Onyx Black Pana Dora 2025

First impression: Dark, elegant, deep, luxurious, mild hints of finished non resinous wood. It does smell like what a catholic priest would wear, overall it smells like a catholic church. Longetivity is great, above average, projection the same. Powerful fragrance, you can rock this on a daily basis if you want to smell dark. Not for beginners but with patience you will love this.

Warm spices (saffron, cinnamon, nutmeg) with a touch of citrus bergamot to open. Resinous slightly-sweet amber and incense blooms with smoky, leathery labdanum forming the foundation.

Fall and winter seasonal. Decidedly masculine lean. I could envision this as a cold winter reach for daily leisure as well as for evening affairs due to the richness of the heart and foundation. Strong performance. Above average sillage.

This fragrance elicits imagery of wrapping yourself in a warm lambswool scarf on a cold day. It has a refined, elegant, and mature fragrance profile that is very comforting and grew on me over time.

I am now the first person in the world to have it at home. Thanks to Pana Dora and Ibrahim for that.
Now to the scent: Some love it, others don’t like it at all. Why? I think it’s the cinnamon. At first, it’s quite demanding or almost intrusive. However, this settles down after about 10 minutes, and then the harmony that one knows from Pana Dora emerges. The citrus notes combined with the spicy nutmeg bring calmness to the fragrance. The saffron exudes a slightly creamy sweetness, making this scent almost appear romantic.
The heart notes finally bring the Orient into the fragrance, making it lightly smoky, spicy, and creamy.
The base is defined by cedarwood and a dark pine resin, which gives this perfume strength, which is in turn softened by labdanum.
I find Onyx Black very successful, even if it’s not a milestone. However, the name promises more than it delivers, because it’s not that BLACK.

I had not tested a single fragrance from Pana Dora before, but I found the notes of Onyx Black very appealing. I can say upfront that I expected a fresher scent due to the citrus notes and a slightly woody fragrance because of the pine resin and cedar. Nevertheless, in my opinion, it is successful - with only a few minor drawbacks.

Right after spraying, the slight acidity and a brightening effect from lemon and bergamot are noticeable, but the fragrance is by no means fresh. Instead, Ethylmaltol provides a distinct sweetness that is immediately accompanied by a very strong spiciness. Cinnamon stands out particularly and lasts long, and I can also filter out the slightly bitter note of nutmeg; saffron only to a limited extent. As it develops, the sweetness diminishes somewhat, and the woody and resinous notes become more prominent. Together with a bitter-smoky amber accord (instead of amber!), labdanum, and cypriol, a beautiful contrast and an extremely dense texture is created. Thus, the fragrance lingers for several hours and only decreases in intensity towards the end.

Onyx Black does not appear quite as black, but dark elements are noticeably present, and similar to the mineral, different layers merge here. In the air, it smells pleasant; however, one should be careful with the number of sprays, and I would not wear it in summer. For my taste, a bit less sweetness and a slightly woody freshness would have benefited the overall composition. Additionally, after wearing it several times, I was somewhat bothered by the earthy and slightly dirty facet of cypriol. However, the fragrance does show a certain edge and does not get lost in an artificial wood or syrupy base.

Onyx Black comes once again with a great bottle, as one is used to from Pana Dora. The content is just as beautiful! I like the scent and I think it will appeal to quite a few people. It is a warm, woody fragrance with naturally oriental nuances. At the beginning, there is also a certain citrus note that I particularly enjoy in combination with the chosen spice. Additionally, there are further impressions to be perceived throughout the progression, and here and there, there are also certain parallels to a very well-known and popular fragrance.

The scent starts, as just discussed, with a certain citrus note. The lemon and bergamot create this impression. However, there is also the oriental-spiced touch from saffron, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Oh yes, I love this combination!
For my part, this vibe could have lasted much longer!
In other words, I would have had no problem with a linear progression, because I like it so much, haha.

After this beautiful citrus note dissolves from the spice, I occasionally catch certain parallels to a well-known and popular fragrance. However, these scents do not smell the same at all!
Before this gets misunderstood again..
Which fragrance am I talking about?
Initio - Side Effect. This classic actually wafts into my nose from time to time in certain measures. Presumably, this saffron, cinnamon, amber mixture is responsible for that. I sometimes associate amber with a kind of tobacco. What I mean is that sometimes amber accords have certain parallels to some tobacco accords.

However, this impression or comparison to Side Effect fades relatively quickly. I find that Onyx Black also plays relatively long with the nutmeg spice. Personally, even a tad too long for my taste. Otherwise, the fragrance then develops something very, very slightly smoky. Additionally, it becomes a bit "rougher." In my opinion, it also noticeably gains pleasant balsamic notes, and the perceived woody impressions become even more intense. The scent has slightly woody nuances throughout almost the entire progression, as far as my nose is concerned.

All in all, it is a great fragrance.
Despite its oriental nuances, this scent will definitely appeal to some who usually do not like orientals at all. Onyx Black is really fine and very smoothly balanced.

Longevity and sillage are also really good!
In terms of points, I have always fluctuated between 8 and 8.5.