Zafar

I purchased the Oud Stars Discovery Set, and was impressed with all 6 entries. I cannot understand how most of the fragrances included have such low ratings and bad reviews. As a few others in the collection are similar enough to fragrances I already own, I went with Zafar as the full-bottle choice. I see a lot of the typical "barnyard" oud comparisons, and in the first few minutes, Zafar does present some of that. It has a rich, damp, woody smell. You can certainly detect some hay, some fecal elements, again a damp barn of old, dilapidated wood from a bygone era, kept in check only by the smokiness of the incense, pepper, and a splash of cedar. But 20 minutes in, this is a woody fragrance of pure class. The reason I bought it is the cedar. Growing up, I encountered a few old clothing trunks. They were in rough shape, but closer to their time of creation they look to have been top shelf. The lids were domed, the inside of the lid lined with laid-in artistic prints of socialites and aristocrats from many generations ago, enjoying the luxury they were fortunate enough to be ensconced in. The walls of the trunk were constructed of cedar planks to protect the clothing inside from moths, a problem most of us have not experienced in modern times. The oils contained in the cedar may have been for that specific purpose, but that did not mean their oils could not instill bliss every time a garment was retrieved from the trunk. What does Zafar bring to the table in that regard? The cedar is strong, fresh, and neverending. The 200-year-old planks in the trunk have long lost the bite and impact of fresh cedar, but walking through a lumber yard with, yet again, damp, fresh bundles of cedar planks can recreate this quite well. And so can Zafar. But Zafar's inclusion of high-quality oud to the trunk walls may very well be a recreation of what it was like to be an aristocrat that adorned the meticulously-crafted pinnacles of those sartorial fortresses. A heavenly scent.

Zafar will forever be the scent of summer 2018. Some fragrances have the potential to mark you with their character in such a way that you become aware that your existence has been in some way shaped by their encounter. Zafar is one such fragrance to me. Working in Selfridges over the summer, opposite the Xerjoff counter, I spent most of my breaks exploring their line, but I always found myself coming back to Zafar. Zafar, meaning "victory" in Arabic, is a triumph in Oud. Every accord of this perfume is built in such a way as to highlight the complexity of real Oud, rather than take away from or simplify this material as often frustratingly occurs (especially in the rare cases where a natural quality of Oud is employed)! In the opening, Zafar greets your nose with a rich sour accord with hints of green hazelnuts, black olives (castoreum) and a cow manure-real oud. Personally I find this moment exceptionally beautiful and to my own surprise, utterly mouth-watering! Soon the incense and black pepper rise with both natural and synthetic qualities of cedarwood and vetiver along with the warm and enveloping cashmeran. The effect is powerful, animalic, triumphant, with the scent of Oud at the forefront from top to drydown - each and every other material serves the purpose of framing the Oud. Surprisingly, for such an impactful opening, Zafar settles very quickly on skin and is but a faint memory after the 6 hour mark, but I find this beautiful and reassuring - how such a presence can successfully avoid becoming obnoxious, this is a lesson! I would add that any technical approach to increasing "performance" would have diluted the art of this perfume. This perfume opened my eyes to the potential of Oud and given me the fervent desire to explore the language and culture of Middle Eastern perfumery. I now understand how a whole scent culture can revolve around one raw material. Chapeau bas to Laura Santander: truly sensational!

Black pepper is the dominant note here. It was not what I expected, but I was looking for a very spicy/ peppery fragrance a while ago. This is it for me. More recently I was looking to get a few genuine Oud fragrances. I heard Zafar was the oudiest of the Xerjoffs. I thought the oud would be more barn yard ish, like the oud in my Diptyque Oud Palao. But no, this is more the band-aid, medicinal oud. What I get is oud, lots of black pepper, cedar, some musk, and gladly a fruity, tart apple. It really needed the tart apple, to make it more pleasantly aromatic. The oud, and the black pepper make for a harsh, burning accord. After the harsh opening settles into the mid, the Oud becomes less harsh, and more barn-yardish, poopy. Zafar is very much like a favorite fragrance, Comme de Garson "Wonderwood". It is a dry woody, peppery fragrance with a similar oud note. This is Wonderwood, with the Oud note amped up, as the dominant woody note, which I like a lot. It projects strongly, and is very spicy and woody. The oud in Zafar smells just like in Wonderwood, which uses synthetic oud. So one knock I heard about Xerjoffs in general, their fragrances are very synthetic. I have my doubts about this being a genuine Oud. It also has a strong Iso E Súper, aroma chemical, like in Encre Noire. I ordered 2 Bortnikov ouds, Maximus and Lao Oud samples. I heard they have better quality barn-yard ouds like in Oud Palao. They also sell from the Bortnikoff web site, their 10 ml decant sprays for $90. Very reasonable. Rating: 7.5/10 God bless. John 3:16

Dear Xerjoff, I think my Zafar is BROKEN! That is all..... I love a scent challenge. I made this purchase soley because of the reputation it has acquired as being one of the most offensive fragrances created. Maybe it's not the Zafar that's broken, but my own nose. Where's the cow patty? Where's the Band-OUD? I want my own blue cheese experience! For me, it opens sharply with pepper, apple, oud and musk. Once it settles after a few minutes, it becomes an apple and (quality)OUD scent. I'd say the first hour or two are the most comforting for me. Warm... Animalic.... Slightly smokey..... Outdoorsy and organic...... WAIT A MINUTE! OK, I can actually understand the comparisons but my mind only sees(smells) it when I think about it. After a few hours, it settles to OUD mainly with some fresh apple and incense thrown in for good measure. There's also something faintly powdery trying to poke through when I put my nose to my skin but there's still no mistaking that this is an OUD fragrance... PURE HEAVEN! Will I wear Zafar out? Maybe not... I'm sure one day I'll be in one of those moods to have some fun at the expense of others with this assault on mainstream olfactory pleasures. To any Zafar "neigh"sayers, I ask that you please direct me to the farm or animal(or pile) you ran into that smelled like this so I can snuggle it closely. ***FYI...One of my all time favorite fragrances is the similarly poo-compared LM Parfums Hard Leather.... Hmmmm. Oh HUSH!! :-)

I consider myself somewhat a hardcore oud lover, the skankier, dirtier the better actually. I see oud and all logic just flies out the window so naturally I couldn't help but blind buy this fragrance due to the notoriously barnyard-y oud and while I did get what I came for, it's something else that made me stay. Let me preface this by saying Zafar is not an oud fragrance in the traditional sense. Although I do get a deliciously cheesy oud bearing hay-like and fecal qualities upon application, musk is the star player after the scent has reached its drydown - a big, fluffy powdery musk that I can never ever get enough of! Zafar is how I imagine if you take the powdery woody musk in classic men's woody aromatics, eliminate all the herbal and floral elements, add Chris Maurice's signature cheesy oud touch and then mix them altogether with a polished yet antiquated smelling cedar note. The end result is a sumptous and mellifluous woody oriental that feels beguiling rather than formulaic. While it does not project as far as the other ones in the Oud Stars line, nor does it leave as noticeable a sillage, it easily lasts a whole day on skin. A big win in my book!