Lion of Judah

Ein Gedi (and The New Jerusalem, a similar kind of company) is quite an interesting "house." They put themselves out there as purveyors of holy anointing oils, products which are ostensibly used prior to prayer and ritual but in reality mostly just collect dust on Israeli tourist gift shops. Compounding this is the biblical prohibition on recreating certain recipes that these kinds of brands sell, which reveals perhaps a more evangelical approach to this strange sector of perfumery which doesn't get much attention. Regardless of all that, I am just going to consider Ein Gedi to be on a similar playing field as brands such as Al-Rehab and just go from there. Lion of Judah sports a stunningly campy bottle which was the main reason for the blind buy. As far as the smell goes, I'm reminded mostly of the original, classic Acqua di Gio in the opening, Terre d'Hermes in the mid, and a unique base of "anointing oil" with a distinctly olive oil-like accord. There's also a Cool Water-esque dihydromyrcenol/methyl octine carbonate violet leaf accord that fades in and out, never quite making itself the standout player but allowing the fresh waves of aquatic, citrusy and floral notes to take center stage. The base turns mossy, musky, oily and a bit fatty, like raw soap before milling, and this is my favorite part. At this stage the fragrance really does take on a mystical "holy" exotic feeling, very unique and satisfying. Because this is an unknown Israeli brand, there is not a chance they are following IFRA regulations and thus the amounts of methyl octine carbonate and real oakmoss are far more than you will get in any western designer fragrance. Performance is moderate, lasting about 6 hours and projecting about an arms length for the majority of the duration. I have not tried anything else from this brand and probably will have no desire to, but I do enjoy Lion of Judah and will definitely be wearing it a lot throughout the warmer days of the year. 2025 Update: With all of that being said, I have a much more succinct review. This is very much in the vein of Acqua di Gio and Versace Pour Homme, leaning more to the Versace Pour Homme side, but with a distinctly soapy, aromatic olive oily kick to it. Very hesperidic and "light blue," perhaps a hologram of many similar mediterranean light blue citrus aromatic fragrances. Anne Flipo discusses that a specific olive or olive oil accord is responsible for her love for Paco Rabanne Invictus, and to be fair I don't smell it there, but there is for sure a distinct, pungeant, olive oil feel throughout the life of this fragrance which makes it fantasically unique among this style. Longevity is perfect as a daytime active wear/gym/ sport fragrance, leaving only a soapy afterglow by the time you want to wear something more suited to the evening. Great juice! Bottle is not the best quality.

Purchased while in Israel; lovely, just lovely! Aquatic, soft, tart, yet slightly sweet and fresh with a touch of citrus.... Nice fragrance, reminds me of a designer brand - Acqua di Gio.

Israeli scent bought from Hasnanaish hideaway Goldstein