Ghroob

This perfume was love at first sniff. I'm not great at describing or identifying notes, but as soon as this went on my skin it became exquisitely smoky, sweet and woody with hints of incense. Bulgarian rose is my absolute favourite and I was astonished to find it as one of the notes in this perfume. I find comfort in this perfume, it's like a walking past a smouldering fire during the early autumn months in a woodland area. The smoke lingers in the air for a short while before settling down into a sweet, herbal, wood based fragrance. The longevity is 8+ hours and silage is very good too. I love wearing this oil and have received complements. A recent embrace with a long lost relative left me in no doubt as to how amazing this perfume is. She hugged me and whispered, 'ohh, you smell gorgeous'. Thanks to the wonderful Planet_X for gifting me a decant of this beautiful perfume.

This is a review for the oil version, not the spray. The notes here are slightly different to what's on Arabian Oud website. Notes from their website: TOP NOTES Oud, Saffron, Cinnamon, Orange Blossom HEART NOTES Jasmine, Gardenia, Bulgarian Rose BASE NOTES Sandal, White Amber, Cambodian Oud, Musk so I'm not sure where the note breakdown here came from, although it is very close to the original ones. This is one of the best representations of saffron in a perfume that I came across so far, saffron and mild non-skanky oud are all this perfume is about. There is a background of florals from orange blossom, jasmine, and very mild rose. It is quite creamy too from white amber, sandalwood, and white musk. to me, it is not cloying sweet, not too spicey, and not skanky or animalic. It is unisex and the oil version is real quality, not cheap either.

Ghroob opens strong, attacking my nose with sweet orange, smelling like home made (orange) marmalade flavoured lightly with cinnamon. It has a sticky, syrupy aura at first soon to turn to a darker, more mystique version of orange with hints of smoke, bitterness and light spices. This second phase is the true oriental aspect of Ghroob. Classy, almost royal, spicy orange with dusty flowery notes leading the way to the creamy, woody, smoky, ambery drydown that completes this long lasting and very enjoyable oriental journey. I don't smell oud in this concoction, at least not how I perceive it, especially after having recently tested many Ajmals. Only tamed mild woody notes supporting discreetly the florals. Ghroob lasts for more than 8 hours on my skin with persistent oriental sillage ! Very, very nice. 8/10

Oh, this is lovely! I bought a 1ml tester of the oil from ebay-I've been working my way through Al Rehab oils which are uniformly good, and this was offered by one of the Al-Rehab sellers. In the vial it smells very intense, and initially it is strongly medicinal and sort of metallic and cold and I was rather disappointed. But after about 15 minutes the warmth of the spice and the oud comes through. Its not spicy Christmas pudding spice, its soft and warm and cosy almost. There is a lovely floral background-the oud keeps it from being too feminine and overpowering, but its an elegant, slightly sweet and slightly rose combination. Not one note takes precedence, its all well balanced and smooth. It doesn't project far, but it lasts for hours-I only used one tiny drop of oil and it lasted 5 hours.

Orange blossom and saffron on top of musk. Aromatic cinnamon note as the backbone. I was at an Arabian Oud store and purchased this. I'd be hard pressed to say that this is an oudh fragrance but rather it is a refreshing and invigorating beautifully crafted perfume with excellent sillage. I purchased a small decant of Cambodian aged oud as well. I put the oud oil of my wrist then sprayed the Ghroob on top of it and I don't know how else to say it but holy $#!! People I'm not lying and I don't work for this company, this fragrance is just plain better than 90 percent of the western frags I've put my nose to and I've been into this for 35 years. In my opinion if you like fragrances this is a must have, it's pure art. Unfortunately no longevity so to speak.