Roberto Cavalli Uomo Golden Anniversary Review: The Legend is back!
Italian designer, Roberto Cavalli, celebrates his 50 years in the Haute Couture industry with a revamped signature fragrance, Uomo: Golden Anniversary. The original creation by Alberto Morillas and Aurélien Guichard, simply called Uomo, is considered to be one of the hidden gems in the fragrance community thanks to its distinctive and unique DNA where violet meets exotic woods and spices with a honeyed sweetness poured over this carnal sensation. Having been met with critical acclaim, the line of Uomo has garnered many influencers and reviewers praise for most of the line’s flankers. The most talked about are Deep Desire (Woody Spicy) and La Notte (Spicy Leather).
The new Middle Eastern exclusive, Uomo Golden Anniversary, was interpreted by perfumer Christophe Raynaud who’s known for creating a huge best-seller, 1 Million, for Paco Rabanne, as well as the fragrance community’s Holy Grail, the amber fragrance L’Eau D’Lssey Pour Homme: Noir Ambré for Issey Miyake. Add to that the most popular CH Men’s flanker, Privé, for Carolina Herrera. Raynaud kept some of the key ingredients from the original release, like Black Violet and a woodsy base. He elevated the formula with contemporary notes to fit the modern Middle Eastern demographic.
Note Musing for Uomo Golden Anniversary:
The official note list doesn’t give much but only four notes. Though, the olfactory experience is more than that I assure you. The composition starts off with a distinctive opening showing a contrast between carnal Black Violet and sweet Lavender, also a similar sensation to the original Uomo. There are also warm, dry, and slightly metallic nuances which I guess is coming from Saffron mingling with Cinnamon-like spiciness but it’s very well-blended and lingers in the background as the two powerful and aromatic florals fight for the spotlight.
In a blink of an eye, the composition remarkably darkens down as Leather reveals itself. The texture of the Leather accord is suede-ish smooth with a “brown accent” which somehow gives off the similar leather accord in Fragrance Du Bois’ Milano. The two fragrances don’t smell the same, per se, but if you could just focus on the quality of the leather, it’s very much a distinctive Italian Leather.
The brown essence is complimented by multifaceted Tonka Bean that adds warmth and Pipe Tobacco-ish nuances to the composition. It also blends with unlisted notes like Amber for instance, giving off that modern oriental feel to it. There’s also a quite soft, dry, green, balsamic, slightly waxy sensation that reminds me of Gurjun Balsam or rarely used Camphor since both have notes of Patchouli merged with piney resins.
Uomo Golden Anniversary vs Original Uomo:
There’s quite a big difference between the two, yet they could tell they are related to one another. Golden Anniversary is definitely smoother and tamed in terms of sillage. The performance is relatively the same for me. I feel like the new interpretation seems to be less sweet and gluey, replacing that with a powdery feel to give off a bit of a reserved appeal. I think it’s also less synthetic-smelling in the middle which I found the original to be a bit off with that honey note.
My Verdict:
This is an absolute top tier type of designer perfume! It’s so well-blended with an
interesting side to it. It projects modestly but to be honest, I kind of prefer it to be like that due to the scent profile. It’s smooth, slightly powdery in texture that makes it perfectly suitable for date nights. It creates a fluffy cloud that makes people want to come a little closer to have a sniff of it.
It definitely exceeded my expectations considering you can find this for 30€ at discounters/grey markets. Even if I needed to pay full retail, I could still justify the price. I think the whole line of Roberto Cavalli Uomo needs to be talked about even more. Whenever I see lists of affordable perfumes, there are always those same tired options they’ve been showing over and over and they can’t even reach the level of this perfume! Uomo Golden Anniversary is available as Eau de Parfum Intense, an exclusive limited edition for Middle East’s market retailing for around 120-140 in Euro depending on the local retailers in the Gulf market.
What’s your take on Cavalli’s Uomo line? Have you tried any? If so, what’s your favorite? Tell us in the comments what you think.
