing to grab the attention and inspire interest until it dries down to the leather. Anyway, don't let me scare anyone away - Support your new indie perfumers and try it out!