I know, another rose-oud - enough already!
Hardly a combination that would be more reliably pulled out of the hat than 'dernier cri' whenever a new label pops up somewhere on this globe.
And yet the combination is beautiful, indeed, a wonderful contrast: smoky-woody oud, with its resinous, medicinal, and animalistic facets, and on the other side, the rose, dark, velvety-floral. Sure, there are many successful rose-ouds, but there are also many that are insignificant. Many that show clear signs of being hastily thrown together, lacking inspiration and with a tight budget.
Even Husen Baba, the man who founded Azman Perfumes, introduced his new company with a rose-oud, one that would surely have passed me by - being oud-weary as I am - if it hadn't been promoted alongside the perfumer: Cristiano Canali.
Since the Rubini scents, since 'Romanza' by Masque and 'Bee' by Zoologist, I have been a big fan of the young Italian. So, I could be sure that this was not just any random rose-oud. And then the name: 'Two Minutes After The Kiss' - what a poetic image!
Unfortunately, the fragrance was not available in Europe, but only in cursed Dubai or from the US retailer Luckyscent. Both times, customs fees would have applied, which I would have had to pay in a rundown customs office in the middle of a remote industrial area, and I wasn't in the mood for that. I've done that a few times, only to find out that I could have ordered the coveted works quite easily somewhere in the EU a year or two later.
So it is now: recently, the Azman fragrances have become available in a perfumery in Barcelona, and I quickly had it in my hands.
And what can I say: I was not disappointed, what a beautiful scent!
Full, round, soft, somehow buttery. Oud is present, yes, a complex oud (reportedly even real), showcasing its entire kaleidoscope of facets, but an oud 'with manners', so to speak: composed, civilized, balanced, not overbearing. As a counterpart, a velvety-soft rose, arching over it with floral freshness. But as much as oud and rose stand out, they have clearly recognizable companions that come into play quickly: cardamom, incense, leather, patchouli, labdanum - notes that I love dearly. Especially the multifaceted aroma of cardamom seems to me to be a kind of 'game changer' (to use a rather overused term...) here. Quite robustly, the delicate spice pushes itself between the just barely entwined rose-oud duo, accompanied by the finest, airy incense. Together, they expand the tableau, opening the scent. A delicate hint of beeswax - which Canali knows all about - becomes apparent: it fixes the floral, smoky, spicy, and resinous accents of the top and heart notes and emulsifies them with the balsamic-leathery-woody base.
Oud and rose remain present throughout the scent's development, but gradually step aside and slowly fade into the background, so that after a while I no longer perceive 'Two Minutes After The Kiss' as a rose-oud, but rather as a spicy-smoky-waxy oriental, not unlike Amouage's 'Jubilation XXV Man'.
While the scent initially brims with contrasts and conflicting aromas, everything increasingly merges into a beautifully balanced buttery-warm, subtly leathery-animalic base, the last hint of which I still perceive the next morning.
With a 25% perfume oil content, 'Two Minutes After The Kiss' can rightly call itself 'parfum', but it is still quite a distance from the much higher concentrated Guerlain or Chanel perfumes. Nevertheless, the Azman perfume behaves comparably: a slow, steady swelling of the scent aura up to a rich, but not overwhelming volume, with a long-lasting, not overly loud presence, culminating in seemingly endless fading.
The choice of materials, the versatile composition in classic proportions, while simultaneously avoiding overly ostentatious fashionable synthetics - all this pleasantly distinguishes 'Two Minutes After The Kiss' from the currently popular heavyweights like 'Encelade' and 'Uncut Gem'. No, this scent definitely does not try to show off.
The question remains, who is kissing whom here?
Miguel Matos, who also contributed a scent to the Azman line, notes: "Rose and oud are eternal lovers. This pair of notes is just magical, so it’s interesting how the name of the scent connects to this timeless love affair."
And what does colleague Canali do? He seemingly gives his 'eternal lovers' a break: enough with the smooching: enter cardamom, incense, beeswax.
Matos continues: "The more the scent lingers on skin, the sexier it gets."
Okay, they really are falling for each other...
Top Notes 
Guatemala cardamom
Jamaican pepper
Turkish rose
Omani frankincense
Heart Notes 
Laotian oud
Turkish rose absolute
French beeswax
Indonesian patchouli
Somalian myrrh
Base Notes 
Ambrocenide®
Spanish labdanum
Leather
Musk
Haitian vetiver
Indian sandalwood
Holscentbar
Scentologic
AlexD76
Eggi37
Gold
Ergoproxy
Yatagan
Profumo
Misca
Maggy4u
