Les Merveilles - Ambre Mirabilis Keiko Mecheri 2012

Fruit? Yes, fruit, even if there isn't any supposed to be in it. My first association is plum rum pot - lush, sweet, dark, slightly alcoholic, and in some way thick, syrupy, or like honey. Although it doesn’t smell like honey, this honey gold and the consistency, clear, thick, and amber-colored fit well with this fragrance. Substantial. The sillage is also accordingly impressive, which is good - given the price - but friends of intimate, subtle scents should be warned. The longevity is very good as well, even if it changes over time. At the beginning, there’s an ethereal note that I can’t quite place. Is that the "medicinal" note that some perceive in oud? I can’t say. It reminds me of essential oils that open the airways. Perhaps the impression is also caused by the cedarwood. Fresh wood can indeed smell so ethereal. The cumin stays in the background and gives it just a slightly spicy, corporeal twist without slipping into the animalistic corner. I can’t really identify the rose. Overall, the scent remains very sweet and somewhat resinous throughout its development. Later, it takes on a soapy, powdery nuance. Interestingly, I now also know it from a pure, soft, moldable, somewhat crumbly incense resin from Somalia, whose name I don’t know exactly - Uzin or something similar - that smells almost exactly like this base note: very sweet, very soapy, very intense, and very perfumey. Just as if you were smelling directly from a perfume raw material, where the resin is interesting but headache-inducing; for this perfume, personally, it’s too much for me.