Fragrance Review: Duro by Nasomatto

When we think of masculinity, most of us imagine a burly football player or a body builder who can bench 5 times his own weight without breaking a sweat. Some of us may picture a lumberjack with big muscles and an even bigger bushy beard wielding a sharpened axe. 

Regardless of what you imagine, the traits that come to mind are powerful, strong, and robust. Nasomatto found a way to capture masculinity in a bottle and add a classy, sophisticated touch. The bottle is a little 30ml powerhouse called Duro.

Don't let this small size fool you. Duro packs an unapologetic extrait de parfum punch. It's relentless when it comes to sillage and staying power.

Who Is Behind It? 

Duro was created by Italian perfumer and Nasomatto founder Alessandro Gualtieri. Mr. Gualtieri formally studied perfumery in Germany and was mentored by an Italian perfumer he met while abroad.

Over his three-decade-long career, he has worked for a variety of fragrance houses including Diesel, Fendi, and Versace. After launching Nasomatto in 2008, he launched another niche fragrance house, Orto Parisi, in 2014. Both of his companies are known for pushing boundaries and creating new, exclusive scent profiles not found anywhere else.

Note Breakdown:

Mr. Gualtieri has not officially released the notes to Duro. His inspiration behind this fragrance is printed right on the slipcase that comes with the box:

"This bottle of perfume is part of the project Nasomatto. The fragrance aims to enhance all the manifestations of male strength"

Based on our research, here are the notes we believe are in this fragrance:

Top notes: Oud

Middle notes: Spices, Woods

Packaging:

The packaging for Duro is fairly simplistic; a matte black slipcase with glossy black lettering covers a black thick paper box with the fragrance nestled inside a form-fitting sponge cut-out. The slipcase provides all the information for the fragrance including the ingredients.

A unique feature of all Nasomatto fragrances is their rather large bottle caps. Fortunately, they provide a much smaller travel cap you can put on your bottle if you plan on taking it anywhere.

The bottle itself is a thick clear glass rectangle with the name of the fragrance and concentration on a small silver label. As stated earlier, the cap is rather large, almost the same size as the bottle. This cap is dark brown and has a wood grain texture, which is fitting for this fragrance. You could pick this fragrance up by the cap since it fits so snugly, but we strongly advise against it.

Opening: 

Duro opens with a deep, robust combination of animalic oud, patchouli, and suede leather. It's difficult to explain exactly what the leather smells like. "Cowboy leather", rugged and weathered, is the best description I can come up with. The patchouli and oud give the fragrance an earthy cedar scent, which pairs well with the suede.

Development:

As Duro begins to evolve, cedar becomes more abundant and a combination of resins and spices begin to emerge. Animalic oud and leather still remains the dominant notes but other scents are beginning to surface. 

Labdanum, known for being slightly sweet and musky, gives the oud and suede scent more depth. It also brings along a whisper of dirty vanilla. Warm spices are also noticeable, but just like the vanilla, they sit back and support the other scents.

Drydown: 

During the drydown, a sweet pipe tobacco note emerges. It pairs well with the suede, which remains dominant. Cedar is still strong but steps back and the warm spices and labdanum move up. All I can think of at this moment in time is a cowboy on horseback smoking a pipe while watching the sunset from the top of a cliff. He has a dram of whisky in his hand. Where did he get it? No idea. 

I also picked up a hint of cocoa. I'm not sure where this came from or if my mind was playing tricks on me, but it happened more than once during the drydown. Regardless, it was a nice addition.

Performance: 

I applied three sprays of Duro directly to my upper chest. I quickly realized that two sprays was all I needed. This extrait de parfum concentration can easily choke out a room if you spray even one spritz too many, like I did.

That being said, with those three sprays directly to my chest, Duro emanated well beyond an arm's length scent for around 3 hours.

Once this monster of a fragrance began to settle down, it remained an arm's length scent for well over 6 hours before turning into a skin scent. By this time, I may have gone nose blind because I could barely notice it. 

I then went for a short walk around the block, and the scent seemed to intensify a bit after I returned home. It lingered as a skin scent but faded sometime after I went to bed and woke up. I could barely detect it in the morning.

When To Wear Duro By Nasomatto: 

Duro is best suited for formal occasions like a romantic date or whiskey/wine tasting. Due to its dark profile, it's better to wear it in the evening, although it would work on a cold winter day or even a cooler spring day with a sweater or larger coat. 

Since it is an extrait de parfum, it's best to only apply one or two sprays as it could easily become overpowering. For this reason, we don't recommend it as an everyday wear or an office fragrance. It works much better in intimate environments where people will be close enough to you to discover it.

Who Is This Fragrance For? 

Duro works best for an experienced gentleman: not necessarily an older man, but one with refined tastes and interests. It lacks the sweeter qualities that many youthful fragrances possess, so younger gentleman may not find it appealing.

If you are the kind of person who finds yourself visiting nice restaurants or speakeasies, rubbing elbows with people in suits at fancy galas, or at wine or spirit tastings, this is a fragrance worth trying. It could even be a signature winter fragrance if you prefer darker woody, smoky scents. Duro definitely makes a statement, and it does it with a large amount of poise.

Overall Thoughts On Duro By Nasomatto:

Duro oozes refined masculinity. It's bold, rugged, and confident; it may be too intense for some but an aphrodisiac for others. The combination of woods, musk (found in the labdanum), and spices makes it a great fragrance that would be on the opposite end of the masculinity spectrum from Axe body spray. 

Nasomatto does sell 4ml decanters so you can take it for a test-drive before committing to a full bottle.

Interested In Other Fragrance Reviews? Check out:

Liqueur BPM by L'Orchestre Parfum - Imagine walking into a fine cigar humidor with a cognac based cocktail in hand.

Upper Class by Royal Crown - What Cary Grant would wear if he was alive today.

Don by Xerjoff - Smells like what you'd expect a mafia boss to smell like.

Did you enjoy this article? Learn something new? Share it with a friend and follow Esteemed Gentleman on social media to stay up to date with new articles and posts!

Links:

Facebook

Instagram

Don't forget to sign up below to stay up to date on new articles and reviews we publish!