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måndag 29 december 2014

Maison Nicolas de Barry - L'Eau de Shah Jahan

Picture: Shah Jahan (1592-1666)
Wikimedia commons
Even if it's a true unisex fragrance, it's obvious to me that L'eau de Shah Jahan is cretaed to be the masculine counterpart to the beautiful and bombastic L'eau de Mumtaz i-Mahal which was reviewd earlier in December. Shah Jahan is just as the Mumtaz created by Nicolas de Barry and Eddy Blanchet.

L'eau de Shah Jahan also starts with the rubbery rose oil accord as Mumtaz i-Mahal but less dominating and distinct. Soon fruits pickled in a liqueur-brandy like accord appears, the rose steps backwards but is discretly present in the rest of the dry down. The boozy fruits is the distinguishing theme when Shah Jahan is compared with Mumtaz i-Mahal, both has the same characteristic sandalwood, oud and what I think is the note of nagarmotha as basenotes and "frame". And of course the fragrances should complement each other very close, just as Shah and his favorite wife Mumtaz once did. To me L'eau de Shah Jahan is a true oriental version, at least as I, from my limited experience with the Arabian Oud perfumed oils, imagine true orientals, of the western woody oriental Serge Lutens Boxeuses, which compared with Shah Jahan of course seems almost anorectic, but the pickled fruits and the boozy notes is a common theme. Another western styled woody oriental that comes to my mind when testing Shah Jahan is Parfums Delrae Bois de Paradis.

Picture: The sofisticated bottle of L'Eau de  Shah Jahan
Photo: PR Maison Nicolas de Barry (c)
Shah Jahan has a distinct silage even if not as grand as the rosy Mumtaz i-Mahal. Longevity is just as the latter about 24h and Shah Jahan is also best for festive occasions or in very small doses, also for cold and grey winter days. This is not the fragrance for the workplace with the least tendency to scentophobia.

Rating: 4
This as I prefer the roses of the Mumtaz this one i 5 rated and Shah Jahan 4, but if I had preferred fruits better the rating would be reversed as the fragrances are so similar

Notes: Rose, sandalwood, oud

 As mentioned above I also recognize booze, fruits and nagarmotha


Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the sample to try








 
 

måndag 13 januari 2014

Téo Cabanel - Alahine

Picture: Alahine in its current extravagant bottle.
Photo: PR Téo Cabanel (c)
Alahine is probably the most famous of the Téo Cabanel fragrance and the third one released since the house re-started 2005. Alahine is created by Téo Cabanels in house perfumer, Jean-Francois Latty.

To me Alahine is the image of the floriental fragrance, even if Alahine has a contemporary slight gourmand twist, a strange but sucessfull interaction between pepper and liqueurlike notes. Alahine starts with an instant flowery sweetness of ylang-ylang supported by rose and the classical whites: Jasmine and orangeflower. Those accords are contrasted by fizzy peppery notes and soft notes of pencilshavings (not the sharp varity) also appears. The liqueur note which, just like the notes of pepper and pencil shavings, stays all through the dry down of Alahine. There is a warm and resin-y dept of Alahine which lends the fragrance a velvet soft quality. If Alahine has a color it's definitly red, medium jelly like (a bit transparent) red in the beginning and dark, red, thick, silky velvet in the end. Alahine is very sweet but the woody and peppery notes are contrasting the sweetness in such a well balanced manner and Alahine never gets cloying. When comparing an older sample with recent I don't find any notable differences between the versions. The older version is a bit deeper in character and the newer is just a notch more flowery.

When tested Alahine I come to think of another original red, liqueur, pepper, pencilshaving, floral which preceeded Alahine with six years, Chopard Madness. Madness is loud and sharpedged compared to Alahine but Madness is a forerunner and definitly ahead of its time. Another loud, red and spicy fragrance which comes to my mind when wearing Alahine is Vivenne Westwood Anglomania. Compared to both these red's, Alahine is wellbehaved, elegant and somehow the perfection of the theme. Alahine is a fragrance for autumn and winter, a blanket in grey, cold and rainy weather. Longevity is good, 12h+ and sillage is medium.

To sum up:Alahine IMO still holds its number one position among the Téo Cabanels even if Barkhane is a close runner up.

Rating: 5

Notes: Bergamot, ylang-ylang, rose, jasmine, orangeblossom, pepper, iris, labdanum, benzoin, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, musk