Basmati Rose

UTTERLY intoxicating!!! This, Shirin Chai and Chypre Chrysantheme have completely blown me away. It's always a roll of the dice on an artisanal house but Sultan Pasha has amazed me with this sample set so far (and I'm only halfway through). If you're a fragrance nerd you simply must try these perfumes. Basmati Rose and Shirin Chai have both shocked me in that they really do smell like the thing they purport to - The former really does smell like basmati rice + rose and the latter really does smell like tea + rose, and together are probably among the best rose scents I've smelled so far from any house. It might be because my Dad is of north Indian descent, but I have very specific associations with both rice and tea growing up which most fragrances miss, but these smell exactly like the kinds he would prepare, but with an extremely soft and well-judged rose note to add a laced, billowing edge. In Basmati Rose I get an overarching basmati rice note but there's a lot of softly milled woods, soft spices and resins going on underneath. In brief glints it actually recalls the mood (though not quite the scent) of L'Artisan's discontinued Safran Troublant. This is earth-movingly beautiful (along with the two I mentioned above) and would be appropriate anytime, anyplace, for anyone.

I just received this in a trade and wow, am I floored. This is a true gourmand, the basmati comes out swinging, but rather than being edible it becomes something else, some type of chewy amber. I have a couple of commercial attars and they are nice, but this is truly on some niche wizard vibe. Thankfully the incredibly strong basmati note morphs pretty quickly and I start to pick up the stars of the show, rose, amber and styrax. The other supporting players are no doubt there, but they’re in the chorus. This is dense, heady stuff and I can feel the quality of it, it’s rich. The only disappointment with this attar is that I can apply it before bed and when I awake the next morning it’s a ghost, imperceptible. I might catch the faintest smoldering rose on the sheets but that’s it. Based on the scent profile I imagined there would be a musky, ambery base left behind, something that might have left it’s imprint on everything it touches but it just vanishes. So looking forward to trying out other fragrances by Sultan, but I am cautious because the price of admission is steep and I really want the show to last longer. 8/10

Spicy floral musk. Besides the photorealistic basmati rice opening, this smells of home and intimacy. Not sexual, but the warm smell of people you love and cooking. A similar feeling to Francesca Bianchi's Under My Skin, but softer. Rose weaves in and out of the spices beautifully. There is an undercurrent of animalics that provides warmth. This might be my favorite from Sultan Pasha.

this is so good: strong basmati rice (that lasts on clothes) over honeyed woods. i barely smell the rose or anything else in this composition. it just smells really *good* and comforting (and obviously well made.) very happy i own this.

Another utterly stunning scent. Sandalwood-rice accord alongside a gorgeous rose. The rice slowly dminishes and the sandalwood ramps up and works well with the rose. Stunning.