How do I begin my very first review? Perhaps by briefly mentioning that I have been diving back into the world of niche fragrances for about 2 years now, after a decade of loyal following of the Creed house. During this time, I have tested over 200 fragrances and also came across the house of Widian after trying almost everything from Xerjoff. My first encounter was a sample of "Liwa (Extrait de Parfum) | Widian / AJ Arabia," and what can I say, this fragrance overwhelmed me like no other fragrance has in a long time. The only one that managed to do that before was
Aventus at its release.
Many reviews here mention a strong similarity between "71" and "Liwa (Extrait de Parfum) | Widian / AJ Arabia," but also a potentially challenging start to the fragrance. This is not surprising when you read about the perfumer Jordi Fernández, who is often referred to as the "Master of Oud." Some well-known and popular fragrances that I also consider very good come from him. Besides the already mentioned "Liwa (Extrait de Parfum) | Widian / AJ Arabia," there are also fragrances like "London | Widian / AJ Arabia," "New York | Widian / AJ Arabia," "Haltane | Parfums de Marly," or the recently much sought-after "Infusion Velours (Eau de Parfum) | Ojar."
All these fragrances share the quality that, although they are complex, they exhibit a super smooth, harmonious scent progression. All notes are very closely intertwined, flow into one another but are still easily distinguishable.
Knowing this and with a certain degree of trust in the perfumer, I made my very first blind buy this year and ordered the "Limited Collection - 71 2022 Edition | Widian / AJ Arabia," which was also the most expensive fragrance I have ever purchased. Perhaps I took too high a risk?
A few weeks ago, I finally held the fragrance in my hands; the very beautiful packaging and presentation are typical of Widian. The outer box of the case is even more elegant, adorned with detailed graphics and gold. The bottle itself is the usual hand-friendly design from Widian, made entirely of glass (including the cap). This time, however, the inside of the bottle has been coated with a metallic finish. The very thick glass creates a strong depth effect with a high metallic shine. Visually a 10/10, unfortunately, this makes it impossible to read the fill level.
Finally, let's get to the fragrance itself. Some of my predecessors have already reported that they had to test the fragrance several times to appreciate it and also mentioned the potentially challenging start.
I sprayed it for the first time on my wrist and focused entirely on the supposed animalic notes. Oh yes... something is coming. I smell something that can definitely be labeled as a slight "stink" by some, but it is lighter/smoother/balsamic than, for example, in the Xerjoff Oud Stars series. What I am smelling is definitely not comparable to that.
Admittedly, the first few seconds made me doubt my decision to blind buy. At the same time, I also sprayed a spritz on a test strip to better distinguish the effect between skin and paper.
Right off the bat, that was not a good idea. Because today I can say that the slight animalic note at the beginning fades on the skin after 3-5 minutes (which "survives" for everyone), but on paper, it drags on painfully and makes the fragrance smell more animalic/unattractive than it is. Definitely test it on skin!
The alternating smelling on my wrist and the test strip basically ruined my first test, as I experienced contradictory impressions.
On the second day, I tested it exclusively on my skin, letting the brief animalic note fade quickly and took another sniff. Wow, something is happening. I smell spicy, smoky, bright green notes with a bit of blue freshness, shower gel-like, on a woody dark green base. That definitely has something! But also a lot of understatement.
As the fragrance develops, the freshness and bright green recede a bit, while the wood comes forward stronger, and a creamy, slightly sweet amber joins in, but it never pushes itself ahead of the wood.
And then I realize, this feels familiar. One of my predecessors wrote that "Limited Collection - 71 2022 Edition | Widian / AJ Arabia" contains about 40% of "Liwa (Extrait de Parfum) | Widian / AJ Arabia." I can absolutely confirm that.
Now let's talk about the fraternal twin. Comparing 71 and Liwa, one finds that the basic structure of spice + smoke paired with a green oud base and sweet amber is actually identical.
"Liwa (Extrait de Parfum) | Widian / AJ Arabia" impresses with its bright, radiant white floral notes, paired with a bit of reddish saffron and a little more sweetness. In the base, a note of cedarwood joins in, giving Liwa a bit more sauna wood character in the base. In this specific comparison, Liwa is thus the "little sister" (although I still perceive Liwa as a very masculine fragrance with a slightly feminine touch at the beginning).
"Limited Collection - 71 2022 Edition | Widian / AJ Arabia" uses the same basic structure; instead of bright flowers and sweet saffron, bright green and slightly blue notes are used, which spread a very nice, almost naturally occurring shower gel synthetic and harmoniously fade into a dark green woody finish. In doing so, the "little brother" radiates a wonderfully understated masculinity. No drama, no brief flare-up, just "sophisticated." Jordi Fernández has once again succeeded in achieving this perfect fusion of all notes.
On the third day, I was happy to wear this fragrance again. The longevity of the fragrance is easily over 10 hours, although I perceived it even beyond that; however, at some point, one begins to identify the slightly sweet woodiness as one's own body scent.
I find it hard to use words like "masterpiece" in my conclusion, as the fragrance hasn't completely captured my heart. I think it is very well made; this combination of noble shower gel character with high-quality deep oud is something I haven't encountered before. The fragrance always smells high-quality, exclusive, but not excited. This fragrance does not polarize, but is present and, in my opinion, can never stand out negatively. Still, it is not a simple fragrance and has a surprising complexity with more than above-average longevity.
Will I keep it? Definitely!
I still find the MSRP price difficult due to the artificial limitation. The usual price of Widian fragrances would be more appropriate, after all, one receives the same quality in content and craftsmanship from the same perfumer with fragrances like "Liwa (Extrait de Parfum) | Widian / AJ Arabia" or "London | Widian / AJ Arabia."
Thank you to everyone who read until the end.
Top Notes 
Bergamot
Coriander
Nutmeg
Heart Notes 
Smoke
Oud
Ambergris
Patchouli
Base Notes 
Frankincense
White musk
Amber
DrDre10
Denim86
Dardyscent
Elvi01
Cgiatzakis
Cumhranfear
Topfpflanze3
Eggi37
Berkanlenck
DaMeniz
