Lecker234

We are in a warehouse, a flea market sale is taking place. The books for sale, from cookbooks to bibles, from travel guides to crime novels, are looking for a new home. They all give off a characteristic smell - the pages are yellowed, these hams have been exposed to too much moisture and some of them have been carelessly stored in the cellar. The leather sofa in the center of the warehouse contributes to the olfactory experience. This is "Sultan Vetiver | Nishane".

The voices that try to attribute modernity to this vetiver fragrance seem to me like a futile attempt to sell a tube television as the latest trend - "Sultan Vetiver | Nishane" strikes me as musty, old-fashioned, harsh - simply unattractive.

Despite an aversion to vetiver, one cannot deny that "Sultan Vetiver | Nishane" offers the wearer qualitatively well-realized vetiver, which is consistently underlined by suitable notes:

At the beginning, you encounter tart absinthe, which brings subtle sweet and spicy hints (wormwood, aniseed, fennel) in the background - the tart alcohol note paired with vetiver is nevertheless in the foreground.

Unfortunately, the leather note, which is well matched to the vetiver, only reveals itself later on. This transforms "Sultan Vetiver | Nishane" from a flea market fragrance into a true perfume for the first time as soon as the base makes itself felt. Too late to save anything - the negative verdict has already been reached.

You will search in vain for the neroli and tonka bean mentioned in the heart.

To summarize, with "Sultan Vetiver | Nishane" you get a concentrated load of vetiver, which is paired with characteristic notes that are perfectly matched to the vetiver. This may well appeal to long-established vetiver lovers, but the average perfume enthusiast will probably not find this fragrance very appealing, as it smells too harsh and old-fashioned for the norm.

There are fragrances that you can write little about because they are flat - they are linear, they smell uncreative. The opposite is the case with "17/17 - Pikovaya Dama | XerJoff": thanks to the immense depth of this fragrance, I could write a long review. In this review, I will try to limit myself to the essentials. Nevertheless, I will not miss the opportunity to begin with the following image:

The newborn lies in its cradle -
the silk comforter cover.
Warming rays of sunlight fall on the child -
it stretches and stretches.
Like an angel.

This idea fits "17/17 - Pikovaya Dama | XerJoff" like no other perfume. It is finely tuned, appears very delicate and comes across extremely smoothly in every stage it goes through.

Stages - that is probably the best way to divide this fragrance. Here you don't get a typical progression that can be determined by the specified fragrance pyramid, but many, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer fragrance stages to enjoy.

You can sense the incredible depth of this fragrance as soon as you take your first breath after applying it. At first I perceive a gentle incense, but - an important "but" for all incense pessimists - this is neither sacred nor does it take on a penetrating role.

This experience can be generalized for the entire course: None of the perceptible fragrance notes takes an unpleasant or intrusive position at any point. Throughout, "17/17 - Pikovaya Dama | XerJoff" remains elegant and sophisticated.

In the course of the drydown, a herbal refreshment is revealed by the coriander, which gives the fragrance a herbaceous-green side and at the same time is softened by the iris, which reminds me more of iris butter and is therefore not at all reminiscent of soup herbs.

The whole thing is bedded on an initially classic-looking musk-vanilla base - which turns out to be quite an individual elaboration in the long-lasting course of the fragrance: it is usually the case with this prominent base pair that it either tends too much in the sweet direction (too much vanilla) or develops a certain dusty character again due to an overload of cleanliness (too much musk). With "17/17 - Pikovaya Dama | XerJoff", I had a different experience for the first time; although it goes relatively clearly in the direction of cleanliness (more musk than vanilla, although the vanilla is also noticeable and not to be neglected), you are spared a dust overload and enjoy a finish that finally beats the Queen of Spades.

In addition to the previous fragrance description, it would be a shame to ignore the outstanding longevity of this fragrance. As a rule, we find that the pleasure we derive from floral-based fragrances is unfortunately not long-lasting. "17/17 - Pikovaya Dama | XerJoff" shows those who share this experience that things can be different with high-quality ingredients. The sillage, on the other hand, is moderate - not bad at all - but it would also run completely counter to the character of the fragrance if there were an unparalleled steam engine behind it.

The title "understatement fragrance" is certainly one that some people would use at this point. Although I can understand this title, I have to say that I do not share this view; the "17/17 - Pikovaya Dama | XerJoff" is a fragrance that, thanks to its unique character, forms a progression through various stages through finely tuned fragrance notes (which you don't get with any other perfume) that is second to none. An unrivaled pleasure.

