Memo Paris Irish Leather Eau de Parfum

What it smells like

Memo Paris Irish Leather is a green, aromatic leather eau de parfum and the daylight counterpart to the house's heavier Cuirs Nomades. It opens on pepper, mandarin and juniper berry — the juniper is the signal note, piney and gin-like, and with the pepper it gives the first minutes a crisp, outdoorsy snap that almost no other leather fragrance has. The heart turns herbal and powdery at once: iris brings a cool, rooty, slightly cosmetic quality, clary sage adds a boozy tea-like herbaceousness, and green mate contributes the dry, bitter smell of steeped leaves. The base is a green leather accord with cedarwood and vetiver, so the drydown is suede rather than hide — soft, dry, faintly animalic underneath but never barnyard. Expect seven to nine hours, with the green top notes gone inside the first half hour and the leather-and-iris core carrying the rest.

It smells like a tack room on a cold bright morning: polished leather, cut grass, cold air.

Who made it

Irish Leather was released in 2013 as part of Memo's Cuirs Nomades line, and it is a direct nod to the Irish origins of the house's co-founder John Molloy. The gold label is by the artist Alain Bouldouyre, who did much of the Cuirs Nomades artwork.

Memo does not publish a perfumer credit for this one. It is the only fragrance in this group the house leaves uncredited, and it does not appear on any of Memo's eleven perfumer pages — so we have left the perfumer field blank rather than attribute it from a third-party source we cannot verify. If Memo publishes the credit, we will add it.

Who it's for

This is for people who want a leather they can wear in daylight. If you find most leather fragrances too smoky, too sweet or too heavy for anything but an evening, Irish Leather solves that — it is the rare leather that works at a desk. It also suits anyone who likes iris or vetiver and wants those materials with more grip.

Within Memo it is the exact opposite of African Leather: same line, same leather idea, but green and aerated where African Leather is spiced and nocturnal. If you own one, the other is still worth smelling. It is unisex and wears somewhat masculine because of the juniper-and-vetiver spine.

When to wear it

Irish Leather is a spring and summer fragrance that holds up year-round, and it is firmly a daytime scent. The green opening is at its best in mild weather, and the iris-leather core keeps it dignified in heat where a heavier leather would turn sour. It is one of very few leathers genuinely suited to the office, and it works for everyday wear, daytime outings and early evenings.

Two to three sprays. The projection is moderate rather than loud, which is part of why it wears so easily in close quarters.

About the house

Memo Paris was founded in Paris in 2007 by Clara Molloy and her husband John, and conceives each fragrance as a travel note — a destination with a particular pull, rendered in intense raw materials rather than postcard imagery. Cuirs Nomades, this fragrance's line, is the house's nomadic-leather series and its signature. Memo produces in France and keeps its flagship at 24 rue Cambon. Irish Leather Eau de Parfum is available at Redolia Perfumery as a full 75 ml bottle.