Santal Wood

Señorlancetti’s review below is spot on - Santal Wood is "seriously kick ass" An opulent, lush, luxurious fragrance built around a magnificent Indian Sandalwood in the style of traditional Middle Eastern perfumery. Niche perfumery whose high quality is self-evident and reminiscent of the legendary Ensar Oud (although a lot more affordable). I have a few of Ajmal’s top shelf products, mostly ouds, and the quality is superlative. Santal Wood is a rich, multifaceted olfactory symphony of bewitching beauty. Santal Wood's presentation is magnificent - impressive, stylish and redolent of luxury: the black box has a textured finish that feels like leather, a gold plaque, and a gold metal edge running about 2cm from the bottom separates the upper part of the box from its base. Inside, enthroned on the lower part of the box, the chunky black glass bottle bears a gold plaque similar to the one on the box. My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings ... This certainly isn’t cheap tatty packaging: it is a declaration that this something very special. Opening the box feels like opening the sarcophagus of a Pharoah. Or like Howard Carter opening Tutankhamun's tomb. Carnarvon: Can you see anything? Carter: Yes. Wonderful things Santal Wood is indeed a fragrance worthy of a Pharoah. An intoxicating blend of the finest, most luxurious ingredients, that smells niche, expensive and luxurious - with a sublime dry down. This is a beautiful fragrance that is like a fusion of Middle Eastern and European perfumery and combines the best of both worlds. Being an Ajmal product there is a very high probability that it contains real oud (Ajmal's speciality) rather than an accord or the kind of synthetic oud that has become such a cliché nowadays. The oud in Santal Wood is rich and beautiful, resinous and smoky - I’m not certain but I suspect it’s Assam - Oud from aquilaria agallocha . Unfamiliar with the others in the W series, but to judge by the names (Incense Wood, Amber Wood, Hatkora Wood, Rose Wood, etc) there seems to be a recurring theme. Santal Wood is, as the name implies, a woody fragrance built around sandalwood. For anyone familiar with, and fond of, Middle Eastern style fragrances this would be a very safe blind buy. Everything about Santal Wood is of the highest quality, and it smells luxuriously wonderful. Even though it contains fewer unfamiliar notes than many Middle Eastern fragrances it might prove somewhat challenging to an uninitiated Western nose at first. The sandalwood however is truly sublime and persists throughout the many hours of its lifespan. Sandalwood connoisseurs will appreciate this beauty. Very important: After opening SHAKE thoroughly before applying - Santal Wood is unmistakably niche, insofar as its components are natural and of superlative quality - the heavier constituents of this fragrance seem to settle during transport or long periods of storage so you need give it a really good shake before applying. Although I generally give fragrances a thorough shake, I failed to do so after the unboxing yesterday. So this morning I reapplied Santal Wood after giving the bottle a vigorous shake - as if making James Bond a vodka martini - and it was like a different fragrance: the sandalwood was fuller, richer and much more noticeable and in light of the fact that Ajmal built its reputation on top quality, natural ingredients, the beauty of the now-more-intense sandalwood note leads me to suspect that the high percentage of essential oils in Santal Wood may have separated and, thanks to gravity, settled - therefore it was only after a thorough shake that the full, radiant beauty of this fragrance can be experienced. Supremely elegant, Santal Wood is a sophisticated, elegant Middle Eastern style Oriental starring a full-bodied Indian Sandalwood à la Mysore and a resinous oud in a symphony of exotic notes with remarkable longevity and is magnificent dry down. This is the scent of a sybarite connoisseur, a gentleman of style and substance who appreciates the finer things in life. The image of a sheikh or an emir comes to mind, or an Ottoman Pasha sipping mint tea in a blue-and-white tiled courtyard by a bubbling fountain. Update: As well as a Pasha, Emir or Sultan, this could just as easily be worn by a princess or a queen. A lady friend loves Santal Wood and reminded me that historically all fragrances were unisex - the tradition of florals for girls and woods for boys is like pink and blue, an arbitrary, man-made conceit. The beauty of this heavenly fragrance transcends such pedestrian conventions. Santal Wood is majestic - supremely majestic - and evokes a sense of majesty with a rich, complex beauty that accentuates the dignitas of anyone who wears it, man or woman. Update May 2022 Santal Wood is easily in my top ten all-time favourites, so regal and intoxicating it has become my favourite sandalwood. Every time I wear this I love it even more. In summary, Sandalwood is the star of the show here and persists through the dry down as the dominant theme. Santal Wood is not exactly a "soliflore" - it's more like a symphony that features an accompaniment of spices and florals, oud and patchouli - so beautifully blended that the impression I have is of a sensory mosaic comprising those facets of its constituents that compliment and enhance the sandalwood theme without each individual constituent being detectable. Ajmal is my favourite label in Middle Eastern perfumery and Santal Wood is so amazingly good that anyone who enjoys sandalwood will grow to love this treasure.

