Thebes Grade 1

The moment I smelled Thebes I, I knew it was special. There are compositions that intrigue, those that you like, the ones you love, and a few that strike a certain chord, deep inside. Those are special. To me, it is a perfume of self-reflection. A composition of solitude. It feels cold and dry. There's a vague brightness at first from the aldehydes, and the muguet accord, even some sweetness from resins. But what dominates is this dry, dusty, worn leather accord, together with earthy vetiver and an orris almost chalky in texture. Sprinkled with a dash of animalic accords. I always picture this as the smell of a tomb, being inside a stone pyramid. Outside there's light and fresh air, but as you walk inside, darkness takes over. The stone is cold, the air is damp, the dust has gathered over the leather garments for centuries, and there's a lingering memory of the ceremonial rites that used to take place inside, sending shivers down your spine. A little treasure that I usually enjoy in private, contemplating... IG: @memory.of.scents

Thebes is a homage to Guerlain Djedi. To even attempt such a project is huge because Djedi (which I have tested the Thierry Wasser vintage reproduction of) is such a peculiar and mysterious scent. Djedi is the most atmospheric perfume I have ever smelled, and it doesn't project conventional seduction, on the contrary, it could be described as 'The beautiful dead'. To me, the greatest perfumes make you forget ingredients and composition... and take you elsewhere. Somehow, Sultan Pasha has captured this bizarre and forbidding atmosphere in his attar Thebes. The crisp spring morning opening with lily of the valley prominent to the sky, beautifully balanced with comforting but deep orris to the ground. The whole soon swathed in a strange, beautiful doom, as if visiting an Egyptian tomb, with a peaceful, ancient atmosphere that you have never experienced before. But it is delightful. The dry down is very complex and has, like Djedi, to me anyway, a really ancient leather slippers smell. Not that I have smelled any ancient slippers.

How I love this!!! It is the perfume version of Beethoven's In Questa Tomba Oscura <3

I have both Thebes grade 1 and 2 and will offer reviews of both. For those of you interested in this scent, I'd personally strongly advocate for choosing grade 1 - the two versions aren't sufficiently similar to make them interchangeable. Both Thebes' take inspiration from one of the fabled discontinued darlings of perfume history - Guerlain's Djedi. Sultan Pasha has stated that he was struck upon smelling Djedi by its solemnity, and Thebes, far from an attempt at a clone, is his tribute to Djedi and the way it made him feel. Personally, I didn't find Djedi sad at all, which might be why the teary-eyed melancholy of Thebes took me rather by surprise. Thebes grade 1 is, in my view, the best of the two versions. It's an animalic vetiver, thoroughly rooty and pungent, with a watery, animalic floral drifting in and out of its edges like a spectre. The animality isn't erotic, but rather reminds me of the deer that live in my local graveyard. If you can imagine scraps of fur left on a cold, wet stone surface over which ancient roots are clinging - this captures Thebes grade 1 very well. I'd recommend it for hardcore vetiver lovers but it lacks the soft, spicy warmth and subtle sweetness of my own Djedi sample. It doesn't have the cocooning, chypre-like quality of Djedi, and, in short, Thebes is not sufficiently similar to be a substitute to my nose (I say this as someone who loves many of Sultan Pasha's creations). As far as Djedoids go, I personally prefer Vero Profumo's Onda. Thebes grade 2 is somewhat more animalic and much MUCH less solemn than grade 1. Its animalic notes are more prickly, and the vetiver less smooth. It is drier, dustier, but also somehow deeper and darker than grade 1 - it has a note of ancient library that emerges in the mid and lends a quiet woodiness to the scent. In reference to grade 1, imagining that scrap of fur on stone again, but this time the entire graveyard has been punished by a century-long drought and all the elements are crumbling into a fine dust. I personally find it more challenging than grade 1, and I prefer 1 overall. Both are well worth a try for people who like unsweetened, dry woody scents. For a purer vetiver experience try 1, for a more dry animalic try 2.

Another nice pleasant attar. Floral amber but also leaning towards a green attar. Overall very nice indeed and lasted 7 hours on my skin before starting to really fade but once again these attars have no sillage and its a shame. I am on 9 out of 29 of the sample pack and there’s only one so far i didnt really like but i just couldn’t bring myself to pay sultans prices with the current sillage of these attars.