7 minute read
Bringing back the Birch
Russian leather fragrances evoke snowcovered forests and a sense of wilderness
IT WAS PARISIAN PERFUME HOUSE Creed who in 1854 first put Cuir de Russie (it translates as ‘Russian leather’) on the map, presenting a darkly smoky creation to the Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie. Then – according to the incomparable fragrance blog monsieurguerlain.com – perfumer Aimé Guerlain followed in hot, leathery succession, using the name Cuir de Russie for a fragrance created in 1872.
But until recently, Chanel’s Cuir de Russie has been the most renowned Russian leather. There’s much debate about whether it launched in 1924 or 1927 – but what is certain is that Chanel Cuir de Russie is a delicious plunge from sophisticated aldehydes through a classic entanglement of jasmine, rose and ylang ylang to blonde tobacco and, finally, to a heightened, leathery smokiness.
Created for Coco Chanel by Ernest Beaux – the master perfumer who gave us Chanel No.5 – the inspiration was both irresistibly romantic, and highly personal: Coco’s passionate affair with a Russian Grand Duke, His Imperial Highness Dimitri Pavlovich Romanov, cousin to the last Tsar. Chanel’s biographer, Justine Picardie, describes Cuir de Russie as the ‘bottled essence of her romance with the Grand Duke.’ At the time, Paris was flooded with Russian emigrés, who’d fled the Bolshevik revolution. And while the tumultuous events of Russian history gave Mademoiselle Chanel a handsome lover, it gave the world an exquisite scent we treasure to this day. Perhaps it was nostalgia for the homeland which made Cuir de Russie perfumes so popular – but whatever the reason, this style of perfume became shorthand for grandeur.
Truly to get to grips with the origins of Russian leather, however, we must plunge ourselves further back in history, to the era of 1645-1676, and the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. Along with priceless jewels, gold, furs and tea, red leather, or ‘yuft’, was among the treasure chest of precious materials amassed by the royal Russian court.
Looking at Vladimir Tarasenko’s painting you can almost smell the leather of the soldiers’ boots and the horses’ saddles
Demand for what became known as ‘Cuir de Russie’ (sometimes named ‘Cuir de Russe’) far outstripped what Russia could supply. And so the Russians began importing consignments of cowhides, finishing the tanning process in Russia with their secret ingredient – birch oil.
Famously, leather itself smells pretty rotten during the traditional tanning process – a honking fug created by the delightful application of animal urine and faeces with which (to this day, in some cultures) it is ‘cured’ and rendered resilient to decay. So leather and perfumery necessarily go back a long way, with 15th Century aristocrats having their gloves made and scented by the gantier parfumeurs – a guild of leather glove-makers in Paris – who added oils of musk, civet and ambergris to mask the repulsive smell.
Peau d’Espagne, or ‘Spanish skin’, meanwhile, used oil of rose, neroli and sandalwood with spices, musk and civet for a more feminine ambience, while French leather offers a more buttery, suede-like effect, with orris – the dried, powdered rhizomes (bulbous roots) of iris – employed for a powdery softness. English leather, meanwhile, usually comprises a cleaner, soapier scent with lavender, bergamot and rosemary somewhere in the mix.
Guerlain’s Cuir de Russie – created by Aimé Guerlain in 1872
But Russian leather is distinguished from all pretenders to the perfumed throne by the use of birch oil, rubbed in to the animal skin after tanning to make it even more flexible – and with having the added bonus of rendering the material water-resistant. The intense, relentless smokiness of that birch oil is the vital scent ingredient that gives Russian leather its characteristic smell, while delivering impressive resilience.
To process this, bark of the birch tree is peeled off in papery strips and soaked in a water/alcohol mixture until it forms a ‘liquor’, which is then evaporated, leaving the unctuous oil behind. Interestingly, the chemical structure of birch contains high levels of methyl salicylate, more commonly known as oil of wintergreen, which accounts for the nostril-lifting, headfilling camphoraceous qualities of the ingredient – something beyond mere leather smokiness that hints of snowcovered forests and frosty fur.
Russian soldiers, pre-Revolution, their boots buffed to smoke-scented perfection
The quality and longevity of Russian leather made it highly sought-after for military boots and equipment – long, hard marches across a frozen tundra being notoriously tough on footwear. Legend has it the soldiers would also carry birch tar with them (made from birch bark heated in airtight containers, leaving a residue of tar and ashes behind), to buff on further layers of protection along with a sheen.
In fragrances composed to evoke Russian leather, birch oil and/or tar might be mixed with any number of equally aromatic ingredients by the perfumer. Do we want a gruffly masculine Russian leather to recall those soldiers and their boots? Or a more romantic Doctor Zhivago effect, conjuring pristine snow, fur-covered sleighs and Omar Sharif’s sensitive eyes? When envisaging the essence of Russian Leather for their MEMO Paris fragrance of the same name, for instance, co-founder Clara Molloy imagined ‘the wilderness of Siberia, a land of contrasts. We felt the soul of Russia could be in its lakes and forests, in its snow and untouched landscapes.’
Describing his love for this notoriously pungent aroma, Leo Crabtree, Creative Director of niche house, BeauFort London, notes: ‘If there’s one ingredient that immediately propels you to the past, it’s birch tar. For me it’s all about the smoky, resinous aspect that brings to mind soldiers rubbing their boots with it to keep them weather-proof, of pitch and burning, tarry planks at sea. I’ve made it a signature of the BeauFort fragrances – a rebellious, unconventional smokiness.’
But why Russian leather? Why now? (It can’t simply be the romantic legacy of the BBC’s epic War and Peace drama, in which handsome aristocrats in polished leather boots stole the show – and our hearts.) Fact is, just as oudh was translated from its Middle Eastern cultural heritage to become the must-have ingredient in Western perfumery, perfume-lovers love to look far afield for potently exotic, poetically inspiring ingredients to satiate our need for longlasting fragrances with vividly unique characters.
The current fashion for opulent leather is not confined to the catwalks, then, but is now sashaying its way into the world of scent. Russian leather is once again the most desirable of fragrant materials – the perfumer’s art magically capturing its extraordinarily romantic history, in every smoke-infused drop.
Suzy's pick of Russian Leather scents
Les Exclusifs de Chanel
Cuir de Russie Chic aldehydes, with smoky scandal insinuated beneath – supple leather waited for with baited breath
MEMO Paris Russian Leather
Frosty air tinged with lavender, frozen herbs gathered at dusk in a fur-lined leather coat, ice-crystals on eyelashes
Molton Brown Russian Leather
Curls of smoke swirl through a Siberian pine forest, leather-bound books infused with the drift from a campfire
Anna Zworykina Cuir de Russie
Warm horse saddle worn smooth from use, a pitch black velvet cloak flying madly, a majestic beast in the wilderness
Le Jardin Retrouvé Cuir de Russie
Violet leather ballet shoes, cinnamon-dusted bonbons eaten at Nijinsky’s performance while writing love letters
BeauFort London Coeur de Noir
BeauFort London Coeur de Noir Inky fingers lovingly stroke the leather desk, the tattooed arm, lips still laced with spicy rum; tarry, tarry night
Arquiste Aleksandr
A finely-clad gent admires his polished leather boots, splashing neroli Cologne, walking perhaps too proudly to the snow-bound duel
Zoologist Civet
Buxom bouquet thrust forcefully into a leather-gloved clasp, hot coffee clutched to warm the fingers, a woodland romp to warm the soul
Evody Cuir Blanc
Butter-soft leather liberally dusted with baby powder, the comfort of warm skin embraced with an open heart
