The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Tabaquero 1918 is a 2025 composition by perfumer Juan M. Perez. The name carries a numerical anchor that places the fragrance within a specific moment, though its real weight comes from what sits inside the bottle. Perez builds the fragrance around two distinct tobacco materials, Puerto Rican tobacco absolute and green tobacco absolute, anchoring the composition in raw botanical matter rather than abstracted impression. This is not a cleaned-up, reinvented tobacco designed to please a broader audience. It leans into the rougher, more resinous character of cured leaf, the kind of scent that settles onto skin and clothing and lingers in a room long after the wearer has left.
What gives Tabaquero 1918 its particular character is the willingness to let tobacco share the stage with other dense, dark materials. Roasted coffee and cocoa sit in the heart alongside the leaf, creating a bitter-warm tension defined by their interplay rather than any single dominant note. The coffee brings a roasted, slightly acidic bitterness that cuts into the tobacco's sweetness, while the cocoa adds a dry, almost powdery richness that rounds out the sharp edges without softening them entirely.
The evolution
Tabaquero 1918 opens with a dense, earthy blast, patchouli and damp soil meeting the green, almost chlorophyll-sharp edge of the tobacco absolute. The whiskey adds a quick flash of warmth, but the first thirty minutes belong to raw material. There's nothing polite about this opening. The green tobacco reads almost vegetal, sharp and slightly bitter, while the patchouli underneath provides a dark, loamy foundation that keeps the brightness from becoming thin. The honey contributes a low, golden sweetness that sits just beneath the surface, and the mahogany adds a quiet wooden warmth that hints at what's to come. Then the heart unfolds, and the composition shifts dramatically. Roasted coffee and cocoa arrive together, turning the tobacco's earthy weight into something more gourmand, though never truly sweet.
Cultural impact
Tabaquero 1918 brings together materials from different parts of the world within a single composition, combining Puerto Rican tobacco absolute with Laotian oud, roasted coffee, cocoa, and a supporting cast of woods, spices, and florals. The geographic range of the ingredients, spanning the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and beyond, creates a layered material profile that draws on multiple botanical traditions. Its use of Laotian oud alongside Puerto Rican tobacco absolute gives the fragrance a particular resonance, two deeply aromatic materials from very different climates meeting in a single bottle.
The House
Terra MaterTerra Mater is a Puerto Rican niche fragrance house built as a love letter to the island itself. Founded by architect Darwin J. Marrero and perfumer Juan M. Pérez, the brand translates the history, terrain, and spirit of Puerto Rico into scent. Every composition carries a sense of place, shaped by two creators deeply rooted in the culture they bottle.
The Creator
Juan M. PerezPérez Feliciano favors compositions with strong botanical architecture. His work often centers on floral and herbal elements, drawing from his deep knowledge of plant materials accumulated since childhood.
