Royal Violets (Agustín Reyes)

Think Stuart Davis Paintings, bottled.

Agustín W. Reyes III has quite a story. His grandfather started a perfume company on December 6th, 1927, with the launch of Agua de Colonia de Agustín Reyes, followed by Loción Violetas Rusas (Russian Violets). The latter was renamed to Royal Violets after the Reyes family emigrated from Cuba to the United States and reopened the perfumery in Miami. Royal Violets remains the family company's sole survivor, and is currently the only fragrance available. (Reyes told me that he uses the same fragrance formula for every cologne, and simply adds aloe and chamomile to distinguish between formulas.) 

I bought a five-ounce glass bottle of the basic "adult" (non-chamomile) splash cologne, and was pleasantly surprised by how attractive it is. I find the box, bottle label, and textured glass to be very well designed and eye-catching. The product looks and feels like twentieth century iconography, and it's small wonder that it's Cuba's pride and joy. Apparently it is widely used in Cuban culture, often on babies, which I find humorous (baby colognes are inherently hilarious), and a stroll down any street in Miami will yield at least a few whiffs of this stuff. I find it so interesting that Agustín Reyes has not branched out, as many brands are wont to do these days, but they openly admit in their company story that limited resources necessitated the family's laser-like focus on one cologne. 

The ingredients list cites ylang oil as one of the main components, and I can smell it right out of the gate. Ylang smells bright, almost citrusy, very sweet, and quite heady, a rather narcotic floral material usually favored in tropical bouquets. Here it merely introduces a coumarinic amber that segues into a low concentration violet leaf accord. It provides the perfect base for stuff like Geoffrey Beene's Grey Flannel and Jacomo's Silences. To me, Royal Violets smells like the sweet coumarin heart of Grey Flannel without the green embellishments, like someone extracted Beene's floral sweetness and made it its own scent. I suggest pairing this with violet-themed stuff like the aforementioned, as it lacks the longevity to serve on its own, but I appreciate it as a simple after-shower splash as well. Nice stuff, and shocking that it isn't more widely known outside of Miami.