Umbra

The oddly phrased official description reads like a Capricorn’s personality trait; “Natural, sensible and vital. It captives with sobriety, elegance and good manners.” (Although I don’t know what “captives” with sobriety can possibly mean – do they mean “captivates”? Anyway I digress, but I’m sure something is lost in translation here.

Back to the scent. ‘Umbra’ is an aromatic, woody fougére. It’s predominantly a vetiver, oakmoss, pepper, fir and tonka blend. The green plants here are dry to the point of being brittle – almost like the Haitian vetiver, oakmoss and the Canadian fir have been dehydrated then powdered. The Madagascan black pepper gives and nicely lifted airy spice, but I’m not aware of any obvious geranium. Overall, this doesn’t smell particularly luxurious or expensive and has a synthetic quality.

The dry-down reveals the toasted hay accord of the Brazilian tonka beans. But ‘Umbra’ sadly has the shortest longevity and is possibly the least innovative of all of Ramon Monegal’s creations.

‘Umbra’ is a straight-forward, clean white t-shirt fragrance, full of earthy dryness from a moss-covered forest floor.

NOTES - Haitian vetiver, Madagascar black pepper, oak moss, geranium bourbon, Canadian fir balsam and Brazilian tonka beans.