Emperor Hind

A true Oriental perfume composition. Every corner of it, each turn, and sight is saturated with Oriental elements, making it a conveying experience. Exotic spices, florals, Indian Oud, Indian Sandalwood, ambergris, and plenty of musks. The entire perfume is saturated in them, as if they poured their best efforts into making this, as most fans of the house would agree. Greeting the wearer with a fleeting burst of citruses and spices, warm and succulent, shortly before the lush florals enter the stage. I have to say, after several years, the citrus notes in the opening have been pushed back by the ambergris, which is now probably the major player here, next to the oud, making its presence known as soon as you spray the perfume. Following the opening burst the florals sing a most beautiful Oriental song. Champaca and jasmine are the main floral elements, the rose barely supports them, which I love as there are already so many rose-drenched Oriental blends. The champaca-jasmine duo brings a different flavor to an overdone genre. The heavy base pushes the entire composition of the skin and provides the core built of it. Indian Oud with some leathery, hay, medicinal, and barnyard facets, Indian sandalwood to tame the oud a bit, plenty of musks, and the most gorgeous ambergris to drench everything in. The ambergris is so potent that it feels like they used ambergris tincture for the carrier. They might very well have, I don't know, but it smells that way. That and the use of choya nakh provide an oceanic saltiness to the blend, while the ambergris teams up with the other animalics to render the desired animalistic quality. It might sound like a beast of perfume and a rough one at that, but it is not. And that's the brilliance of it. Somehow, the darker tones are perfectly balanced by the lighter ones, and every rough edge is smoothed out by its counterpart. Hence, it comes together as a perfect, true Oriental melange of very high complexity, managing to mix the most sought-after flavors of the Indian tradition. A perfume fit for a Maharaja. IG:@memory.of.scents

Ever Since their first release in 2019, Dix&Zak have always left me in awe with every new release. Emperor Hind is the 4th and the last release of 2019 and Once again, there is no stone that has been left unturned here. The Opening has heavy dose of osmanthus over florals (rose and jasmine) with fine line of citrus and Hindi oud in the background. However, It doesn’t have any fermentation note, something that Hindi ouds are known for, which means... no Barnyard stuff. At around 5-10 minutes mark, Chamapca starts coming out, blending itself into the other florals. EH have phenomenal transitional phases, with lots of variations going on. Floral, smokey, vintage leathery, oceanic, animalic, it’s all in here. By the dry down phase, citruses have almost dissipated and florals except champaca takes the back seat. It reminds me of my Attar “Choya Nakh Sandali” which along with ambergris creates oceanic-muddy (fishy) smokiness. For those who don’t know, Choya Nakh Sandali is the dry distillation of onycha shells on the base of sandalwood. This is one of the most unique ingredients that has been used In here. Something that we don’t hear about or smell that often and I get heavy Impression of it in the dry down. Hay and earthy notes from oud-chouli combo, Leathery undertones of amber fossil and spicy incense notes of Luban remind me of a very old church like ambience, something I get from war and peace by Areej Le Dore. EH creates an aura of sophistication and class, one of their best releases which for me, stands on the same podium as Charbagh. These two are going to become their landmarks in coming years (they have already, I would say). Congratulations to the ones who got their hands on the bottle. Let it age guys and see how that ambergris blooms.

Got my bottle today ,very Areej le dore feel to the whole composition, surely for mature noses as its too complex for an average punter ! If i was blind testing it i would take that name for sure..as it reminds me of Siberian Summer opening maybe due to the musky camphorous feel to it Do not buy blind if you want the crowd pleasing scent as this is for refined and experienced mature noses indeed ( in a good way )! Lets see how this develops though first up what you notice is the quality of blending with no rough edges very smooth , musky sweet beginning, i saw some online reviews and they talked about an ambergris feel in the dry down and i will wait for this to develop and see how that comes into play 10/10 in my book !

Got my bottle today and couldnt wait for it to settle off the road. Did 1 spray to the arm and Bam! This is real eastern perfumery. Oud is right up front and in your face: raw, animalic, full of nuances. Masculine. Instead of breaking down notes, i would rather give direction and what it is similar to: Oud palao, Uncompromising sohan and a bit of Leather oud by dior. But if those are synthetic, this tiger is natural. And i was thinking of picking up Sohan, but glad i got this gem. Too early to say about longevity, and how crazy or quiet silage is, but minor complain i have, i wish opening note lasted longer. It is thaaat good. After about 45 mins perfume shifts, smooths out with rest of notes.

Brilliant bright complex artisanal Hindi. Better than ALD and Bort in some ways.