Drseid
0
A Real Head Scratcher, This...
Kanat opens with a slightly sweet apricot and peach accord before gradually moving to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the apricot vacates as remnants of the peach join sweet lily-of-the-valley and moderately powdery ylang-ylang florals as powder-heavy vanilla and slightly animalic musk rise from the base, joining a vague, slightly salty accord in support with faint hints of cedarwood peeping in and out. During the late dry-down the peach and florals vacate, leaving the now slightly powdery vanilla to mesh with remnants of the musk and modestly earthy patchouli through the finish. Projection is very good, and longevity excellent at around 12 hours on skin.
I am having a hard time figuring out Kanat. The apricot and peach in the top notes are pretty easy to identify and the apricot in particular is quite well-done and natural smelling (the peach to a degree, less-so). Once one gets to the key mid-section of the composition things get more difficult to place, as the complex florals are extremely well-blended to the point that identifying individual notes is quite difficult. I am relatively confident that there is some powdery ylang-ylang in the composition, but its presentation is different than one usually encounters with the note. Even more baffling is what can best be described as a salty accord that I have no idea from where it is derived, but it is there, as is an odd musky accord that every once and a while adds in a cedar-like facet resembling pencil shavings. The whole mid-section is extremely complex and confounding. At the end of the day I find it hard to describe what it really smells like, only that I don't like it. Getting past the troublesome heart, the late dry-down returns to more "normal" territory as the weird musky floral mixture mostly goes away, leaving a relatively tame vanilla and patchouli focused finish that is a welcome relief. The bottom line is Kanat has an interesting start and a pleasant finish, but its key mid-section is a befuddling complex mess, earning the composition a slightly "below average" 2 to 2.5 stars out of 5 and a mild avoid recommendation (especially to those who abhor powdery compositions).