Cologne Absolue - Bois des Indes Galimard

I have been to India before. That certainly doesn't make me an expert, but it's more than just watching travel documentaries on DVD. In India, you are bombarded from all sides with all kinds of signs: colors, smells, tastes, landscapes, animals, nature, buildings, spiritualism, mindsets, the people there, the crowds, the wealth, the poverty, the living conditions, the cleanliness of the primitive dwellings, the dirt on the streets, the tattered clothes, the radiant smiles, visible diseases, and so on...
So I approach Bois des Indes with great expectations, just like with all fragrances that have something Indian in their name. Hoping to find the essence - my essence - of India.
The first impression of the scent starts off well: beautifully fresh citrusy, but immediately also quite bland. I can almost see the kitchen waste lying everywhere in India, in front of houses on the streets, which the sacred cows feast on, that also lie, stand, walk, and do other things everywhere in India.
The housewife has found an old forgotten spice blend in the dark of her domain, which is promptly thrown out onto the pile and thus disposed of.
Then it smells like wood, just as the name of the fragrance promises. But not fresh wood, no, that has been lying around for a while, but not in the fresh air, preferably in the forest, no!, far from it, we are at the Indian street waste pile. It smells slightly rotten, not disgusting, but also not good.
And then there comes a delicate, but unfortunately present cloud of dead carrion, a sweetish smell of decay. One can easily imagine it at night when the rats are fighting over territory and food. A hungry rodent could easily cross over the Jordan or rather the Ganges in the struggle for survival in the kitchen waste.
It also smells a bit smoky, that's from the neighbor's fire at the open fire pit (soon there will be food - I'm in on this paradise! - but unfortunately, it has nothing to do with the scent...)
This whole Indian street life only becomes more pleasant because it fades quickly in the manner of Eau de Cologne. Ashamed to admit, among all those who love this scent, it develops negatively for me in an Indian way. I prefer the temples with fragrant incense sticks, or Indian rum enjoyed on a warm summer night, an enchanting floral scent from the right, a hint of exotic spice from the left. That would then be part of the beautiful side of India. Among other things...

The "Indian wood" presents itself as a nice fragrance that thematically revolves around the mentioned tree material.

A fresh-spicy, drifting towards precious wood start. Amber-like, it becomes immediately recognizable, with a light chocolate tone accentuating the spiciness in a well-groomed manner.

The drift into the Oriental is marked by a sweet-smoky note, possibly from the Indian woods used in the fragrance.

The fragrance manages a pleasant balancing act between a spicy, truly elegant woody base and a flattering, skin-close style. Throughout, the only real drawbacks are the limited longevity and the rather mediocre sillage. But it is, after all, "only" a Cologne...