Top Notes 
Heliotrope
Aldehydes
Heart Notes 
Civet
Night-blooming jasmine
Ylang-ylang
Base Notes 
Tobacco
Musk
Mysore sandalwood
Oakmoss
White ambergris
Benzoin
Castoreum
Frankincense
Labdanum
Styrax
Kurai
388 Reviews
Kurai
Helpful Review
6
In stereo
There was a time when I was raving about animalic perfumes. Things could not get sweaty, pissy or greasy enough. I wish I was familiar with Russian Adam's work back then. But those days are over. I am still very fond of the animalic notes, but only if they are part of a broader concept and properly balanced with florals, woods and ambers. Exactly this is why I do not get along with many ALD perfumes. Their emphasis on powerful musks tend to feel off-balance to me. There are a few exceptions, of course.
Civet de Nuit is what I would like to call a dual layer experience. A top layer that appears as a full-on perfume by itself. It has a clear structure of powder, florals and woods. The initial scent profile is a mix of purple-yellow florals, quite tame, fuzzy and softened with almond powder and sandalwood. This develops over time and lets in some browner shades like tobacco and honey.
Then there is a sublayer, an ultra-low pitched undercurrent that keeps interacting with the top layer right from the start. This is where we find the animalic notes. Apart from a forceful set of musks in typical ALD style, we have the main character. ALD refers to it as "Antiquated Civet Tincture", which I find a bit confusing. The word antiquated gives a outdated, old-fashioned connotation, while that is not quite the case. We're talking a contemporary artisan setting with a slight vintage feel, but nothing what I would describe as outdated. The quality is evident and it has a waxy sweetness that is hard to get around. I get a similar feel from the civet in Souls on Fire - Osmanthus Floral, but this reaches a much deeper level in terms of that primal sensation, that urge to purr and roar.
Those two layers I mentioned seem to co-exist and not fully converge somehow. At the same time the combination does really feel good. The animalics are strong, but fit perfectly in this floral-woody setting. So yeah, this is definitely one of the exceptions that I am not re-selling after one or two wears, like I did with most ALD's. Not sure if that is thanks to the hand of Sultan Pasha. Maybe it is time to explore his work a bit more. Another quest ahead!
Civet de Nuit is what I would like to call a dual layer experience. A top layer that appears as a full-on perfume by itself. It has a clear structure of powder, florals and woods. The initial scent profile is a mix of purple-yellow florals, quite tame, fuzzy and softened with almond powder and sandalwood. This develops over time and lets in some browner shades like tobacco and honey.
Then there is a sublayer, an ultra-low pitched undercurrent that keeps interacting with the top layer right from the start. This is where we find the animalic notes. Apart from a forceful set of musks in typical ALD style, we have the main character. ALD refers to it as "Antiquated Civet Tincture", which I find a bit confusing. The word antiquated gives a outdated, old-fashioned connotation, while that is not quite the case. We're talking a contemporary artisan setting with a slight vintage feel, but nothing what I would describe as outdated. The quality is evident and it has a waxy sweetness that is hard to get around. I get a similar feel from the civet in Souls on Fire - Osmanthus Floral, but this reaches a much deeper level in terms of that primal sensation, that urge to purr and roar.
Those two layers I mentioned seem to co-exist and not fully converge somehow. At the same time the combination does really feel good. The animalics are strong, but fit perfectly in this floral-woody setting. So yeah, this is definitely one of the exceptions that I am not re-selling after one or two wears, like I did with most ALD's. Not sure if that is thanks to the hand of Sultan Pasha. Maybe it is time to explore his work a bit more. Another quest ahead!
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