Vallée des Rois Mira Takla Parfum

A huge charge of history, myth, and perfume legend! Not only the whole Cleopatra story, but also the fame of a unique, incomparable fragrance that is not, or at least not easily, obtainable and has only been smelled by a few initiated ones. What a screenplay material!
When I had the opportunity to acquire Vallee des Rois through Rosenrouge, who offered the bottle here, I of course jumped at the chance immediately.
I thought to myself: “It's worth it. Even if the scent is nothing, I’m buying a good story!”

I have learned to love myths, but I don’t attribute any truth substance to them, so I was correspondingly critical during the first sniff. I did not expect a shocking, life-changing epiphany.
But that’s exactly what I had!
VdR is incredible! Fabulous, beautiful, and unique! All the raving, poetry, and praise have their reason!

It is difficult to hunt for notes without a fragrance pyramid, almost completely blind. The pyramid often helps me: I can confirm a suspicion with a concrete word, or conversely, clearly say “No” to a listed note. But here such a framework is missing.
I am sure about myrrh, which is well detectable in the top note and later in the heart. There are some floral notes, a beautiful floral blend that is very radiant before the oriental-darkness. Here I think I can discern jasmine; rose is, I believe, only very slightly present. Perhaps a bit of hyacinth as well. A decent whiff of incense wafts in from the middle, and there is also another deep, slightly sweet resin note (styrax?) included. Additionally, beeswax (benzoin?). I smell not honey, but the solid, waxy, not directly honey-sweet scent of honeycombs. And very clearly: A significant animalistic kick! In the dark and heavy base, there is a whole scoop of dirt embedded. Very beautiful, very alluring, very sexy. I believe there is patchouli with something animalistic in it... civet? I consider moss likely, and the huge amount of sandalwood that makes Chanelle is not present, but a distinct, clear sandalwood note does emerge from the late middle.

VdR is clearly categorized as a floriental.
There are similarities in the scent impression with Memoir Woman by Amouage.
The phenomenal longevity is no exaggeration: From one shower to the next, the scent remains equally strong and does not fade. And it has a truly magical sillage: It is powerful, almost drastically perceptible, but not over long distances. From about 1 meter away, it captivates the smelling neighborhood with a very personal, very individual scent that develops over a long time. The development is astonishing overall: With the enormous duration that VdR shows, it evolves throughout the entire time. I constantly notice a delicate bit of change, constantly a new fine facet emerges.

Profoundly dark, shimmering, warm, precious, erotic, powerful.
Royal.
Feminine.