If someone had told me two years ago that I would once add an Attar worth 100 euros per milliliter on perfume and then comment on it, I would probably have dropped a tester at Douglas. But now it is. And we have to go through it now.
Attached by forum posts I blindly ordered 1ml "Tabac Grande", in order to create new shores in the fragrance jungle. After testing some Attars from Imperial Oud and Abdul Karim Al Faransi, the Pasha package reached me. Although the big tobacco was not the big deal for me, the quality was obvious (the flacon was allowed to move on successfully). But in the envelope there were two small samples that watched reverently under the foothills of the Sultan's seal. Despite the small quantities, the fragrance compositions radiate directly into the brain when the mini-vessels are opened. My favorite of the trio was, how could it be otherwise, Cheval d'Arabie. Since I couldn't read the label, I asked the creator himself and learned from Sultan that the fragrance hasn't been launched yet - it doesn't get any more exclusive than that. Since then I stand in front of the mirror every morning and tell myself how special I am.
The novel-like scent pyramid may be taken apart by the usual suspects. If Spiegel Online were to tell me that there is a new chemical weapon called chrysanthemum, I would believe it.
I sent my first fragrance impression to an interested perfumer. At that time, I had neither a fragrance pyramid nor a fragrance description at hand. These are the following words:
- Now I am walking on black ice - without any scents at all. Looks like a rose oud fragrance to me. Reminds me at least of the one pure oud oil I have (the author seems to be really special, editor's note). Either a fruity note resonates or it is a fruity oud. Only very slight horse stable associations (which would fit the name). The rose is dark red (but does not go into blackness), but is floating. Very deep and pleasant to smell. -
Well, the fragrance description is now online and I read descriptions like "only for the brave" and "wildly animalic". As someone who is afraid of scents like "Oud Luwak" and "Absolue Pour Le Soir", you might be a little bit surprised. But the more I smell the sample, the more I understand the horse association. The animalistic manifests itself in my perception less as faecal variation, but rather as a bubbling dynamic that lifts the other scents. This is what I originally meant by the depth discussed. Suggestion or not - in fact my scent impression has changed since the first encounter.
I'm not a fan of tearjerkers, but if a love movie has a good script, I still watch it. This is more or less the same with the rose. But of course translated into the world of thrillers and dramas.
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There are a few days between this sentence and the last one. In the meantime, the sample set of Sultan Pasha has reached me, including Cheval Arabie, which I now wear. So I can rule out that my pre-rehearsal was only a demo version. After application, my synapses immediately reach a full, thick, almost fleshy bed of roses. For me, the rose notes are dominant, but as described above, there is something bubbling about them that makes the fragrance exciting but also very restless. I am quite honest: without the pyramid of scents I could not assign this ominous fragrance carpet. Present, however, is the Oud, which reminds me of my mini rehearsal of the so-called Yunnan-Oud. This is in contrast to the Hindi-Oud from China, but apparently has similar characteristics. I find it bitter, slightly fruity, not fecal, but definitely cowsty-esque and latently sweaty. This matches the oud impression, which the Arabian horse gallops to the surface. From the other notes I see a musty but not very musty patchouli hiding behind the roses.
Overall, I would attest the fragrance a certain basic moisture. Juicy is not the right word. But at least the story presented here doesn't take place in the desert. Rather in a dark fairytale landscape, where 80% of the day has passed and the moor is not far away. The colour of the roses has not yet been completely swallowed by the approaching darkness, the said oud mixes with the wind blowing over from the bog. But we are not alone. There were animals on the moor, which fortunately could control their bowel movements. But you have left some fur on which the liveliness of the original carriers has rubbed off. Personally, I cannot smell out civet and beaver's horny in isolation, but in my opinion they contribute to the bubbling. As it progresses, the notes become more and more blended, the roses lose their red and take on a brownish shimmer. The fragrance becomes somewhat drier, resins shine through.
The fact that Sultan Pasha uses synthetics only in exceptional cases is very striking. As I said before, I am not a fan of roses, nor is Cheval d'Arabie a fragrance that will make it into my deliberately small collection so quickly (perhaps simply too advanced). But I have never smelled rose so authentically with other brands. All in all, I can only recommend these attars to everyone - discovering such high-quality, natural oils makes you feel good, regardless of your own taste.
When I first saw the prices of these Attars, my jaws hit the ground at the speed of light. The price range per millilitre is between 50 and 135 pounds. But in the meantime I see the price structure in a more differentiated way. I applied the sample with the rounded end of a thicker staple and can perceive the scent well. I don't know if I could ever use 3ml of this fragrance. These are therefore extremely highly concentrated oils. Added to this are the naturalness and high quality of the ingredients. If you then consider what other niche houses are calling for in terms of prices for synthetic fragrances, it's almost clear that this is the case again. At least I will keep an eye on the "cheaper" oils of the brand.
In conclusion, I maintain that I do not perceive the scent as wildly animalistic, but that the animalism finds its way through the discussed dynamics into the scent memory. "Al Hareem", for example, I found strongly animalistic and unpleasant at the first trial smell. Cheval d'Arabie does not (yet) suit my taste, but the refinement and naturalness of this composition fascinates me. It is always exciting to discover completely new fragrance worlds even after more than two years of almost daily research. I recommend the fragrance to all rose fans and every oud connoisseur - but also to "normal" fragrance fans like me who want to broaden their horizons.
I will not make an evaluation, as I am aware that I could not do 100% justice to the complexity of the fragrance. But it was exciting. Now it has become night. Time to jump into the bog again and watch the roses move as if they were waving to me
Top Notes 
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