middle east: 13 posts

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Pierre Montale’s creations quench the desires to travel over the temporal and spatial map, inviting one into the Middle Eastern souks and the Mogul palaces.  The tapestries of rose, sandalwood, oud and spices are woven as intricately as Scheherazade’s tales.  My favorite fragrances in the line are from the Aoud range, incorporating pungent and medicinal oud.

Aoud Queen Roses is a majestic fragrance of crimson roses veiled by dark earthy richness of oud.  At first, the composition is redolent not so much of a rose, as of a piece of heavy silk permeated with a scent of rose petals.  The silky sensation vanishes as a dry medicinal note of saffron turns rose softness into hot cinders.  The dark shadow of oud fills the composition with intensity and inscrutability, as the dusk fills the room in the evening distorting the outlines of familiar objects. The warm glow of rose is even more sensual and arresting against the dark pungent backdrop.

Before one overindulges into the intoxicating pairing of rose and oud, the composition transforms once again.  Now, it is suddenly dawn, with the first rays of sun turning the horizon burnished orange. The smoke of rose incense escapes through the carved screens, yet the petals remain on the cold marble floors. As the fragrance dries down, Aoud Queen Roses tempers the opulence of its dark rose heart, continuing its beguiling tale of seduction and mystery.

Available at Montale website, Aedes, Parfumsraffy, and First-in-Fragrance.

Painting: A Noble Couple Star Gazing, a Mogul illustration.  rubiyat.com 

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Montale perfume house is based in Paris, with a charming boutique near Place Vendôme. Pierre Montale, the perfumer behind the line, created dozens of scents based on such traditional Middle Eastern notes as oud, attar, rose, sandalwood and patchouli. After having much success with Aoud Roses Petale, I became curious in Aoud Lime, especially since the combination sounded intriguing. How would the marriage of medicinal pungent oud and tangy sparkling lime develop?

The first impression is of rosewater seeping through a heap of Chinese herbs. However, as soon as patchouli warms up the composition, the moist quality vanishes like a raindrop on hot asphalt. Medicinal veil of oud is evident from the first inhale, which only intensifies turning darkly herbal, earthy and pungent. Paired with the dense richness of rose, the result is quite heady, however not unpleasant. If there is any lime here, my nose does not register it.  I would love to hear other opinions on this fragance.

The drydown is redolent of rose attar, which is a hydrodistillation of rose into sandalwood oil. Under its heavy and stilted wrap, even oud is muted, even though its pleasant pungency cuts through from time to time. I do not find Aoud Lime particularly interesting, but fleeting is an accusation one cannot make against it. It lasts for the entire day and into the night.

Available at Montale website, Aedes, Parfumsraffy, and First-in-Fragrance.

Painting: Woman with a Veil, Persian painting of the Qajar Epoch (1785-1925). Exhibition at the Brunei Gallery, London, UK.

Guerlain Nahéma was inspired by the French actress Catherine Deneuve. Perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain explained to Elle Magazine that when he saw her in the film Benjamin ou Les mémoires d’un puceau, Deneuve enthralled him. “She appeared in a gilded cage scattered with roses… She was wearing a dress of white silk, and her hair was loose and ruffled like a golden halo — absolutely breathtaking.”

Nahéma, introduced in 1979, is likewise stunning–a voluptuous blend of rose, plum and ylang ylang, with dark accents of sandalwood and musk. It is a bold and dramatic fragrance foreshadowing the generation of big perfumes that would embody the glam & glitz of the 1980s–Dior Poison, Yves Saint Laurent Paris, Giorgio. Unfortunately, Nahéma arrived on the scene too early to appeal to the general public, and it flopped so badly that Guerlain had to sell a part of its real estate to keep the company afloat. Yet, even today Jean-Paul Guerlain names it as his most distinctive and original creation.

While Nahéma was toned down somewhat after its initial launch, it was not discontinued. Even today it can be found at the Guerlain counter, and it should not be missed. This sensual oriental perfume explores a brilliant combination of cool, watery hyacinth and rich-as-chocolate roses, with a haunting undercurrent of vanilla, dark woods and amber.

Continue reading →