Bravo
Hold on to your hat for this one...
Bravo from Ramon Monegal’s Spanish Collection is existentially brave. It’s so niche and conceptual, I’m not sure I’m ready to surrender to such a fearless, macho and transcendent scent. It starts off with a death-defying smoky clove with burning rubber (like the scent used in a 4DX cinema screen when something is on fire). It quickly calms into a more powdery, smoky, clove centred, cemetery scent. Initially, I get none of the suggested fruits, but much later-on, the sweet strawberry romantically balances out Bravo’s smoking carcass and dark heart. It’s this strawberry stage which reminds me of Rasasi’s ‘Dhan Al Oudh Al Nokhba’. Throughout, I’m left longing for the jasmine to make an appearance to sprinkle white brilliance upon this smouldering mass of fumigation - but alas, it stays hiding in the smoky darkness.The dry-down reminds me of ‘Blue Sapphire’ by Boadicea the Victorious, then the final fade-away dry-down has something reminiscent of Amouage ‘Lyric’ woman (of all things). What a fragrance chameleon!
‘Bravo’ is a marvel, created Ramon Monegal’s dark magic wizardry. It’s an ode to virtuosity, courage and power. His was inspired by the origins of perfume - when it was first created through aromatic smoke. Imagine burning agarwood, cedar and fir (including the pine needles).
Monegal describes ‘Bravo’ as, “A chord enriched with rose petals and seasoned with white jasmine flowers, like in a classic hookah, with the combined flavour of cassis, strawberry and apricot. There is a trace of Spanish leather at the heart of the perfume, tanned with clove, cinnamon and artemisia so that it settles in the skin to give a pleasurable experience of the nobility of amber, the firmness of oakmoss and the sensuality of musk.”
If you love those niche scents which are audacious, smoky and outside-of-the-box, then ‘Bravo’ is the dark art you seek.
TOP - Pine Needle, Artemisia Strawberry, Cassis
HEART - Rose, Jasmine, Clove, Cinnamon, Cedarwood
BASE - Oud, Smoke Leather, Oakmoss, Amberwood