Alhambra Paolo Gigli

Once again, I find myself close to despair due to my inability to articulate a completely new fragrance experience in a way that you can envision it. Alhambra is almost impossible to categorize within the frameworks available to us. It seems others have experienced the same, as I appear to be the first to classify the perfume.

Nevertheless, I will attempt to describe my impressions. What astonishes me is the fact that Alhambra smells mysteriously mystical and sensual to me, yet is still a bright fragrance. I have not encountered this before. Once again, I am captivated by a perfume that completely does without flowers and, aside from a hint of citrus, without fruits. At the opening, I can recognize the geranium, but here it is not as overpowering as I have experienced in other perfumes. Mint can be sensed, but I do not notice the lemon.

However, what is astonishing to me is the heart note. Listed are oud, patchouli, vetiver, and sandalwood, of which I can hardly imagine anything. But let's assume that it is a woody note; then the theme of Alhambra should be more medicinal-spicy-woody and somewhat smoky-musty. But for me, it is rather velvety-creamy-animalic, almost a bit oily. And incredibly sensual, which is surely due to the base. And as mentioned, the whole thing is bright and elegant. So, now tell me how I should categorize this. You really have no choice but to test Alhambra for yourselves. You will not find the splendor of the Spanish palace in the fragrance, but the beauty and tranquility that the individual courtyards are supposed to radiate can be found in the perfume, and that is why it makes it onto my completely utopian wish list.