Hyacinths & A Mechanic by Andy Tauer {Perfume Short (Review)}

Hyacinths and A Mechanic is one of the latest creations by perfumer Andy Tauer. The evocative, slightly incongruous title of the fragrance refers to the initial vision of a rough mechanic covered with just the ideal amount of grease and holding a bouquet of dainty hyacinths. 

The name wants to provoke a little gender clash between the terms used, between a feminine floral symbol and a masculine erotic one - homo-erotic - we can assume in this case. Hyacinths & A Mechanic can be seen as Andy Tauer's daring answer to Jean-Paul Gaultier Fleur du Mâle. Flowers and man conspire together to create an unusual muscular floral bouquet with A Mechanic, who prefers to go for a slap of oil rather than a bath of milk.......

The perfume is a traveling one as Andy Tauer came up with the idea of inviting comments on the composition by sending a bottle around of the non-marketed perfume for "perfume lovers" to enjoy and discover more fully the juice than if it were sent in a multitude of samples, which is what sometimes takes place from the Zurich-based perfumery to the delight of Andy Tauer's faithfuls.

In this manner also, the perfume becomes the focal point of desire and imagination; it recaptures some of the uniqueness of the ideal fragrance: a perfume that would be uniquely endowed with a non-repeatable and non-transferable experience of life. But it also contributes to drawing a geography of human relationships, a map of perfume aficionados, a symbolic space of representations and anticipation. This happening creates a network of people linked by one obsessive idea: to get their hands on the Mechanic.

On the whole, the project reinforces the poetic impact perfume can have on our lives. Imagine, just imagine for a moment such a well-traveled perfume / mechanic arriving at your doorstep. It puts down its bags, gives you a hug, sits down on your couch and shows you all his tattoos and souvenir touristy stickers on his luggage. He is tired and would love to put up his feet, maybe take a nap - if you don't mind. You were enchanted by your first olfactory impression of your guest. As he falls asleep the Mechanic exudes more intoxicatingly than ever all the essences that were put in him and this is how he smells:

His clothes/bottle of perfume already let out some incense-y, resinous, iris-y, and other flowery impressions filter out towards you. As you take off his cap the floral bouquet becomes truly succulent, intoxicating, and rich, with green and fresh accents appearing. Next, a drop or two of his sweat smell like strident, intense flowers with a leathery undertone and a sharp note reminiscent of the rawness of urine, honey, hay, and wet Cheerios. There is a little whiff of gasoline making its way among the profuse petals of flowers which take on a 3-D dimension and feel like a close-up in Technicolor of a gorgeous, lush bouquet stretched on the canvas in a panoramic vision. The bouquet is held by a callous tanned hand covered with oil and smelling of recently held metal tools.

The bouquet of flowers becomes slightly powdery remaining green and fresh. The heat of the flowers wanes somewhat but remains strong for a long time. The dry-down is powdery, incense-y, smoky, resinous, root-y and features some of the "Tauerinade," or Tauer's signature base.

The perfume is rather linear and the drama takes place around the explosion of the floral sensations. The raw greenness, the oil, the leathery texture, the sharpness make it a bouquet of flowers held together by a greasy leather belt decorated with a big brass buckle instead of a pink satin ribbon. 

Another intriguing aspect to the fragrance is that rather than to appear multi-layered or multi-faceted, it offers simple volumes that make one think irresistibly of strong, lean an clean muscles. We expected a sweaty mechanic, but he is soaped-up and fully showered, always. No dirty animalic accents to counteract the newly re-discovered erotic power of motor oil.

According to Andy Tauer, Hyacinths & A Mechanic is "... a floral scent, a bouquet of powdery lilacs, green hyacinths and gentle lily of the valley. A bouquet of May flowers, in the hand of a mechanic with an undertone of oily skin."

You can read comments from other recipients of the fragrance here.

You can see a pic of the Mechanic with John Harvard here.

(Photo by Terrible 76)