05/20/2025

ClaireV
731 Reviews

ClaireV
1
Bitter-ish tuberose
White floral haters need not fear – Jardin d’Borneo Tuberose is not a Fracas-style tuberose, with enough butter and sugar to set your teeth on edge. Rather, it combines a phenomenally bitter, camphoraceous tuberose absolute with the jungly notes of the rare Bois de Borneo oud from Ensar Oud and gives it a five o’ clock shadow with a needle prick’s worth of skunk. Yes, you read that correctly – skunk. At a time when modern niche perfumers seem to be in a perpetual race to out-skank each other in their use of castoreum, musk, and civet, Sultan Pasha has upped the ante by using a minute amount of perhaps one of the stinkiest secretions of all – the foul stench of Pepe Le Pew. It is a bold move but, honestly, the note has been used with such subtlety that it is more of an undercurrent than a groundswell.
The tuberose absolute is earthy, fungal, and almost moldy in aroma profile, which adds a morose ‘Morrisey-esque’ cast to proceedings. Misanthropes and Heathcliff types wandering the moors at night, hold tight because your soul mate attar has been revealed. But like a sulky Goth teenager being handed a puppy, the mukhallat eventually shrugs off the dark, camphoraceous, and bitter elements of the tuberose absolute to reveal a shy smile of creamy gardenia, lush white tuberose petals, and slightly milky-fruity elements – the original Jardin d’Borneo attar used in the base. In short, Jardin d’Borneo starts off on the Yorkshire moors and winds up in the lush, tropical jungles of Polynesia. Not a bad trajectory at all.
The tuberose absolute is earthy, fungal, and almost moldy in aroma profile, which adds a morose ‘Morrisey-esque’ cast to proceedings. Misanthropes and Heathcliff types wandering the moors at night, hold tight because your soul mate attar has been revealed. But like a sulky Goth teenager being handed a puppy, the mukhallat eventually shrugs off the dark, camphoraceous, and bitter elements of the tuberose absolute to reveal a shy smile of creamy gardenia, lush white tuberose petals, and slightly milky-fruity elements – the original Jardin d’Borneo attar used in the base. In short, Jardin d’Borneo starts off on the Yorkshire moors and winds up in the lush, tropical jungles of Polynesia. Not a bad trajectory at all.