Layali

Layali from Agar Aura. I am ashamed to have discovered this one so late. The attar, not the extrait. The first preceded the latter, but because of the "attar phobia," the second is the more popular version of the two. I have tried the parfum extrait version, and I didn't like it. I blind-bought the attar recently, and it has become not only my favorite perfume composition from Taha but also my favorite take on the oversaturated Oud-Rose genre. To me, it takes the extrait from a 4 up to an 11. What got me into chasing this composition is the peculiar use of Davana here. A fascinating ingredient. I'd never thought it could work so well in an oud-rose composition, as it does here. It is the key ingredient and what I felt the extrait was lacking to showcase properly. It shines in the attar. The choice of oud is also unique. It is as requested by such an attempt, a heavier profile but it has none of the barny, fermented, or musky qualities that usually come with heavier ouds. It is "Taha" clean presenting three distinct facets. An antique wooden chest smell, a leather facet, and a medicinal, turpentine-like smell, in that order. The rose used also features the best balance of its facets like it was isolated in a laboratory to make sure it fits the composition seamlessly. The Davana creates the most intoxicating plum liquor accord that radiates strongly for the first half of the wear. An incredibly multi-faceted material that usually showcases green, earthy, sweet, boozy, and fruity facets. Here it helps to create the imagery of a fruit liqueur that was aged in agarwood barrels. And lastly, the tobacco. To my nose, it is the least prominent note although it does become a major player in the dry down. A quite simple note breakdown and choice of materials, however, due to their nature and quality they seem to create an endlessly more nuanced and multi-faceted blend that, in my opinion, puts all rose-oud perfumes to shame. Its evolution on the skin has two parts. The first half is dominated by this velvety, sweet red rose drenched in boozy plum liquor, old wooden chest smell, and leather sofas. In the second part of the perfume, the rose-liquor pair is consumed to allow the oud and tobacco duo to shine. In contrast to the complexity of the attar, the extrait unfolded mostly as an airy, mentholated rose with a turpentine oud. None of the boozy plum liquor, the tobacco, or the other two facets of the oud which I much prefer. Hence, if you are a fan of the extrait, I highly recommend that you get a sample of the attar. It feels richer, deeper, and endlessly more complex. And just when I thought this particular genre had nothing more to offer, I stumbled upon a new favorite. That is why I feel this hobby is a bottomless rabbit hole. I don't complain much though, as the journey is thoroughly enjoyable. IG:@memory.of.scents

(Review of the attar) Woowee!! Straight off the top, she is BOOzy! I’m also flooded with beautiful scents of hardwood... the delicate, citric white rose could not be given more jammy and plummy depth. Dark leather and earthy, slightly spicy tobacco soon begin creeping in. The tannic, dried fruit aromas of the davana here are heavenly... one might even say... Davine... Ahem. Wow. I’m not traditionally the biggest fan of oud-rose combos, owning a few but never wearing them, but this, as is always entailed of Agar Aura’s creations, is so much more. I don’t remember being particularly blown away by the extrait, but the attar is undoubtedly incredible. And I’m not even a big plum fan either! But there’s a dark, sweet sensuality to this that can’t be denied. Absolutely refined. Sillage moderate, longevity superb. Penetrates through clothing with ease. Becomes all the more stunning in the drydown. At $190/3g, it can easily be considered an awesome deal. Bravo, good sir!!!

Opening a vial of Layali extrait is like opening a bottle of liqueur. I’m immediately hit with a huge boozy note courtesy of the davana and oud combo. It’s sharp, medicinal and spicy. Fortunately for me, this slowly recedes, turning fruitier while the rose joins in adding a citric and almost green aspect. Taha really finessed this one, as that shift really starts to lift the composition bringing a really beautiful balance. As it wears on the davana and oud slowly fade to the background while the rose becomes more and more prominent. After several hours I mostly get a really lovely rose over a slight incensey oud. It’s here that the fragrance is its most simple and yet enjoyable to me. I’d say this is a top rose/oud maybe second only to Di Ser’s Kyara. If I didn’t have that one already, I’d definitely pick this up and might consider it still if only to stretch the Di Ser a bit longer. This one definitely begs to be worn in cooler weather though.

Some years ago I had tried the attar version of this perfume from Agar Aura. One of the best attars it was. It was dark, mysterious rose oud and more. I have not tried this spray version. And the ghaliya attar I had bought from Agar Aur was Aeria. You can't go wrong with Agar Aura. And Agar Aura attars are straight out of the Arabian nights. The man behind Agar Aura, Taha Syed bro, is very approachable and the most amazing man to do business with.

A great tobacco/Oud/leather parfum. Voto 10/10

Stunningly beautiful noirish take on the rose oud formula. The high quality real Turkish rose and Hindi oud oils are combined with extracts of davana, tobacco and other subtle leathery and woody notes to create a smoky sensual masculine scent that does not overpower but is still full of character and depth. The masculine leaning scent has moderate to strong projection and very good longevity. Sadly a bit overpriced. Enjoy!

I agree with Hippoponamus w.r.t. 'The opening is like opening a bottle of liqueur'. Very-alcohol-like. Not what I expected. The oud is like a mechanic working in a auto body shop. There is an undertone of petrol/gasoline, engine oil. Reminds me a lot of L'oudh by Tauer. Not something I would like to wear. I have tested A LOT of ouds and I like many, but this genre (Layali, L'oudh) is not for me mainly because of the opening-1/1.5 hours. Dry-down is beautiful dry-ish leather with natural sweet rose. Love that! But for the price, I would like the entire experience to be enjoyable. Eg. Yellow Kinam! Good projection (2 ft from a dabber sample) and great longevity.

Layali on me opened up briefly with rose and some strange note, maybe davana, but after that, it displays very strong saffron overlayed on top of dark brown woody oud. This combo works together to immitate leather, comparable to a synthetic leather note and saffraleine tandem. I dont sense tobacco/cigar note with its herbal, honeyed and a bit animalic tone, more so dark oud and saffron. Its not very good overall as a perfume as its a bit one dimensional, but if you really enjoy saffron - i dont know a perfume thats better than this one.