I enjoy the analogy of walking through a bazaar in India or Bangladesh with the aroma of natural body oils. You feel that you're on this mystical trip of unknown. I must admit, I had never heard of Santal Wood by Ajma. The fragrance is definitely foreign to North America. I was intrigued and delighted to see a company take the time to present this fragrance in a bottle that is so unique and beautiful. Now, the fragrance, when I first sprayed this juice on my skin I definitely picked up the warmth of sandalwood and oud with a definite floral base of rose. It's interesting, sometimes I'll pickup this spicy/balsamic vib which is coming from the cucin...the good thing it doesn't last too long. I absolutely love the aroma of sandalwood, it's at the same level of quality as some of these niche fragrance at a fraction of the price. I believe that North American and European companies needs to realize that people are no longer sticking to brands they know. Like food, you want to try something different. People including myself are looking at other companies that are producing these exotic aroma and are willing to be adventurous. This juice does not disappoint if you want to try something that has a decent range of wood notes mixed with rose vib. What I enjoy the most is that sandalwood stays for awhile instead of fading away. Longevity and Sillage is excellent- very high...well past 6hrs. This is perfect for the fall-winter month's. It's more for evening wear and not something you would wear when you get up and go to work. If you weren't impressed the first time you tried it, after awhile go back you'll likely feel different. 8.5/10

Dare I say the finest sandalwood based scent ever created? This is a superb masculine Oriental scent with the most natural sandalwood accord I have seen in modern perfumery having actually been in possession of a few ml of directly sourced Mysore sandalwood. The perfume opens with notes of caraway, marigold and cardamom before proceeding to a heart comprised of jasmine, rose, ginger and cedar and finally settling into a dense base of really nice sandalwood with hints of patchouli and oud. Beautifully blended with pronounced projection and sillage and very long lasting, this is one of the best kept secrets in modern perfumery. Track it down if you can, this is swoon worthy sandalwood. Enjoy!

This is what I have been looking for. To me it is as close to perfection as may be possible. I wore it for the first time on date night and noticed a lot of people were turning around to look. No compliments but a lot of looks. To me when you put this on you go straight into Alpha mode. This may not be the best choice for everyday wear or clubbing but it is a great choice for a person above 35 who impresses. For the top notes I get floral cinnamon and maybe mace. For the middle notes I get smoke, ginseng and floral. The base notes are sandalwood and oud. I will be getting another bottle of this while I can. To me this is way better than the really high-end offerings.

I was looking for a sandalwood fragrance to compliment my NY Bond No 9 Sandalwood. Where as Bond is like the city after which it was names, bold, brash and in your face, Ajmal Santal is in a class all by itself. I immediately detected both sandalwood and oud, with a hint of patchouli to lessen the sweetness of some of the floral notes. This is a boardroom executive fragrance, aloof, yet present, understated and classy and anything but in your face. A perfectly balanced statement is made with Sandalwood coming to the forefront. A wise, smart and safe buy, an investment, and something to which no one will object, but everyone will make note of it.

Santal Wood is for those who enjoy Middle Eastern-style perfumery. I find it moody and seductive, with prominent sandalwood and slightly animalic, but not barnyardy, oud. The rose, patchouli, and cumin play noticeable roles. It’s a great nighttime fragrance, as long as the night you’re planning isn’t boring.

OMG! Santal Man Wood!! Deep dark contemplative... nearly spiritual. I was looking for a sandalwood frag to compliment Envy, this is not it! Fire up the censars, this baby is prepared to lead the drumming! Yum, I feel like I just made love to a tree?

The best Sandal scent money can buy. Way better than Tom Ford or SL sandals. Very long lasting. Qr.500 for 100ml, the bottle and presentation are work of art.

