La Capitale by Xerjoff

Velvet, peach, and strawberry bathed in caramel syrup. Perfect for spring and autumn, from semi-formal to formal. Another gem from Xerjoff.

A gem in my collection. All the notes combined seem crazy, yet each is in the perfect dose for an extraordinary result. I struggle to describe it because it smells like ‘La Capitale’ is a whole; breaking it down is hard. If I get specific, I sense everything it claims except the rose: the strawberry isn’t childish, the saffron and leather don’t overpower, the caramel isn’t cloying, and the ginger adds a spicy freshness. I could keep listing components, but it’s enough. Try it if you can—it’s not a blind buy you should take lightly, but it’s not a safe bet either.

High-quality perfume. On my skin, strawberry and caramel dominate; in the dry down, you notice the ginger’s spice along with a subtle rose, soft delicate leather. Good fixative and sillage. Sweet… yes, but not cloying or annoying. I think it’s much more feminine than unisex.

Without a doubt, for me, an exquisite fragrance, like something edible; I couldn’t tell the notes apart. It says unisex, but in my case, it’s too sweet and cloying to be so; it’s more feminine than masculine. You can detect the peach and slightly the strawberry, but both are overshadowed by the caramel. It’s good, but before buying, check how it performs on your skin; it doesn’t suit everyone. In my case, quite feminine and more for night.

I have a decant and I loved it. I was afraid of the oud (I don’t like it) and the leather, but it’s very well crafted. It leaves a long trail and has good longevity. I’m waiting for the decant to run out to buy the full bottle.

It’s rich, but on my skin, it smells like I applied Poett Environmental Deodorant in strawberry. The scent is very pleasant, but that’s exactly how it smells on my skin, not like an expensive perfume.

I absolutely loved La Capitale. It’s an incredibly refined gourmand, caramelized, slightly fruity and acidic, with a soft oriental base of leather where, luckily, I barely notice the saffron. As a good Xerjoff, it has an oily unctuousness; though it’s not a beast like others from the house, it has decent longevity. If you’re a fan of caramel and gourmands, you have to try it. A heads-up: if you have Bonbon by Victor and Rolf in the Couture version, make a direct comparison. It’s super similar, I don’t know why, but it’s suuuuper alike. It doesn’t make sense to buy La Capitale if you already have one worth about seven times less, believe me. The Only One by D&G also goes down that path, but it’s further away and more syrupy. In short, it’s a beautiful, fine, coquettish, and wearable perfume, nothing annoying, but the price seems disproportionate to what it offers. Watch out; I defend niche prices, but with Xerjoff, it happens often. I stick with Bonbon Couture by Rolf, since besides its price (you can find it great online in Spain), it resembles mine quite a bit, and I don’t distinguish many nuances in the dry down except for that barely marked leather note. I’d lie if I said I didn’t enjoy getting to know it.