A Night in Marrakesh Memoirs of a Perfume Collector 2021

A Night in Marrakesh captivated me right away. To me, it smells like a walk through Marrakesh at night, somewhere between spice stalls, warm winds, and 1001 Nights. Everything feels dark, soft, and mystical.

At the beginning, I sense cardamom and almond with a zesty freshness that brings the fragrance to life immediately. Then saffron and Moroccan rose unfold, giving it a warm, oriental soul. In the base, it becomes deep and sensual with honey, castoreum, and strong oud.

Oud, honey, and noble spices accompany you from the first spray to the end, while the other notes continuously add new accents. That’s exactly what makes it so special and hard to let go of.

It lasts long, attracts attention, and stays in your mind. Warm, spicy, sweetish, slightly animalistic, and very mystical. At the same time, incredibly seductive, almost like a fragrance with aphrodisiac effects.

A perfume that you don’t just wear, but experience.

I stumbled upon the brand with the wonderful name Memoirs of a Perfume Collector by chance while watching a video by the good Chris a.k.a. Fragmental, as he apparently sells them in his shop as well. After some research, I was particularly interested in the now-reviewed "A Night in Marrakesh | Memoirs of a Perfume Collector," as I am always open to spiced scents and also generally find the oriental direction to be the category that interests me more than all others.
It took almost half a year for me to muster the courage to seek out a sample and take my nose on a special journey to northern Africa.

A Night in Marrakesh was not an easy scent for my nose, as it presented itself in a much more differentiated manner than other fragrances in this category. Above all, I encountered a very muted scent here, which skillfully capped the peaks of the various notes. One might quickly judge that it smells rather boring, but that is not the case. Despite its muted aroma, it displayed a fine bouquet of spices and other treasures that were quite interestingly arranged, without, however, rising to the top class.

Primarily, it is a combination of cardamom and coffee, with no sharp green notes of cardamom present and the coffee being more in its lightly roasted form. No intense roasted aromas of coffee come through, and the cardamom feels only lightly spiced.
Gradually, other notes mix in, but they too have been trimmed at their peaks. Among them is a light and very subtle tobacco that feels very bright. A very restrained rose, which enhances the muted impression with its bloom, and an incense that wafts coolly in the nose. However, where it becomes most evident is the saffron, which in most other fragrances showcases its wonderful aroma and can be very invigorating for a DNA. Here it feels very restrained, not aromatic, and somehow wasted. What a pity.
Many other notes are present in the scent, but they are less easy to filter than those discussed above. Even the usually quite intense notes of oud and castoreum seem to disappear somewhere in the nirvana of muted scent feelings, according to my nose. Either they were used in homeopathic doses or everything else overshadows these very intense notes.

In summary, I am quite disappointed with the scent, as it feels like a toothless beast that has been trimmed at all the important points. No energy, no edges or corners that such a blend of THESE notes should actually bring. Must one dampen such a DNA so much that an below-average scent comes out? In my opinion, they could have dared to do much more here.

At least the longevity is fitting, which I can easily state as nine hours plus. The scent can last half a day, but due to its restraint, I would rather save that.