Do not let the listed notes scare you off, for
Afrika-Olifant is anything but a blood-thirsty animal. It's a tamed, gentle, docile beast, misjudged by many from the distance. Even I was reluctant of approaching this creature, believing it would bite me harshly. But I was terribly wrong, and now I cannot stop coming back to it to pet it.
Upon first spray, I get an addictive warm, ambery sweetness from the labdanum, accompanied by an ever-so beautiful blend of spicy and balsamic accords, with a bitter undertone, enveloped in light smokiness - all attributes of the unmatchable myrrh. The frankincense adds more to the warm, balsamic accords, while also unleashing a dominant resinous scent, which is just magnificent in combination with the rest of the ingredients. The ambergris further aids the ambery-warm section of the composition, while also bringing a musky accord somewhere in the background. Simply put, a delightful resinous-forward opening.
You'd be inclined to believe that the dry down is where the beast starts growling and showing aggression. Notes like castoreum, civet, and oud are hardly beginner-friendly. But the intensity of these notes in
Afrika-Olifant make it probably the best starting point for anyone discovering animalic fragrances. There's just a subtle animalic base, overpowered by the resinous, ambery, sweet opening. There's no sign of a fecal odor, which can sometimes accompany animalic notes and/or oud; all I get is warm, musky, and sweet animalic scent. Hardly any leather either (to my nose, at least), which is anyways rather difficult to point out on its own in a warm and sensual blend like this.
Once the resinous sweetness from the opening begins to settle down, the base notes - civetone, muscenone, muscone, thibetone - offer a calming and soft finale. All of these brought together just make for a musky, warm finisher with an animalic tonality. To me, the way everything comes in play just evoke two words in my mind: elegant sensuality. Or, to keep the gentle beast metaphor alive: tamed animal.
There are unfortunate downsides to owning such a creature, however. But these don't apply to most out there. The sample I obtained of
Afrika-Olifant could be part of a bad batch, which would explain the rather disappointing performance I get on my skin compared to many others out there rating it highly in longevity and projection. So keep that in mind; I might be an unfortunate exception, either because of a bad batch or because of my skin chemistry. Nonetheless, I get about 6-7 hours of longevity at the very best, which is fine, but I do wish it extended to at least a solid 10 hours. For projection, it's decent for the first half an hour to an hour, sitting somewhere around 1 foot and a half to 2 feet of sillage. But after that, it rapidly declines, becoming a skin scent by the 3 hour mark. Quite disappointing, for I was very hopeful that I would get the expected performance here. Seems that "a gentle beast" fits as an even better description than I imagined.
Yet again, if you were to judge
Afrika-Olifant just by its note pyramid without actually trying it, you'd struggle to find a social occasion where you could confidently wear it. But well, things are turning out quite the other way around. I would wear
Afrika-Olifant nearly anywhere, aside from leisurely or as a daily (money would be the problem, primarily). Sure enough, I'm speaking for myself here, for if you get better performance out of this one, its versatility could take a hit. Still, it won't make you smell like an animal, even with good projection, for the terms "gentle" and "tamed" many reviewers use refer to the understated animalic accord of the fragrance, and not necessarily to its soft projection. In my case, it applies to both.
Afrika-Olifant rapidly made its way onto my wish list, and if it weren't for its poor overall performance on my skin, a full bottle would've been a priority. The dominant resinous and sweet aspects of it, with that tamed animalic base that added some depth overall, made me fall in love. It's smooth, it's sensual, it's delightful, contrasting an expected pungent, rough, barnyard odor if we were to judge just by its notes.
So in conclusion, never judge an animal by its fierce, menacing aspect. It can turn out to be the exact opposite.
Overall Rating: 6.9/10
Top Notes 
Labdanum
Frankincense
Myrrh
Ambergris
Heart Notes 
Castoreum
Civet
Leather
Oud
Base Notes 
Civettone
Muscenone®
Thibetone
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