Zanzibar (Najaf)

I do like to live life on the edge lol I knew there was a big chance of barnyard but I still had to try it. You are hit immediately with a big whack of barnyard. If that doesnt put you off at the first hurdle then you immediately earn respect. I valiantly hang in there. 10 minutes in and the barnyard has been cleaned up. Its now all about a power punch of oud and tobacco. Im not sure though if it is too masculine for me. A little further along the timeline and there is a sweetish fruitiness starting to come through. I think the osmanthus has finally been allowed up out of the dense shadows of the oud and tobacco. You will probably not be surprised to hear that I now love it. Apricot suede! What could be better. The tonka and vanilla have added a touch of sweetness and sandalwood makes anything lovely in my eyes. I mention sweetness but this is still definitely a unisex fragrance. You wont be surprised that this has amazing longevity and the silage is pretty good as well.

I am sampling all of the oud stars line and now have sampled almost all of them. Alexandria 2 is already one of my favoritie fragrances ever- I guess I really like masculine fragrances sometimes. This one is gorgeous to me and I LOVE the strong oud note. I refuse to use the word most people use to describe the smell of oud because to me it doesn't resemble that as much as it does a cigar box. That's just me. I felt that even about such oud-heavy fragrances as Oud Infini. Anyway I hope to add this to my collection eventually. Yesterday I actually ordered Malesia which is another strong oud fragrance but with more honey. Some no-gos for me are Ceylon, Al-Khatt (unfortunately! That one DOES smell like horse manure), Luxor and Zafar. My loves are A-2, Zanzibar, Malesia and Fars. I haven't yet tried Gao or Indochine!

So I was at a store and wasn't particularly satisfied with Mona di Orio's Oudh Osmanthus, therefore I asked about this, and I was in head over heels as soon as I tried it! It has the best of both worlds: An amazing osmanthus note (fruity, sweet, yet realistic) and an amazing oud note (a bit dirty, dense, yet not fecal...Someone below mentioned preference to the "imposters" and I totally understand; I used to hate the real thing too, then I began to appreciate it and now I prefer the "inbetweens" as with this case)—not as intense as Zafar and many other authentic ouds. The overall effect is a bit syrupy, but definitely the best syrup I'll ever have!

This one is very nice. At initial application I find this a bit on the medicinal oud side. I get no animalic notes at all. There is a wet tobacco scent that overtakes most of the other notes. That's it! At least for the first 30 minutes. After that, the other notes marry together to make a beautiful and subtle sweetness and a medicinal oud touch that lingers throughout the day. The other notes seem to blend so well they are really tough to single out. I've never smelled anything like this one. Definitely worth a try! Because of its uniqueness and, its a wonderful smell BTW, It gets a Love in my book!

A nice modern sensibility meets ancient perfumery traditions scent. The perfume opens with interesting whiffs of green/herbal notes and Laotian Oud. At its heart is osmanthus, patchouli and cedar. The perfume settles into a powdery musk, oud, tonka bean, tobacco, sandalwood, and vanilla. Unisex (masculine leaning) with moderate to strong sillage and projection, and very good longevity. Be prepared for a ride from a somewhat edgy woody herbal start to a nice powdery musky finish. Enjoy!