Mukhallat Al Farisi

Mukhallat Al Farisi is a release from the house of Abdul Karim Al Faransi, Maison de Parfum. The owner is French-born and specializes in oriental-style perfumery, and specifically in rare agarwood (oud) oils, musk, and amber. He is based in Birmingham, England. They emphasize quality ingredients, artisanal craftsmanship, and make everything in small batches. Their attention to detail is extraordinarily apparent in the way their oils smell. It is a shame there is not a bigger Middle Eastern population here in the United States. If there were, we might be more accustomed to such luxurious perfume. I doubt that many Americans will have tried something like this unless you have patronized a house that specialized in Arabic-style perfumery. I was interested in an oil that had a heavily leather base, so I was naturally drawn to Mulkhallat Al Farisi. (The Arabic word “mukhallat” simply refers to a mixture – in this case, a mixture of oils that come together to form this perfume.) He sent me one 1⁄4 tola (or approximately 3 grams) of this exquisite perfume, or about three grams. (The tola – equivalent to about 11.7 grams - has largely been replaced by metric measurements in most parts of Asia, but is still in common use in countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Singapore.) Wearing Mukhallat Al Farisi is a truly regal experience. Before I even consider the fragrance itself, just you must first see what it looks like in the bottle: viscous and thick, like cold maple syrup. When you turn it upside down, you can see the oil hesitate for a moment, deciding if it wants to follow suit. The presentation is also stunningly beautiful – a small bottle with an octagonal base with alternating sides emblazed with “Abdul Karim Al Faransi” in Roman letters and in Arabic. To top everything off, there’s a little leather strap around the lip of each bottle with a name tag that tells you the name of the perfume. Mukhallat Al Farisi translates to “Persian Mukhallat” and is truly beautiful stuff. It has top notes of Persian saffron and wood smoke, middle notes of dry fruits and sweet wood, and base notes of Cambodian agarwood (oud) and Indian sandalwood. It is essentially a deep, robust leather. Now on to the important question: how does it smell? To put it simply, if you are a lover of unrepentantly animalic, musky leathers, you MUST try this. This is the inside of a fine leather shoe or expensive leather jacket. Only after several hours does this settle down into a softer, suede-like leather. The opening, however, is all oud, a potent dry leather, and with the slightest touch of sweet saffron. Into the dry down, you begin to get a few hints of dry and sweet smoke, but I never get anything as sweet as dried fruit. I also detect a bit of the beautiful sandalwood, but only in the deepest part of the base: everywhere else, the animalic sense of the Cambodian oud overpowers the softness of the sandalwood. The price can be a bit of an ask: for the sample (really more like a year’s supply) that I got to try, the sale price is 50 pounds (or about $70 USD). Half a tola (6 grams) will run you 90 pounds ($126 USD), and a full tola (about 12 grams costs 150 pounds (or $210 USD). If you would like to try a sample, which I would recommend because this is not a perfume for the faint of heart, you can get yourself .2 ml (which I will assure you is at least a few applications) for 7.50 pounds (or about $10 USD). This is luxury in a bottle. You will feel like an emir when you wear this. When I got my nose on it, I was stunned at the quality and the luxuriousness of wearing it. I’m not keen on most oil-based fragrances, but this is a definite exception. Having it on your body really is an experience well worth the price. However, if this price point is just more than you prefer to spend, worry not: there are less expensive options (though I have not tried them). The Freestyle 3.0 Collection has fragrances for as affordable as $30 – for an entire tola of oil (which would probably last you a few years, considering its potency). There’s also a line called “Affordable Dehn Al Oudh” full of oud fragrances I desperately want to try. I want to sincerely thank Mr. Al Faransi for the opportunity for letting me sample and review his creations. I’m so glad that people like him have decided to do what they love and dedicate themselves to the olfactory art. His creations are a gift to the world of fragrance lovers. I hope to review more of this lovely line in the near future.