Miyako

ミヤコ

Annayake 2005

Has the navigator gotten a bit confused here? Is this supposed to be a Japanese scent? - No!
First of all: I really like this fragrance, even though it has tricked me with a misleading name. Even though the ingredient list mentions Hinoki wood - which I obviously don't know - this is a genuine Oriental scent that, in my opinion, has nothing Eastern about it, but rather belongs to the Near East.
The bottle, which also points in the wrong direction, has the typical Annayake shape, but is smaller (and thus more stable than the large obelisk-shaped bottles) and was lovingly packaged in a small shrine with a sliding door made of black wood.
The false Japanese scent opens with some of my favorite spices - cardamom and cinnamon - as well as incense, which is a delight: warm, spirited, and plush. Later, a wood note comes in that I can't quite identify, but it is of the finest quality: a soft, gentle matte smoothness emerges, with a bit of patchouli and a hint of ylang-ylang for polish. The floral notes seem to have hidden themselves due to the concentrated load. By the way, the incense doesn't just stay in the top notes, but extends its presence - lovely!
The base is wonderful: similar to "Myrrhe Ardente," myrrh and amber play here, but they don't remain quite so shy in the background.
All in all, a wonderful, classic spicy oriental that I could imagine more in a Near Eastern palace than in Japan. Strong, yet not overloaded, majestic and warm at the same time. More of a sultry-eyed sultan's bride than a subtly ritualistic, coquettish geisha!
"Miyako" is, by the way, a close relative of "Ambre Sultan" by Serge Lutens. The latter is more shocking, even more overwhelming, sweeter, and amber-heavy, while Miyako is more of the incense-wood tincture, possibly the summer version for sultans - or the gateway drug for the sultan.