The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
I Matti builds from everyday Italian moments. But Excellent starts somewhere darker, the paradox of chocolate itself. Sweet and forbidden. Familiar and strange. Venezuelan chocolate brings deep, rich darkness. Sicilian almond adds warmth and edible softness. New Zealand ambergris introduces something animal and weighty, a counterpoint that stops the sweetness from becoming merely confectionery. The three notes, Venezuelan chocolate, New Zealand ambergris, Sicilian almond, create contrast that defines the fragrance. There's an intentional push and pull between sweet and savory, soft and assertive, edible and something far more primal. The challenge is making the most of that contrast, letting each material assert itself while serving the whole.
Excellent leans differently. The ambergris is the intervention. Here it acts as a counterweight. It stops the chocolate from being merely edible. Stops the almond from being merely soft. What arrives instead is something with actual presence, warm, animal, alive. The three notes don't take turns. They argue. They complete each other. The interplay creates tension that makes the drydown interesting. Nothing fades quietly. Everything keeps insisting on its place in the composition.
The evolution
The chocolate opens with real intensity. Dark, sweet, immediate. No preamble. The almond follows within minutes, softening the edges, making the whole thing feel almost gentle. Almost. Then the ambergris arrives, and it changes the conversation. Not salty exactly. Not skin. Something with more weight. Something that breathes against the sweetness. The three notes engage in a constant dialogue rather than appearing in sequence. What develops is a fragrance with above-average projection that doesn't whisper. The drydown stretches long, especially on fabric, the chocolate leaves a ghost of itself, warm and intimate, still present on the skin hours later. The ambergris remains noticeable throughout, lending an animalic warmth that persists alongside the sweeter elements. Nothing disappears quietly; everything keeps insisting.
Cultural impact
Excellent belongs to the kind of fragrance that rewards the curious. It offers warmth with weight, sweetness with an edge. For wearers seeking something that goes beyond typical gourmand territory, it's the kind of scent that becomes a reason to get dressed. The combination of deep chocolate, soft almond, and animalic ambergris creates a distinctive presence. This is a fragrance for people who want their scent to say something specific, who appreciate the tension between comfort and challenge, sweetness and depth.