There is an extremely heavy floral presence in this fragrance. In fact, many attar oils smell similar to this. Where Ajmal Santalwood excels in this grouping of fragrances is the complexity and dry down of the juice. The first few seconds are a very enjoyable fresh, fruity, sweet and unstable mix. Over the next few seconds, it begins to smell very attar-like: Spice, incense, wood. A bit of a "cheap" smell, but still pleasant. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, as if I've been away from nature for too long. Santalwood then mellows into a relaxing sandalwood with rose skin scent. It has a distinctive pollen note, which may be a multitude of flowers not listed. Overall, a good, safe scent. It doesn't have the strength to maintain its opening notes too well and complexity is fair, but short-lived. It is different, but not that different. Pleasing but not boring. It is the pleasant and reliable friend that is present in most outings. Perfect for going to the mall, parties, or a sporting adventure outdoors. Good for use in the office in small quantities. Image: A late afternoon stroll down the bazaar in the Indian quarter of the city. Tailors, sari shops, restaurants, and patissiers or "mithai" shops are lining the streets. A strange mix of miniature grandeur and crudeness. Expensive materials in somewhat shabby settings. Marble pillars and granite floors in a diner that serves average food on equally average dishes. Eventually, you reach the perfume shop, and see a great many oils and unknown brands on display. You see Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi, and Thai flags in the newspaper stack in the corner. You smell a wave of oud, sandalwood and rose as you walk in. Somewhat perplexing, but pleasing all the same. You drive back home with a grin, eager to wear the novel exotics you've purchased.

My second try from Ajmal after Amber Wood, Santal Wood is a nice, reasonably-bodied woody entry that has spicy, sharp, and sweet hints, with an underlying layer of rose that is exposed nicely as the fragrance dries down. It consists primarily of sandalwood and cedarwood with some interesting additives--most notably, cardamom providing spiciness, ginger providing sharpness, and rose providing, well, its signature florality. There are also wee hints of patchouli and oud, but even several hours into the wearing, these are not prominent. It's mainly a woody fragrance, though, still, though the rose, cardamom, and ginger all provide hints of interest that prevent it from being too safe. Still, there's something about that it that is rather generic and non-distinguishing. Despite Amber Wood seeming to be the recipient of more of the hype and love, though, Santal Wood seems to me to be the more well-rounded fragrance. $169 for 100ml (FragranceX, in North America) is nevertheless a bit high of an asking price, even on the secondary market, on account of Santal Wood feeling somewhat generic. Its utility is not to be denied by me, though. It makes for a very reliable cold weather day-and-night scent, leaning masculine slightly but kept unisex particularly by the rose. I quite like but probably wouldn't consider buying it at its price point--it feels more like something that should be well under $100. 7 out of 10

I smell rose and oud, the typical kind. In no way it resembles to Indian Sandalwood from Dunhill. But not bad at all,

#797 in my "Tour de Fragrance" Trying out a decant here. Last May, while visiting a friend in LA, we spent some time in the Le Labo shop in Marina del Rey. While it was disappointing that the sales staff literally knew nothing about their fragrances and suggested we could "look up the notes online," my friend, who is something of a fragrance hater, got to experience scents which she actually didn't hate, including "Santal 33." I really enjoy Santal 33, especially the iris note, and I enjoy Dunhill Signature "Indian Sandalwood" for its orris and moss notes. When I'm in a sandalwood mood those are the two I like, but I reach for L'Orchestre Piano Santal most often, and to my nose it's the best sandalwood focused scent I've found to date. Like Santal 33 and Indian Sandalwood it lacks a rose note. A rose note, when prominent in a sandalwood scent, just screams "grandma juice" to me. Think Dior's "Oud Ispahan", Fredric Malle's "Portait of a Lady" (a really old lady is my guess), Narciso Rodriguez' "For Her." There are scents with this combination where that isn't the case, like Xerjoff "Alexandria II", which I love. But there's a tipping point, and with this Ajmal scent the opening of rose, jasmine and marigold combined was initially really off-putting for me and I was ready to write this scent off completely. But twenty minutes in the rose either fades out or I became anosmic to it. Whichever the case, it dried down to something quite likeable and not as beastly as it first seemed. This scent has great longevity and projection, and once the rose goes away it's warm and comforting. But to my Western male nose this is too feminine for my taste, and while not grandma juice, definitely not for a young woman. Certainly not business wear or date wear for me, a cold weather scent I think, and I wouldn't inflict this on the car pool. For me this isn't bad but it will not be a bottle buy.

