Musk Sultan

Sultan is a noble title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and Musk Sultan deserves all of those titles. Absolutely. I just blindly bought Musk Sultan, since I was looking for its bros Wild Oud and Black Oud and I stumbled into it, the price was a bargain for an EDP, so I decided to add it to the order. What do I smell... Whoa! Yeah, Musk Sultan first spray is like a big whoa! At the time of writing this review I have nearly 391 men's colognes in my wardrobe, and believe me, none of them smells anything like this. It is a rose-musk-based scent, though it has nothing in common with the rose in oud-centric scents or the musk in violet-centric ones. Here there is a conflict between rose and musk, the light, delicate, and innocent rose is darkened by the warm musk. There are several variations on this conflict, one being the battle between the two of them, with one side Good having the rose as an Heart of Innocence, the other side Evil having the musk as an Heart of Darkness. But, the battle ends with a win-win result, the two of them are glorious. That being said, Musk Sultan opens with a touch of crisp citrus that does not overpower and a blast of white floral accord, I would hazard grapefruit peel and freesia. Freesia is an amazing flower with light properties, think of it as very fresh. The light floral aura remains as the rose comes gently forward. This rose is lush and of the deepest red you have ever seen. Do you know these dark red roses that seem to have a black shadow on their petals? That kind of rose. But the perfume has also lucid moments that are sitting like dew drops on the petals, filtering the light. I might be wrong, but from time to time I get a blow of violet note very similar to that used in Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel, they have the same vibe. Then comes the “animalistic” quality: something musky and earthy emerges, but the rose scent remains. The result is a complex, textured scent, first light then dark. I get both musk and moss, which add a masculine touch to the rose and the tart dry down develops perfectly on men’s skin. There is something resinous going on, I would bet cistus or labdanum. This is a wonderfully sophisticated scent. It reads clearly as a floral and a luxurious one yet isn’t especially heavy or dark. Not one of those rich roses suitable only for evening. The musk is gentle and sparing, and far in the background. All other notes play a supporting role to the rose. Ultimately, Musk Sultan is mysterious and dark like the atmosphere of a Benedictine abbey, maybe you remember the atmosphere in the film The Name of the Rose – mysterious and scary. You can feel the heavy wood of the library, the cold shadows in the old masonry and from the garden through a small window a sudden ray of light with the smell of a single dark rose underneath the window. It comes in EDP format, which is lovely for autumn/winter, I imagine it a bit cloying for warmer sprint and summer, but I will dare and try it. About performance, I've been wearing it since this morning, it is still there and I do catch it whenever I move around. I seem it deserve 10 out of 10.

On me this is a very soft, fresh milky, slightly sweet, cool musk fragrance that I imagine smells similar to what a deer laying in wet grass might smell like. I highly recommend this as a layering must have since it works well with almost all dna's to give it a soft, fresh musk aspect. So far I've layered this with Goutal rose pompon, Guerlain Petite Robe Noir Black Perfecto, Armaf Club Nuite Intense, Serge Lutens La Dompteuse Encagee, Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia, and Ellie Saab Le Parfum and it's layered beautifully with all of them.

I stumbled upon this on Fragancenet, and decided to blind buy based on the reviews here, since it was less than 30 usd. It's a musk bomb! I find it slightly soapy... It's clean, but there is something about musk this strong that also suggests "skanky"... Is that possible? Great on it's own, but it would also be great for layering. Good performance, it lasted about 8 hours before I reapplied.

Impressive musky parfume and it lasts 12hrs with no problem.....sadly it is hard to purchase because only available at BeatyBase shops in the UK.

Musk Sultan is a high quality fragrance. It's for Musk lovers. Its opening is powerful. It hits you with Musk and some florals. The mid is challenging. The smell is somewhat medicinal and almost harsh but there is a depth and complexity that I don't understand but is mysterious and keeps me back for more. It's nice. Not an easy smell. No. This is for for a sultan. It commends respect . It's a bit rough but you want more. It has majesty. The Sultan is good. He's strong, powerful and you can't get to close but he's nice and warm. And you discover it in the drydown which is warm and lightly sweet. It reminds me a bit of White musk by The Body shop but where that one is tamed , linear and weak, Musk Sultan is strong and deep. Sillage and longevity are what one should expect from a musk : average to low the longevity is good. 6 hours as a strong skin scent. Scent : 9 Longevity: 7 Sillage : 5 Projection : 5

Who put some vintage Kouros in a basic rose scent?