Tom Ford Tuscan Leather Intense Review – 2019

The bandwagon of intensity keeps finding room for more passengers. The latest arrival: Mr Tom Ford. Not that he’s a stranger to its relentless progress, mind. He’s already got Oud Wood Intense and Tobacco Oud Intense in his line-up. And now the range is extended with Tuscan Leather Intense, although I can’t help feeling the addition is somewhat belated. As TL is, in many ways, the quintessential Ford fragrance, I would’ve thought it would have been the first to receive the intensification treatment. But who knows? Perhaps it took a while for its formula to be finalised.

Anyway, it’s with us now, and like the original incarnation, it is a scent that kicks up a storm. Almost literally. One sniff is enough to make you picture hooves hitting a parched desert floor, the loud impact sending clouds of dust exploding into the air, causing tremors to ripple across the sun-blistered landscape.

I’ve long been fond of Tuscan Leather. As an updated Knize Ten, it’s succeeded in convincing critics and buyers that there will always be room for strident, bitter leather notes, topped by a sour strawberry-raspberry accord, and tailed by a well-judged cocktail of musks and woods. It’s a structure that just works. And seems to withstand the test of time.

The Intense version doesn’t mess with the basic idea, thankfully. But – as was the case with the new iteration of Dior Joy – I’m not sure I’d call it ‘intense’. Although I realise not many people get worked up about semantics quite as much as I do. As far as I’m aware, ‘intense’ implies a greater level of concentration, a more frenzied pitch, a heightened level of tension; after all, the word comes from the Latin ‘intensus’, meaning ‘tightly stretched’. But if anything, this new Tuscan Leather is deeper. It sinks further into the vistas it conjures. The fruit note is less glaring, less sickly. The leathers are far darker. And the base pulls you in much more strongly, with a hint of the black hole magnetism that makes scents like Vero Profumo Onda so compelling. The hooves are still thumping, but they’re heavier. And perhaps slower. Or maybe ‘in slow motion’ would be a more apt description. Either way, they make a gorgeous sound.

Tuscan Leather popped up the other day in the new Miller Harris Leather Rouge (perfumer: Mathieu Nardin), by which I mean that the latter bears more than a passing resemblance to the former. Originality is a contentious issue in perfumery, a fact about which I’m sure I’ve written in the past. With thousands of scents released every year, it is becoming increasingly difficult to a) create something truly original and b) smell enough perfumes so that you can spot clones of scents that have come before. Those unaware of Tom Ford’s output, or indeed Knize Ten, may no doubt consider Leather Rouge to be a marvel. But those of us who’ve enjoyed the delights of Tuscan Leather for years won’t be able to resist a comparison between the two. I’d suggest the Miller Harris is more overtly ‘Arabian’ – the saffron note feels more pronounced – and it displays less tenacity. But essentially, the two are very close siblings.

[Tom Ford Tuscan Leather Intense review and Miller Harris Leather Rouge review based on samples of eau de parfum provided by the respective brands in 2019.]

Persolaise

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