The way it feels on my nose is very strange. It opens with a lemony or citrusy oud, creating an ambiance a bit like fly and insect repellent. This initial scent is hard for me to tolerate. It becomes wearable after 15-20 minutes, but I don't think I'd want to spend money on this perfume. I might use it in my study for occasional therapy. It's definitely not suitable for blind buying. 6/10

This is a bit too incensey for me. It reminds me of ‘Blue Sapphire’ by Boadicea The Victorious, but not as good.

They ruined this with Cumin and if you think since its a top note it would take a back seat after a while you're wrong. This could have been a solid sandalwood go to for me considering the quality and performance overall. It just ruined it for me with that over powering Cumin note,

I love sandalwood, but I really hate this. I smell like a grandma. The opening is just a blast of jasmine. It smells powdery and floral, like a bar of women's soap. The only type of person I think this could work on is older ladies. In the dry down, you can detect a hint of wood if you really search for it, but it's still overwhelmingly floral and jasmine-dominant. This is absolutely NOT a woody fragrance at all. It's one of the worst fragrances I've tried.

Fragrance - Santal Wood Ajmal Bottle from - 2016 He's got that alluring and a bit passionate vibe going on. Santal Wood opens on my skin with a seductive,moderatly sweet and warm spices with dominant cardamom laying on top of a creamy sandalwood and with a wisper of a bit earthy patchouli lurking at the edges. During mid development,bouquet of flowers,with dominant rose,starts to emerge.At this point,in the middle,it is all about spicy flowers with a nice touch of woodiness and patchouli. This all leads into a well blended base with dominant sandalwood and oud and with the tender trace of patchouli and spices. Santal Wood has some similarities to Intoxicated By Kilian. Longevity - 10/10(11+ hours) Silage/Projection - 9/10(heavy projection and silage for the first 3-4 hours) Weather -best in autumn,winter and early spring. Age - 23+ Compliments - 9/10 Scent - 9/10 Main notes according to me - sandalwood,patchouli,cardamom,oud,rose,cumin. The drydown is a bit creamy and woody and I get some -sandalwood,patchouli,oud,spices and cedar. Emotions -passionate,alluring,intoxicated,seductive,love, romance,warm. Occasion -perfect for romantic evening,date,intimate nights and nights out. You'll get compliments with this one.

Hello everyone! I was looking for great perfume with Santal , because I do really like this smell and finally Ive found it. I mean - I was not testing a lot of different kind of perfumes which contains Santal , but in my mind and heart I knew what Im looking and when I was testing this one for a first time in a shop - I realise that this perfume is exactly what I need. This perfume you cant actually compare with Santal Majuscule by Serge Lutens. SM is much more subtle, much more elegant, much more light, soft and delicate; Santal Wood by Ajmal it is a smell of wisdom. its a smell of self-comprehension. Finally its smell of India with all its history : gurus, mahatmas, great people and so on. It is a deep, earthy, a bit of sweet perfume in the end. Actually I dont know how to describe it but If you want to touch a beauty of Santal - you have to try this perfume. This perfume not for those who are in confusion. This perfume for those, who are clear in their approach to life. Its not just a perfume, its way of living. Awesome perfume. Its all what can I say and its enough I guess.

It's a nice woody composition but i feel like it lacks some sweetness in it maybe some cinnamon or tonka in it, and the quality and perfomance are Good, but I enjoy the Drydown because it's the best part of this perfume, if you are not an Oud, Rose and Sandal wood fan then test this composition thoroghly before you commit because it's dominated mainly by these 3 notes. IMHO it's not blind buy worthy, but it's definately niche quality and it reminds me a bit of TF Oud wood at the first hour but the difference is that the santal wood has a Soapy vibe Going on and I don't detect much warm spiciness in this but i do detect the cardamom at a later stage and it's very well blended and Rounded. To conclude I would say that this scent is in the same vibe as bvlgari man black orient & TF Oud Wood, & if you do like those two you will definately like this too.

I'm wearing an attar/oil based version of this, and I have to say... it's a very smooth and creamy sandalwood, perfectly balanced. I get a very creamy sandalwood as if the oil is tempered by some very light powdery aspects.It's a really great experience. Not a harsh or blunt woody smell but a very soft, velvet like experience. Maybe if velvet or satin could have a smell this would be it. I get the musk (a soft, white musk) and the woods are working in tandem and in harmony with all the other notes, nothing jutting out harshly or overpowering. I don't know how applicable this experience is to the eau de parfum version of this, but it must be wonderful.