I don’t know about everyone but when I’m reading a book besides imagining what everything looks like in my mind’s eye I also seem to have a mind’s nose as well. Part of my imagining the mise en scene is thinking what it must smell like. One of my favorite genres of fiction is what is colloquially called “sword and sandal”. A good example and one of my earliest exposures to this was John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. From there I would read and watch numerous heroes wearing sandals and having a sword in hand.  Lorenzo Villoresi has been making a series called “Fantasy Fragrances” and his latest release is Theseus.

Of course the earliest sword and sandal epics were ancient mythology and Theseus is named after the Greek hero who slew the Minotaur, most famously. According to Wikipedia he even might have been one of the Argonauts. So with this inspiration I was hoping for Sig. Villoresi to give me a fragrance to feel like I want to become a hero and for the most part he delivers just that. A bright sunny opening gives way to a green woody heart before letting the leather kick in in the base.

The sunlight in the opening comes courtesy of bergamot, lemon, and grapefruit. As you look up into the clear sunny sky you breathe in the air of the exotic land and you are greeted by clary sage, black pepper, and nutmeg. Sig. Villoresi’s choice of nutmeg makes the spice trio come off a little more exotic than they might. Eventually you start walking across the sun-baked savannah and there is a green grassiness that crunches under the sandals. Off in the distance there are hints of blooming jasmine. As you approach the entrance to your quest the smell of the sweat soaked leather rises as from the darkness a whiff of amber and musk comes up from below. You steel yourself and enter the labyrinth.

Theseus has average longevity and above average sillage.

For Theseus to be my ideal sword and sandal fragrance I would’ve like a more prominent leather note and perhaps some incense or camphor because in my mind’s nose those fragrances seem to convey adventure. Sig. Villoresi’s vision is different and Theseus is, on its own, a top notch citrus woody. Even so I will be wearing this as the weather gets warmer especially when I’m reading about an adventurer in an alien setting unsheathing his sword.

Disclosure: This review was based on a decant purchased from The Perfumed Court.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor