Spirit Of Arabia

Breathtaking resinous, smokey, spicy oud. The saffron is a co-star here with strong supporting performances from vetiver and olibanum. The smoke is complex and incensey: driven by the birch, resins, tobacco and guaiac wood. At times, there are animalic and camphorous notes that rise above the blend. Longevity is considerable and projection is moderate. Elixir Attar does tobacco scents as well as any house you will find, and this talent is on display here along with deft handling of natural oud and traditional saffron notes. It is all very nice, as is the wooden box in which my somewhat nondescript 15 ML bottle arrived. The metal faceplate on the bottle and the atomizer are both of fine quality. Recommended for oud fans and a great way to support a fine indie house and get a great fragrance in the bargain.

Starts out with strong woods, incense, and even some slight camphor notes to my nose. It's only after some dry down that I begin to pickup some softer notes of saffron and the florals. It definitely is true to its name as this seems like a good idea of what Arabia would smell like, at least in a perfume sense. Great blending and great ingredients, as I would expect. Edit: I'll need to give this several more wears, on my second I was getting much more of an animalic note from something that I didn't detect at all before if I smell it right from my skin. As long as I don't get super close to where I applied it I don't get that animalic note so in the air it's great.

Cool weather or summer nights. The notes play off each other nicely while the smoky and earthy notes are prominent to my nose. Very nice.

A resinous deep and dark, slightly dirty woody opening, with a touch of animalics. Some subtle warm but dark spice, coming from the saffron infusing with the Oud and other woods. Wafts of gentle luban/incense, with a touch of resinous sweetness from the beeswax. As the scent develops into the heart, the spicy nature of the composition intensifies, with the woods and the Oud taking a backing step, the saffron now is full blooded, and the warm spiciness of the scent is increased with the addition of tobacco. It gives a slightly gourmand feel for me, like spicy food not sweet vanillic gourmond, it reminds me of spicy foods or walking through a spice market/souks. The scent transports you to a different location and culture. As the scent dries down, the resinous woods from the opening become drier and slightly dusty, with a touch of very dry earthy and rooty vetiver. Longevity is around 10 hours with strong projection for the first 4 hours after which it's a moderate skin scent. Overall rating of 4.5/5, and excellent attar with a ton of complexities. You can check out my video review on my YouTube channel: Handsome Smells