Baikal Gris Areej Le Doré 2018 Extrait de Parfum

Introductory words:
Perfumes in general can be met with a lot of passion, that is, with the deepest fervor. One can pay homage to the perfumer for his congenial ingenuity or, for example, the brand behind it, for their courage and determination. At the same time, fragrances always represent a hurdle, a task, so to speak, which - like life itself - should only be faced with a great deal of time and passion, but also with all kinds of experience and daring. Especially for the latter, one is rewarded from time to time, which opens the view for the new and lets the own expectation horizon constantly wander.

Fragrances should tell stories - of places, characters and exciting events. At best, experiences from one's own biography are taken up or touched upon in the approach. To sound out intersections, which inspire us to dream, us to contexts that lie buried under the ballast of time, should be a goal. At least it is just such fragrance experiences that often make me interested to listen, where I then simply grab the curiosity, which ultimately decides whether I am inclined to a purchase or not.

Perfumers do well to provide for such experiences and / or stories imaginatively continue to spin, which are already laid out in our biography, by letting their fragrances speak for themselves. A fragrance that manages to pick me up both mentally and physically and beyond that can enter new realms is Baikal Gris by Areej Le Doré (AlD).

Thereby Baikal Gris surprises (me) positively in several respects. First, Russian Adam refers to a motif, Lake Baikal - the largest freshwater lake in the world, located in the mountains of southern Siberia and with an area of nearly 31500km². That piques my interest! On the other hand, it puts a note in the foreground that I hardly knew until now: No eaglewood, no musk, it is the amber that owns the stage. I want to test that!

First impression:
Minimally salty, somewhat ozone-like - freed from seaweed, some wood, swollen and shrouded in haze, drifts on the surface of the water, surrounded by fir forests and rocky crevices. A scent painting that pleases me, picks me up, lets me experience a scent journey - a bull's eye. But what is the course? Quite linear, I would say, how could it be otherwise when a lake serves as leitmotif(s)?! The amber dominates from the first second, does not hold even after several hours loose. Only and only the woods win in the further course of the fragrance in contour.

Second impression:
Approaches of musk recognizable (nut grass?!), yet not at all pungent (animal), bar any form of mustiness or even dryness, rather in the width extremely transparent drawn. In the course of the fragrance quite softening, the base is always perceptible, perhaps not on several meters, rather close to the body, but carrying all the trump cards on the skin - craftsmanship really succeeded.

Result:
Rarely allowed to test such a natural-looking, mineral fragrance. Even after 12-14 hours still clearly perceptible on the skin escapes me the thought of wanting to acquire him, this skillfully implemented, salty base. Another highlight is certainly the sandalwood note, spicy-creamy unfolds this not too demanding in the base and harmonizes perfectly with the balsamic amber. The durability is AlD-gemäß at the highest level, the sillage just right.

I do not know the Atlantic Ambergris, insofar it is not up to me to be able to assess to what extent Russian Adam revived here an already applied / known formula in Baikal Gris, however, I like Baikal Gris extraordinarily. He is in the positive sense unique and counts for me to the best and above all most exciting releases of AlD.

(Thanks and love go out to Antoniacreed for the opportunity to test the Baikal Gris)