Phew, quite a pithy announcement Ensar has made in his announcement for his latest release "EO N°3". But anyone who has ever dealt with the brand Ensar Oud, knows that Ensar Oud, whose native name, by the way, is "Ensar Tokati", neither lacks self-confidence, nor that he is often stingy in his description with superlatives.
"The best..." here, "the finest..." there. The good guy is already very convinced of his products and creations and that is of course reflected in the price. 599$ for 30ml "PureParfum" are standard here by now. Under it goes hardly what - over it goes fast.
Ensar probably maintained a very close contact with Sultan Qabus (Qaboos) bin Sa'id, who was Sultan of Oman from 23 July 1970 until his death on 10 January 2020. Not least because the latter, in addition to his collection of countless luxury cars and rare watches, also had a penchant for olfactory treasures. The collection must have contained countless treasures from all over the world. Priceless rarities such as "Sinking Grade Agarwood" from all parts of Asia, decades-old Ambergris chunks weighing tens of kilos, deer musk from Tibet, Kashmir, Mongolia and even the king of all musks, the virtually non-existent Tonkin musk from Vietnam. Even the main player in the new EO N°3, the "Royal Tai'fi" comes from what he calls the "Royal Archive".
The Taif rose (Rosa damascena trigintipentala), which originated in Saudi Arabia, is also known as the queen of all flowers. The average price of a "tolah", which is a small glass vial that holds 11.7g of oil, is about $800. And that's not even the best quality grade. The top notch oils, aged for years, are usually only sold to wealthy collectors and royalty and far exceed this value. In the case of Sultan Qaboos' "Royal-Tai'fi", the extraction is dated back to 1980. So you can imagine that this was quite an expensive story. (But you can also just look on the EO website, what you have to put for 2.5g pure Taif oil from this collection on the Pöller)
I am not a gullible person by any stretch of the imagination but the recurring mention by name and use of pictures of the Sultan on the EO website do eliminate reasonable doubt about these statements quite permanently. I honestly find it hard to believe that any sultanate would tolerate non-legal use of the name of a more than respected, long-serving head of state.
In addition to the three musk variants already mentioned above, ambergris and the royal rose oil, decades-old Myitkyina Oud from Burma still finds a little place in EO N°3. I wonder how many of you pronounced the word "Myitkyina Oud" correctly while reading right now. I'm certainly not one of them.
I could still report for hours on the individual ingredients but before the first people here from boredom to disengage, I come rather times to the fragrance itself.
I had due to the really DICK applied announcement on the part of EO quite high expectations of the fragrance, I must confess and not only because of the price almost a little "fear" now to be disappointed. So I hesitantly pull the trigger of the handcrafted leather-bordered bottle and.... BOOM..... olfactory mic drop... Short goosebumps.
What flows here in the nose has simply NOTHING to do with the typical rose-oud combos that I knew until Dato.
The fragrance starts with an incredibly fine citrus note, which is probably one of the special characteristics of the Taif Rose. No sharp citrus reminiscent of bergamot and Co. Much finer, softer and rounder. Only seconds later, the rose unfolds its breathtaking aroma. You can't really break down the profile. It's a combination of citrusy notes, pleasantly light sweetness, a cooling menthol freshness that feels like taking a deep breath through your nose after eating a menthol candy. In this complex mix of impressions, you can still clearly recognize the typical, luxurious character that rose brings to a fragrance. The combination of the different musks, each of which has its own character - Tibetan musk is sparkling, tangy / Mongolian musk slightly animalic, earthy and Tonkin musk rather sweet creamy - act as a kind of turbocharger for the rose and amplify its special qualities many times over. The ambergris acts more as a fixative here, providing more durability and projection. Those who fear a typically salty, slightly maritime here definitely need not worry. For me personally, the oud only comes out in the heart and base. But again, it doesn't take a dominant role here. At most, it brings a slightly woody, green note to the background, reminiscent of oud distillations of the eaglewood genus Walla-Patta from Sri-Lanka, giving the composition EVEN MORE depth. The other ingredients like pepper, mandarin and nutmeg are so finely woven that you can hardly smell them individually. What makes this fragrance so special is simply, the combination of these oils and extracts and the intangible quality they exude without inhibition. It feels like this scent changes character every few minutes. Sometimes it smells sweet, sometimes fresh, sometimes warm, sometimes cool. All of this is combined with an intangible lightness and elegance that I have never experienced before. At no point is the rose heavy, stale or waxy, as is often the case. The scent is classic yet modern. A paradox bottled in glass and leather that leaves me with a big grin and absolute delight after each application.
Now, again, many will say, "How can you spend that kind of money on a fragrance?" I get that. It is a valid one. It's a question I would have asked myself six months ago. I don't really think of Ensar's work as perfume anymore but rather as art. I can count on one hand the number of days I've worn his works outside of my four walls. I don't wear them to smell good to others, because that's a matter of taste anyway. I look at them like others look at a work of art on the wall of a gallery. Is a Picasso worth millions because the paint is so special or the canvas was particularly expensive? Beauty and the personal impact on the mind are in the eye (or nose) of the beholder. This is also the reason why I would never make "buying recommendations" or anything like that. I can only reflect what a fragrance does for me and how it affects me. In the case of EO N°3, I am almost inclined to say that the end of the line has been reached here. I don't think there's any room for improvement in terms of quality and craftsmanship here. Combined with the intricately handcrafted bottle from the atelier of Habib Dingle, who among other things binds the St. Johns Bible for the Vatican, this fragrance probably makes the crown jewel of my collection. on one of the social networks: "How would you describe the rose in EO N°3?" I could only quote Ensar himself: "It's a rose to end all roses...once and for all."
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