Fatty, Soapy, and Incensy Liquorice

Azzaro Decibel pour Homme

Azzaro Decibel pour Homme

Azzaro Decibel was on my laundry list for a while, but it was only a few days ago that I came across a small bottle unexpectedly, for a ridiculous price and it was love at first sight. The notes intrigued me and the polarized reviews only furthered my interest. I finally spent 15 euro and purchased it. I'm glad I did as this is such a unique and lovely fragrance. I've never smelled anything like it nor I have anything similar in my huge collection. First of all, the small bottle does not have the popular microphone shape, it is more similar to a pen, yet it's opaque dark gray glass and you can see through it.

Azzaro Decibel belongs to the oriental family with the balsamic, spicy, sweet, powdery, and smoky accords, provocative and miles away from Azzaro pour Homme. It opens up bright and citrus with a clean and soapy note. The clean I'm talking about is more conceptual. It’s pure luminescence, or light turned somehow into scent, thanks to the aldehydes, overdosed aldehydes, both audacious and unique in fragrances for men, which are like the fizz of champagne, having the power to make the cologne truly sparkle and effervesce. Soapy, soapy, soapy, the aldehydes shine in all their glory! I am pretty sure that aldehyde C11 is the one used in the Decibel's formula, the soapiness is all too tangible. The citrus accord comes from the sharp pungency of the Green Italian Tangerine. As soon as the aldehydes tone down, an awesome and intriguing licorice accord takes off, with its bitterness, darkness, somehow akin to anise. The taste of licorice, which I get quite a lot, is very polarizing. It's noticeable at the start but plays along quietly in the background.


After some time, the fragrance finally loses that pungent soap accord, the scent turns darker and it transitions to the heart notes. There is an enormous amount of olibanum, a real church incense you could smell while entering a sanctuary after a function. The cologne drifts into the mysterious and addictive mists of incense, cut with the slightly powdery and devilishly peculiar violet leaves. This marvelous aroma melts magically with the licorice accord. The waxy citrus is still quietly present, but not soapy like in the opening. The black licorice and incense continue to play well together with the licorice being much more noticeable. The black licorice does not smell candy, edible, or gourmand at all. It's the scent of black licorice without the sweetness. The violet note smooths the transition from citrus soap to a clean softness, it is not extremely powdery as I steer clear from anything listed as powdery. The very soft powdery violet note and black licorice complement each other while the incense continues to be the backbone of this fragrance.


As the dry down comes it is like night falls, when the lights go out. It's soft, clean, creamy, and sweet. The licorice is still present but ever so soft, the vanilla and tonka combo offer a creamy sweetness, and the incense lastly starts to bow out softly. There's a soft and slight cinnamon accord which I believe is due to the vanilla, tonka, and licorice. I believe most people don't wait till the dry down, which takes a good couple of hours or so, to see how great Decibel is. If I ever smelled the drydown on another person, I would just want to snuggle my head and nestle in the sweet base notes of Decibel. I can't help but inhale deeply every time I wear this when the drydown appears. Vetiver comes onto the stage and enchants with its sensual, virile and shadowy charms, not overwhelming nor dominating the scene. The base notes provide a warming contrast to the rest of the scent with vetiver, vanilla, and tonka bean.

The cologne is long-lasting to survive through my most active days and has a moderate sillage to tempt without being overwhelming. I see this cologne perfect for office, to be worn in colder seasons, late Fall or best in Winter, yet accurate for spending a night out on the town. It is a compliments getter, and to me, Azzaro Decibel is an underrated jewel perhaps neglected for its quite ugly bottle. It is a very sweet yet pungent aromatic fragrance. It's mostly all incense, black licorice, and slight spicy-creamy sweetness from vanilla + tonka combo. It doesn't deserve the hate and irreverence people show towards it all. It's much more original than a lot of the designer frags you see on most department store counters.

Side note: aldehydes are a family of ingredients, and they can be metallic, starchy, citrusy, waxy. Most widely used aldehydes in perfumery are C7 (heptanal, naturally occurring in clary sage and possessing a herbal green odor), C8 (octanal, orange-like), C9 (nonanal, smelling of roses), C10 (decanal, powerfully evocative of orange rind; Citral, a more complicated 10-carbon aldehyde, has the odor of lemons), C11 (undecanal, “clean” aldehydic, naturally present in coriander leaf oil~also used is unsaturated C11 undecen-1-al), C12 (Lauryl aldehyde evocative of lilacs or violets), C13 (waxy, with grapefruit tone)and the infamous C14 peach-skin note of Mitsouko: technically not an aldehyde, but a lactone ~gamma undecalactone.

-Elysium