Kobraa

#766 in my "Tour de Fragrance" Another user asked my opinion of Maison Alhambra Malachite as a clone of either Le Gemme Kobraa or Humbert God of Fire, and I had planned to buy Malachite to check it out, so I've done so with sprayettes of Kobraa and God of Fire from FragranceLine. Given that I wasted $300 on Tygar last year (I know that's not a widely held opinion) I was not about to spend $300+ for Kobraa, another "Le Gemme", only to find it isn't. Well it is a gem, no doubt about it. But like many gems, not cheap. The geranium, oilbanum and oud are a nice simple combo, but with a potent opening you should just ignore. It has a calm, silky dry down that makes it fine for car pool, elevator, small office. This isn't so oudy that it will annoy anyone. Now on to the controversy with the crowds out there insisting Maison Alhambra's Malachite is a clone of Kobraa and those insisting it's a clone God of Fire. It's closer to God of Fire, but not a clone of either. You can get samples of both from FragrancesLine, compare them to Malachite, which you should absolutely buy, and smell for yourself. The openings of Kobraa and Malachite are close enough I wasn't sure if I was imagining a difference or not. But there's definitely a difference in the openings you will notice but could talk yourself into ignoring. Not so five minutes later. That's when the fruitiness of the Malachite comes out, which is why the "God of Fire" guys are sweating with excitement. But it's citrus and currants, not mangoes and berries. GOF is a touch more tropical than Malachite and I do like it a tad bit better than Kobraa or Malachite. One caveat here is that simple formula wood-focused scents like Kobraa will always outlast complex, more fruit-focused scents like God of Fire and Malachite. The molecular nature of fruit scents provides strong initial projection that disappears relatively soon in the evolution of the scent on our skin. The lemon, tangerine, grapefruit, mango, pineapple, currants, berries, all ephemeral. Woods last all day long. So Kobraa will get through the work day. God of Fire and Malachite barely make it to lunch. I find having to respray midday annoying and often utterly inconvenient if not impossible. It's why I abandoned Colognes and Eau de Toilettes and seldom buy them no matter how much I like them. That said guys, the Malachite is dirt cheap at $23 and close enough to Kobraa and God of Fire to make fans of both happy, and using more Malachite applied more often is not the financial tragedy it is with a $750 bottle of Maison Francis Kirkdjian. So I'm glad I bought a bottle of Malachite instead of dropping the price of a car payment for full bottles of Kobraa or God of Fire. My recommendation is just get the Malachite and be happy. And I will repeat all this in a separate reviews on the Malachite and God of Fire pages. But if you're one of the fortunate few for whom cost is no consideration, I'd get the Kobraa. And if you really don't care, all three.

H.L Menken said; "“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” Those days, I reach for Bvlgari Kobraa. In a sea of sweet bublegum, airy Florals, sweet fruity frags, Kobraa is an Island of amazing, masculine, sharp resinous wood. I absolutely love this Frag. I remember my reaction when I first smelled it. My face recoiled like I inhaled smelling salts. When you used to sweet you grow to expect something sweet or airy. Suddenly you get hit with a deep resinous note - you are shocked. My 20-something nephew was having a ball smelling my collection.... Flaminco- "mmm so good", JPG Elixer - 'thats soo good" and so on with the sweets.....then he got a spray of Kobraa and he nearly jumped back; face crooked. What does it smell like---Pine trees will release a thick, sticky, flammable resin when they get injured. Oudoorsmen use that sap as a firestarter. Kobraa smells like this fresh resin. Its green and pine tree woody. No sweetness at all. It lasts a good 4-6hrs and has moderate projection(which is actually great for this scent profile). This is something you wear for you. Its top3 in my collection. Its a 12/10. Its really the contrast that gets you.....how can something be dark and resinous and also but also refreshing ? Not for everyone...but its for me.

The only reason this fragrance isn’t stealing the show is because its “furball sibling” somehow charms the crowd with its feline antics. But make no mistake, the real alpha of the jungle is Kobraa (with a double "a" for maximum alpha energy). I can appreciate the merits of Tygar, and I tip my hat to its clone, Turathi Blue (shoutout to Afnan for that "gem"). Still, Kobraa operates on a whole different level. Sure, the scent profile is relatively simple, but its genius lies in making a notoriously tricky note - frankincense - surprisingly wearable. Paired with geranium, it achieves a sweet, smoky incense accord that's versatile enough for all seasons. Just remember to dial back the sprays during a heatwave unless you want to fumigate your audience. Performance? Absolutely stellar, 10+ hours. It’s has a good projection, enveloping you in a scent bubble that is equal to Tygar's. Unfortunately, it also mirrors Tygar’s price tag, which, while reflective of its quality, still feels steep. Thankfully, I managed to snag a smaller bottle at a reasonable price, or I’d never have had the pleasure of meeting this hypnotic serpent.

I don't know why but I feel that my understanding of this is quite different: different from the official notes and other reviews. The bottle I have is 30 ml from an airline set. This scent is very strong on PATCHOULI! It is patchouli together with something slightly sweet, maybe that is geranium? I don't know the smell of geranium though -- the plants my mother grows barely smell (but leaves, when touched, smell metallic and unpleasant -- the only plant or flower I've seen with such reversed smell between blossoms and leaves). I can compare with patchouli because I have the small bottle of pure/chocolaty patchouli (as it smells to me) by The Merchant Of Venice. I just sprayed this after Kobraa and there is no doubt. Anyway, the missing prominent patchouli note aside, it smells interesting. Too strong on my hand -- well, just spray a little then -- but much better on my shirt, the shirt tones down the strong patchouli. But where is oud and where is olibanum/frankincense? I wish they were there, it would be even better then.

First thing to say is that the bottle looks beautiful, it does capture and reflect the smell perfectly. A green scent, this is fresh/spicy with incense and oud. Blended really well as expected, it does remind me of Nuit De Feu but this one is definitely fresher and more spicy, not as skanky, not redundant to own both, they are similar but also very different, each one has it's uniqueness. Really strange and a unique scent, you'll stand out wearing this and i'm sure people will find it interesting, this isn't your typical mass appeal fragrance, very niche like in my opinion. Lasts really long on me around 10 hours with decent projection for the first hour then it stays closer to skin but you'll definitely get whiffs of it from walking or moving around. Can easily be worn all year round except really hot days. Not a safe blind buy tho, i'm sure some people will not like this but it's worth trying/sampling if you can do so. This gets 10/10 from me.