United Arab Emirates Spirit Of The Union

The initial spray immediately transported me back to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Roja (Roger) has masterfully captured the smell of the Emirates here with the Taif Rose/Rose de Mai, benzoin, incense and woody notes. My first impression was that I had literally died and gone to Heaven, the opening is to die for and I wish it would last forever! This is one of the best blends that I have ever smelled. The first day of wearing, I headed to the local post office and the woman (who was sat behind a glass counter) asked me what I was wearing and said, "It smells reeeeaaaaly nice!" Projection is strong for the first few hours and then it settles down. It is not a beast but gives around 8-10 hours longevity on my skin (which is good for my skin), on clothing it will last a few days and stay close to the clothing. As with many Roja fragrances, the "Aoud" construction is a misnomer. This is all about rose, benzoin, and citrus. The woody notes shine through later on, but the oud is minuscule. I think the benzoin is missed by many people, but being someone who burns benzoin and oud almost every day, I can detect it clearly. It is not animalic whatsoever and the rose lasts all the through. The artemisia (wormwood) used by the Arabs in tea, gives it a lovely herbal, dry smell of the desert. This is easily a 10/10 fragrance for me and an easy blind buy. Now the dilemma... At £425 for 50ml it becomes a hard sell because I want to spray every inch of my body and clothing in it because it is so good. It is double the price of the most expensive MFK and quadruple the price of an Amouage. If money is no object to you, then by all means, go ahead and buy it. If it is, then try it at least once in your life.

I've never got round to making a review on a fragrance (laziness) but have finally felt compelled to do so for Roja Dove's UAE. This is by far my most adored fragrance and definitely the best of all the Rose/Oud combos. I don't think I've ever smelt a perfume where I'm able to pick out 5 notes right off the bat - oud, rose, incense, blueberry, civet. It's an absolute master piece, extremely well blended. It's through this fragrance that I can really see why Roja is a true master. I have both versions of this and I can confirm that they are exactly the same. Depending on the temperature you wear this at, the civet note is quite poignant but not offensive. This to me, encapsulates the middle east in a bottle. I've tried the other middle east perfumes and they just don't do it for me. It's all about UAE! While it is priced very highly, in my view it's worth it for the quality and complexity.

The opulence of UAE really blew me away. I was expecting some strong shot, but not to this point. I was intrigued to smell it as I was curious to check whether all major reviews celebrating an ubiquitous rose/Oud combo were right. And they are! I have tried many rose/Oud compositions, both from designers and artistic/niche houses, but no one is as outstanding as this one. Rose, Oud and incense are prominent and keep showing off throughout the journey. The blending is superb. As soon as I sprayed it, I was overwhelmed by this “metallic” rose (was about to compare it to Opus X, but it immediately steered to other territories, helped by Oud, Incense, spices, benzoin) . It screamed from my skin for 12 hours, then toned down to a dusty base of moss and musk, with the rose lurking from underneath.... Exceptional masterpiece soon in my collection

I was reluctant to get this bottle as I thought it was "just another rose/oud" of which I ́m kind of fed up with. Boy, was I in for a surprise!!! Yes it ́s a rose/oud, but so much more and totally in a league of its own. The taif is so crisp, the oud so gentle, then there ́s the black currant, incense and benzoin, not to mention the civet! The latter does not appear until the drydown and is such a pleasant surprise, so cleverly done. It generated compliments en masse, "everybody" wants to know what I ́m wearing. Choosing my scent of the day can be quite an issue, this one is hard to pass. For me this one is on the top shelf among my 160 bottles of niche perfume. Warm, comforting, still ultra elegant and classy! Works in cold as well as warm weather, a definite winner.

Roja Dove makes an incredible rose/oud combo. In the cold, this is all glorious, rose with an abstracting oud note. If you add heat, benzoin, the animal smells (civet), and incense peak through. A perfume highly sensitive to heat but not in a destructive way--this perfume does not burn off as others do, which is a sort of unusual feature. With this perfume when the temperature changes you are given a window into another set of notes previously buried and that, when the temperature changes back, you will turn back to the first set of notes you discovered without any loss of intensity or complexity. A delight!