In the shadows of the cavernous saloon, a dusty boot and a tin spur juts from a wooden chair. A baritone voice drawls:

“Draw…”

Outside, the pounding of hooves. The sun beating long shadows to the ground. A manicured hand pulls a gold pocket watch from a silken waistcoat. It ticks like a nervous heartbeat.

Just beyond the clapboard roofs of the small town, in the middle of nowhere the flat crags of the canyons ripple red and purple, a warm wind puffs tumbleweeds that bounce along the scrub. Somewhere close by, there’s a river rushing over rocks that promise a treacherous rafting. Soon, there will be a horse tied to a tree, and the tight twang of a lone banjo. And always, a turquoise horizon to ride towards that is as broad and elusive as forever.

 

M. Micallef RedColorado is an ode to the “the Great American West.” With its smooth-edged leather, varnished woods, and old-time barbershop tang, this is a fragrance for our romantic mythologies of rugged individualism and those quick-witted, fast-drawing, self-invented figures that populate our imagination: bank robber Butch Cassidy and his comely partners Harry Longabaugh, the Sundance Kid, and gal pal Etta Place; glamourous card sharp Lottie Deno; racoon-hatted Daniel Boone, sharpshooting firecracker Annie Oakley. But rather than go full-on rough rider, RedColorado has the polished panache of a modern EDP, updating classic references to saddle leather, pine forests, campfires in a scent that is surprisingly contemplative, sensual, and beautifully balanced.

 

And by the way, M. Micallef RedColorado isn’t just for the menfolk. There’s a lot of gals can sport this, too. While marketed towards men, RedColorado strikes me as completely unisex. The sparkling bergamot and cypress opening has a lovely harmony of sharp and turpenic mellowed with calming wood notes that quiets down what could have been an abruptly masculine entrée. Leather comes up quite quickly, but rather than the rough-hewn, animalic saddle hide I was expecting, this is the smell of an expensive leather trench: violet-y, smooth, with just a pinch of peppery spice. There’s a sharp whiff of tonic that suggests the barbershop, and I half expect to hear the tinny tinkle of a pianola in the background.

 

As we head down RedColorado’s trail, a mineral note and some earthy dustiness in the middle that puts rocky terrain in my mind as we move from the tonsorial parlour to the Great Outdoors. RedColorado moves forward with cypress and its dry, sagebrush aroma, and brisk, balsamic pine. A little later, there a slight smell of char, as if you just trotted by an abandoned campfire. A surprisingly soft rosiness in the heart makes me think of lonesome, lost love ballads sung under moonlight, and a comforting blanket of guaiac and vanilla wraps it up nice and warm. Guaiac is one of my favourite wood notes – while not powerful or bracing like cedar or hinoki, it adds an ambery, slightly anisic, old paper sensuality to fragrances that I find comforting and even sexy.

Things get a bit rougher in the base, where cedar pulls on the reins, and the dry earth odor of patchouli is butch enough to remind me to doublecheck that my derringer is firmly planted in my garter. That mineral note persists, and the faint smell of crackled wood lingers. But the presence of vanilla and rose keeps everything calm, and the combination of wood notes with the enduring citric, herbal top notes feels fresh and urbane, a neat contrast with the cowboy cedar and spice.

M. Micallef RedColorado dried down to a smooth, approachable, and even sophisticated leather and woods scent. It’s perfect for sidling up to a date or riding off into the sunset. Boys and girls, saddle up.

Notes: Bergamot, cypress, pine, burnt wood, cedar, rose, sandalwood, patchouli, guaiac wood, vanilla, leather.

Disclaimer: Bottle of RedColorado very generously gifted me by M. Micallef. My opinions, as always, are my own.

Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor

 

Thanks to the largesse of M. Micallef, we have a 100 ml bottle of RedColorado for one registered reader in the EU or U.S. YOU MUST REGISTER OR YOUR COMMENT WON’T COUNT. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what strikes you about M. Micallef Red Colorado, what your favorite M. Micallef fragrance is, and where you live. Draw closes 3/27/2023.

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