ERBE Sandalo Sandalwood

Recently, I stumbled across a 3.5oz. bottle of Sandalo Sandalwood by ERBE Profumi on ebay. It had 50% remaining and since I love sandalwood, I placed a lowball bid and ended up winning it. I had never heard of it before let alone smell it.

When it arrived, I was anxious to try it and figured it would be a dud. I say that because I have systematically tried almost all the sandalwood scents that get any love or attention. Since I never heard of this one, the silence spoke volumes.

Sometimes, what you don't hear is misleading. It didn't take me one minute of wearing Sandalo to find it related to Villoresi's Sandalo. I immediately thought it a lighter rendition, but it had the rough characteristics of Lorenzo's releases. There's nothing creamy here or remotely resembling a smooth woody. This is very masculine with edges and no apologies. It's full bodied without being loud and commits itself to being a close fragrance within minutes of application. Don't be fooled by its perimeter because it's very noticeable up close. It simply doesn't rely on sillage.

An initial blast of some alcohol, orange and what seems to be a smidgeon of lavender. No sooner the alcohol opening burns away, the citric accord is waning and rosewood, cedar and sandal are taking over the composition. The term "Woody" is thrown around somewhat loosely at times, but ERBE is exactly that. I can smell and differentiate separate wood components and feel like I'm back in school traversing through woodshop.

Is ERBE more woody than say, Tumulte? No, I wouldn't say so. It's close though and doesn't rely as much on cedar. All I know is that I'm digging the scent and would love to have enough of this to spray with abandon. Once Sandalo dries down, there's a vetiver that rears it head along with a subtle moss. The wood accord never stops radiating and is simply joined by these two as the fragrance goes into drydown.

This is a very good woody and an enjoyable rendition of sandalwood. Too bad we can't get it anywhere that I know of and consider myself fortunate to have stumbled upon it. I think of it as "Villoresi Light" and with any luck, I can come across another bottle on the bay. Thumbs up from Aromi for ERBE Profumi's Sandalo Sandalwood.