The name "camel oud" is a bit of a stretch here. You get oud in moderation and the animalistic nature of a camel anyway - who came up with this name?

Anyway - to get away from what the fragrance isn't, here's some information on what to expect from it: Alongside the classic raspberry oud DNA, as we know it from countless competitors (e.g. "Sillage | Kinetic Perfumes", "Sapphire Collection - London | Widian / AJ Arabia", "Infusion Velours (Eau de Parfum) | Ojar", to name but a few), there is an oriental spiciness, characterized primarily by cardamom, caraway and balanced saffron.

The oud here is not animalic and only slightly smoky. It tends primarily in a leathery direction, which is reinforced by the other woods and cardamom. All of this is finely rounded off with the help of elemi resin, which adds a balsamic note.

The (somewhat refreshing) warmth that emanates from it creates a fragrance experience that is truly worthy of the title. Over time, the fruitiness of the raspberry recedes into the background and clears the stage for the spices (caraway, cardamom, saffron), which gratefully accept this opportunity and unfold their full potential.

Accordingly, the "Camel Oud | Sora Dora" is a finely tuned, worthy competitor for other raspberry oud fragrances. In addition to the raspberry oud side, you get an oriental spiciness that gives the fragrance its tension and makes it a unique creation. It only falls short of its competitors in terms of durability and sillage (although not far behind). Nevertheless, great respect to this relatively young niche brand for its exciting creations, which are definitely worth a test.

It is July. You are standing in front of the fig tree in the garden. It's not just the sweet scent that the ripe figs give off that is carried through the air to your nose, but it's the pure olfactory experience of the fig tree that you perceive.

There are no meters separating you and the tree. You stand right in front of it and breathe in the scent: green, very green. It is the fig leaves that provide this scent and give you an almost tart green olfactory experience.

Hungry for the fruit, you pick a fig and impatiently bite through the thick, protective skin to get to the sweet inside. Was that a good idea? A bitter taste spreads through your mouth, which seems to intensify the intense green smell of the fig leaves. Slightly disappointed, you finish the fig in front of the tree while the gentle summer breeze blows through your hair.

This little fig story describes my first experience with this very beautiful fragrance and is intended to prevent other eager fig lovers from having false hopes of a squeaky sweet fig scent in order to avoid disappointment - because you won't get that with "Philosykos (Eau de Parfum) | Diptyque".

Instead, you can enjoy a predominantly green fig fragrance that definitely has a fruity-sweet side, but this is by no means in the foreground. The focus is on the fig leaf, which is what this review is intended to draw attention to overall.

The creativity of the Zoologist brand is always impressive, most recently with its first creation of 2024: "Penguin | Zoologist". But what does a penguin smell like anyway?

I will start my review with this question; when it comes to Zoologist fragrances, I always differentiate between those that directly convey the smell of an animal or try to do so, such as "Hyrax | Zoologist", and those that primarily exude the atmosphere or feeling of the animal. I count "Penguin | Zoologist" in the second category - although I haven't personally smelled a penguin yet, I assume that this bird doesn't smell like menthol throat lozenge and juniper. But more on that in the following fragrance description.

Frost, ice and cold - the zoologist tries to do justice to this motif with the new creation "Penguin | Zoologist", which he succeeds in doing for a long time.
It starts with a scent that actually has a cold effect. Due to the diffuse "ice chord" fragrance note, it is difficult to find a suitable explanation for this, so the comparison to the liberating taste of a menthol cough drop should be more plausible. The "Penguin | Zoologist" manages to convey the feeling of popping these sweets and drawing in the first few puffs of air through the nose for a long time.
Not least thanks to the support of the juniper berry, which may initially seem out of place in the fragrance pyramid, but clearly demonstrates its raison d'être in the fragrance. It works excellently as a nuance to reinforce the ice theme.

When the menthol refreshment gives up the ghost after some time (juniper remains strong, by the way), a slightly floral, refined base of woods with leather emerges. Penguin leather? No, it doesn't go that far - the base is very tame and more of a mild finale for this fragrance than another characteristic of the penguin. Someone else might label this as a boring end to the otherwise exciting Zoologist fragrances, but I am not so critical. Instead of risking an unbalanced composition, the fragrance progression, which is also so rock solid, is accepted here.

In summary, "Penguin | Zoologist" can be categorized as one of those zoologist fragrances that interpret the atmosphere emanating from the animal in the form of a perfume. The feeling that a penguin conveys is shown to its best advantage here: for a long time, you enjoy an ice-cold, menthol-like, refreshing fragrance that fades into a base of juniper and wood towards the end.