Aus Liebe zum Duft No. 1

12/22/09 08:03:26

By: Mark Behnke

I always wonder what my favorite chefs make when they are cooking at home. The same question holds true when I think of perfumers as I’ve wondered whether they have personal concoctions that they make only for themselves. Certainly Michel Roudnitska’s tale of the creation of Le Parfum de Therese is testament to what perfumers can achieve when inspired by a muse.

What does one want to wear when one is always making fragrance? In the case of Marc vom Ende we have an answer to this question as he agreed to make his personal formula the first fragrance released by the fragrance website Aus Liebe zum Duft, or as it is known in the US First-in-Fragrance. Aus Liebe zum Duft No. 1’s release coincides with the 10th anniversary of the business and as the number in the name implies is to be the first in a series.

Marc vom Ende’s description of No. 1 on the Aus Liebe zum Duft website: “I always wore it whenever I was in the mood to make a strong impression or to attract attention and it never failed to have the desired effect and always conveyed a certain special presence."

I agree with Hr. vom Emde that Aus Liebe zum Duft No. 1 does convey a strong presence. I found this to be an excellent masculine fragrance redolent of citrus, spices, leather and woods.

The top of Aus Liebe zum Duft No. 1 begins with a sparkly mix of citrus combined with the cool feel of cardamom and the even cooler zing of ginger. I like the opening of No. 1 as it is very refreshing and surprisingly long lasting for a citrus top. The heart slowly reveals itself to be a suede leather accord. An edgy, almost medicinal, amber is used to accomplish the transition into the heart.

The heart is a refined leather accord in which you won’t find any of the birch tar roughness that you find in other leather fragrances. This leather slowly appears from the coolness of the top and eventually takes over the scent. No. 1 eventually settles into a soothing mix of woods, in the base, which are an appropriate complement to the soft leather. Aus Liebe zum Duft No. 1 has outstanding longevity of almost 24 hours on my skin and above average sillage.

I found this inaugural effort at fragrance from Aus Liebe zum Duft to be a very good fragrance and one that will be very nice to wear during the upcoming holiday season at turns refreshing and then warm. Like stepping out of the winter night to warm one’s hands at a fireplace.

I have two samples of Aus Liebe zum Duft No. 1 for Fragrantica readers. If you would like to be considered for one of them just leave a comment and we will do a draw of all interested parties.

Full disclosure: This review was based on a sample received from Aus Liebe zum Duft for this purpose.

Images: Aus Liebe zum Duft

Author: Mark Behnke (Somervill Metro Man)
Fragrantica Writer

Mark Behnke is based in Somerville, MA, a suburb of Boston, and is the writer for Fragrantica. By day, he works as a research chemist in a pharmaceutical company. By night, he has been a consistent poster on the forums at Basenotes.net under his nom de blog, Somerville Metro Man. You can also follow Mark on Twitter @SomMetroMan if you're curious to find out what he wears on a day-to-day basis.

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