Casbah

This is a review of the OG white label bottle. Disclaimer: This has been my signature for a decade now. And when i say signature, i don't mean a dumb reach, but instead the only scent i choose to wear when i want to "present" how i smell in formal events. If you watched the Netflix show "Dark", you would agree that this is the scent Noah would have been wearing when he was a priest. But of course, I'm not Noah :) My bottle (like all my other bottles) has been kept in a dark closet for 10 years now, away from heat and humidity. Wearing this scent is like making a pact with the devil. The devil in this case is an ashy incense drydown that endures showers, scrubbing after scrubbing after scrubbing, and you will still smell traces of it. You will need to make big decisions before committing to wear it as your scent of the day/night, because it's a long term contract. I've been in this hobby for 20 years now and i haven't encountered a scent that sticks and lingers on the skin for that long, period. And the 10 year maceration of my bottle probably made it even stronger. It's gothic, grey and dark. It will wear your soul, not just your skin. So, tread lightly. The opening greets you with a vivid explosion of herbal angelica and black pepper, which are quickly joined by a 3D dry tobacco accord. The tobacco smells "alive", as if it's a living entity slowly crawling on the skin. Underneath the top notes sits a very dark, bitter and almost animalic vetiver accord. I honestly haven't caught up on the animalic facets until after countless wearings. But of course, the director of the show is a cold ashy smoky frankincense. This is the main character. This is the devil you need to make a pact with. The one that overcomes showers and scrubbing after scrubbing after scrubbing after scrubbing after scrubbing. With that said, even if you love incense, i actually strongly advice not to blind buy this, because this might not actually be the incense you have in mind. Crazy to say right? Well let me explain. This is not your typical churchy incense. The frankincense here doesn't smell like the actual ceremony of burning frankincense, but rather the somber smell of the aftermath ashes that lingers till the next day after the ceremony. If you burn real frankincense resins at home like i do, you'll know exactly what i'm talking about. And by the way, despite its darkness, this is actually hands down my most complimented scent. What can i say, we're a match made in heaven/hell :) A masterfully blended dark magic in a bottle.

I am in AWE. I received my bottle and sprayed some on my wrist. I thought: "meh" and went on with my things. I would go back every 20 minutes and it got better but I still thought I had made a mistake by blind buying. HOWEVER, when I went back to it feeling disappointed, I decided to spray twice under my tshirt (close to my neck) so that I could get whiffs every time I would move and... OH LORD OF THE PERFUMES, I got bewitched. For hours and hours this scent exuded the best of several realms: On one hand the key to its wonderful aroma is the strong angelica note supported by classy incense and something nutty or ambery I cannot put my fingers on. It is the same angelica we find in say French Lover but here it is long lasting and stronger and the mix with warm counterparts makes it stand out in a glorious way. People here mention nutmeg and spices and they are definitely there but all the time in a supporting role, not letting the angelica go bitter...very well managed. Don't expect a spice bomb, everything is handled in a classy way. This is GREEN to me in a warm way as opposed to general green fresh and it works so well... it lasts for hours and hours with the incense getting more prominent until the angelica gets subtler and a gorgeous drydown of tobacco and something very earthy make it for a grand finale. I am truly shocked I found it dull on my wrist. Please folks give it a proper wearing as I did. This is a wonderful incense, 100% unisex, very different in its development from my beloved Avignon (Casbah is greener, warmer and exotic... nothing churchy here nor formal) and definitely SEXIER than all the incenses I have sampled. The warm/cold interplay I've mentioned is sublime, it is easy to wear and so well blended... Gorgeous!!

Cool, dry, classy incense - much, much lighter on the spices and honey/sweet notes than I was expecting, but none the worse for that. In the same ballpark as Comme des Garcons Kyoto, for instance, but a little more aloof and less rounded than that or the other CDG incense series; its other end drifts towards L'Artisan Dzonghkha territory, but with much less smoke and none of the "dusty old books" smell of Dzonghkha. It absolutely isn't as warm or sweet or delicious as Tauer Air du Desert Marocain: they are two completely different routes towards the same 'destination' of a delicious North African/Arab market smell. It's a particularly woody joss-stick sort of incense - nothing cloying, there are no sickly notes of fake-jasmine or fake-floral anything - but it may not be to everyone's taste. There's some definite angelica greennness in there too, a note of something almost green-grassy. I breathed a sigh of relief on trying my discounted blind-buy FB that it really did work for me, but skin chemistry *might* make this go rank on some and if you're ambivalent about incense you should certainly try out on skin before committing to this one. Projection's not huge, but it does waft about a bit (and got me some spontaneous compliments); longevity is ASTONISHING, lasting full day as skin scent even beyond (like into next morning) on textiles. So if you want a good-value, distinctive, high-class incense, consider giving this one a chance. To my mind Casbah is absolutely unisex, but some may find it too butch; it's not really one to wear with a floaty girly dress, for sure - though it could definitely set off something drop-dead sexy, on any gender.

CdG Incense Avignon is the fragrance that really pulled me deep into the world of perfumery, so it's natural for me to have a strong attraction to incense fragrances. I've been looking for an incense scent that would outweigh my first love, which I nowadays find too synthetic and linear. So far the best ones have been Heeley's Cardinal and this one - Piguet's Casbah. Cardinal is almost identical to Incense Avignon (but more nuanced, more natural), whereas Casbah is really one of it's kind and it's not trying to be like Avignon or any other scent I've tried so far. Casbah is unique. It's smoky, spicy, deep and it has "grown up" or somehow vintage feel to it. On my skin it feels enigmatic and sensual. Dry down is mellow and relaxing with the spiciness of nutmeg still keeping you awake. In my imaginary world there's a passionate, solitaire, modern and mysterious woman in the 1920s wearing a black men's suit, travelling to faraway countries, flirting with beautiful girls and boys and sneaking into empty catholic churches after a mass to contemplate in solitude. The imaginary woman smells like Casbah. I could also imagine Anna Calvi or Michelle Gurevich wearing this perfume. I believe that Germaine Cellier, who created the most iconic Piguet perfumes, would have appreciated this one. I am falling deeply in love with Casbah. After the honeymoon phase ends and my sample is gone, we'll see if this is the one I've been looking for.

The first time I've tried this fragrance it was late August, and I was hesitant to apply it to my skin, so I tested it on paper instead. It immediately struck me with its powerful, sacred aura. Casbah takes me to an ancient church, evoking a sense of timelessness and reverence, a place lost in the distant past, far removed from modern times. It projects intensely, like an incense that’s not just for any ordinary mass but one held for an extraordinarily significant event. The incense in ths is mineral-like and slightly cold, reminiscent of the weathered stone walls of old churches. It’s a scent that demands attention. On my skin, it’s even more striking. At first, a strong smoky element unsettles me, hinting at burnt woods, but as it develops, the overwhelming pepper intensity starts to mellow out, coming off as pure subtle freshness. Despite its initial, heady blast, the fragrance evolves into something beautifully complex and mesmerizing, with a delicate hint of enveloping tobacco that adds warmth and depth to the composition. It lingers for hours, so much so that 24 hours later, even after a shower, I can still detect a faint trace on my wrist. The longevity is unmatched.