Rook Perfumes Suede EdP

Rook Suede is a potent, Unisex, animalic leather Eau de Parfum launched by UK-based niche house Rook Perfumes in 2020. Designed by Nadeem Crowe, the fragrance strips away sweet, mainstream notes to deliver a rugged, smoky, and unapologetic scent profile that smells like raw hides at a tanner's workbench.

The fragrance features Tobacco, Leather and Suede and is a scent for those who love animalic, realistic raw leather fragrances. It is  rugged, smoky and freaking sexy!!

A note from the perfumer on his website says: "Imagine a tanner sitting at their workbench. Smoke from a rolled cigarette fills the air as hides hang awaiting their transformation. Suede is a brave scent. Niche perfumery should be brave."

REVIEWS

Fragrantica - Extremely intoxicating combination of suede base with bias to leather, with some faint degree of singeing, and the lightest amount of sweetness to combine all the notes together. Funnily enough, I had smelled something exactly this, probably something like leather/rubber synthetic footwear many years ago, so I guess there's that (albeit an odd smell for a garment--starting to think a vintage perfume has done this profile before). Either way, I'm a big fan of leather/rubber scents, but even though this didn't hit the marks that I was going for, it was certainly a nostalgic kind of fragrance (in an intimate way). Would wear everyday, has good projection, silage, and longevity. I'm not here to tell you a woman couldn't wear this, but this isn't really a "run of the mill" kind of fragrance--it's not really distinctly sweet in that regard, but to each their own. This develops into a more vanilla bias over time, but it's still really subtle that the main notes I had discussed still stand out.

Fragrantica - Suede is big, butch & a little bit dirty - It's a thick, meaty and unapologetic leather & I adore everything about it!  It's quite unique in just how realistic it smells - It's rugged, dry and there isn't really any sweetness, it's like breathing in a 'new' leather hide, so I can kind of understand why some people say that this is 'challenging', as leather is often presented as sweetened up or cleaned and polished - like a new pair of boots or a car seat - and if Suede smelt any more raw & natural than it does, it would be mooing! To me, Suede is beautiful & evocative - and there's something about it that I find quite sensual. It should probably make think of tanneries, leather stores - anything along those lines, but instead it takes me away to a hazy land of dreams and memories. 

Fragrantica - On skin this starts out dry, with lots of leather and smoke (think campfire)...Shortly after the opening, the tobacco starts to come through, and it is a very sweet and wet tobacco. It creates a very nice juxtaposition to the drier opening of Suede. As it wears the smoke transitions a bit to more of a slightly ashy smell all the while maintaining the warmness of the leather and the sweetness of the wet tobacco. Although the opening of the fragrance is quite intense, the dry down is very smooth and very sexy. There are no wood notes listed, however I get some type of wood or vetiver in the dry down (maybe even oakmoss). The notes are VERY realistic smelling. There is nothing synthetic smelling about this fragrance, which I really appreciate.

The performance on this fragrance is FANTASTIC; this fragrance will last until you wash it off.

Fragrantica - Suede, by Rook perfumes, is about as close as I can get to evoking the smell of that old, black leather, smoky, motorcycle jacket, and a chance for me to relive a few memories of times past.

Fragarantica - Supercharged leather smell, strong and lasts well. I'm not into strong leather frags as it tends to overwhelm everything else to my nose so definitely too powerful and literal leather for me to pull off; I do appreciate the skill to create it but not for me. If you're into Ombre Leather or similar it might be worth a try.

Fragrantica - the drastic change from start to finish is crazy! Heavy, dirty, wet “leather”. Almost still with the flesh on it, meaty, but not rank. Like grill smoke. Wait about 30 mins bc it changes so much though! A cold very slightly wet, slightly sweet, realistic leather, 100%. Very wearable if you can make it past the harsh opening.

Fragrantica - Suede is a dry leather and isn’t forgiving in the slightest. The main theme for me is castoreum which really contributes to the dryness and minimal sweetness.

The fragrance is gruff and intense. There’s a lot of texture too as though I’m running my fingers along the grain with all of the imperfections. The smoke here isn’t dense but comparable to that of a nearby bonfire where the breeze has carried the smoke across to your open window. It could have easily dominated the whole composition but it doesn’t. It’s controlled and adds another dimension to the leather.

It is another great release from Rook which hasn’t diminished in quality or scent at all since it’s re-release and reformulation. It is as seamless as it ever was.