7 Miglia

7 Miglia is Hamid Merati-Kashani's contribution to Fabbrica della Musa's Italian range, and the reference point it keeps gesturing at is the classic fougere, updated rather than reproduced. The opening is genuinely vivid: Calabrian bergamot doing most of the work, with a lemon-oil brightness alongside it and orange rounding the edges, so the first fifteen minutes are sharp, bitter and fresh without being simply a cologne. Elemi is the pivot. It carries the lemony character of the opening into the heart while adding a dry, resinous quality, and it sits alongside Tunisian neroli and orange blossom, which bring a powdery, faintly animalic warmth, and jasmine, which supplies the heady floral weight. Then the base arrives, and it is the reason the fragrance holds up. Oakmoss gives the smoky, green, slightly inky depth that defines the fougere family, guaiac wood and Virginian cedarwood add dry smoke, Indonesian patchouli brings earth, copaiba balsam adds a peppery lift, and tonka bean rounds everything off with a soft, almost cigar-like sweetness. Performance is strong, as it should be at GBP 195 for 100ml, with the mossy base lasting well into a second day on fabric. It is best in autumn and spring, and it moves comfortably from an office to a formal evening. The lane is Italian niche, and it is genuinely unisex.