NicheOnly

When you first spray it on, you get a heavy waft of sweetness - this clearly opens as a gourmand scent. If you didn't look at the notes, you'd most likely expect some combination of caramel/toffee/burnt sugar, but there's a bitter edge to it at first and that's the other core component of this scent - the patchouli. This scent, in its entirety, is caramel-patchouli. There are other elements in the blend, but they won't be anywhere near as easy to separate - for example, you'll get some spices within the first 15-30 minutes which dissipate over time. The patchouli is not too earthy and the caramel overpowers it in the blend.

What I appreciate the most about scents like Tero is the uniqueness which is an interesting pun in this context, because the only scent in the niche market that smells anything like Tero, to me, is "Crush on Me" by Unique'e Luxury. Regarding comparables: on the other site, I saw people referring to Black Phantom. I have a bottle of Black Phantom and think it's a slight reach - BP in its entirety is a gourmand while this has certain alternative tones to it. As for the Crush on Me comparison, what you get with Crush on Me is 85-15 patchouli-caramel, giving that scent a clear masculine edge. Here I'd say we are around 45-55 patchouli-caramel, making it straight-down-the-middle unisex.

Performance is somewhere in the 90th percentile - there aren't that many niche gourmands pulling 10-12h nowadays. The scent is very airy, at least for 3 hours - optimal as a fall-winter fragrance and for open-air events. Pricing is in-line with what well-recognized gourmand brands (like Kilian) ask. Almost instantly after this review was written, the 100ml became available for €315. I subsequently added a bottle on the 19th of October.

Royal Crown's "Sultan" is my all-time favorite scent and I figured I would look into Atelier des Ors once a well-known YouTuber offered her viewers a 15% code for the brand. I ordered 2 sample sets, but I was mainly looking to target both versions of Lune Féline.

Lets talk profile. In the air, Lune Féline smells incredible - it is probably the closest you will ever get to a cardamom pastry. It smells 1:1 with bakeries that I've been to, if not better, as there are hints of vanilla and cinnamon in the air that complete the blend.

The reasoning behind the clickbaity title stems from what the scent is like up close. While the original EDP smells very similar on skin as it does in the air, basically a hypothetical combination between Xerjoff's "Starlight" and Nishane's "Ani", it is the evolution of the EDP that dominates here in the opening of the extrait. What I mean by that is the EDP evolves from this pastry smell to a soft woody-balsamic scent with a smoky background whereas the extrait from minute ~5 or so, on skin, is this smoky-balsamic soft sweet scent. If you can imagine a hypothetical gourmand scent from Amouage, that's what you get here in the extrait's base on skin.

You can get a different vibe for the scent depending on your body temperature. To test the longevity on this, I put on 4 sprays on both arms 9:30 in the morning, knowing I would go to the gym at 5pm. Sitting at my computer, the extrait remained there even without heat as this smoky-balsamic scent while the original was almost entirely gone by hour 4-5. Once I got to the gym, with both scents 8 hours in, the extrait would radiate around a foot's worth - people would notice it when walking by. With heat, you get a smoky-vanilla, definitely sweeter than it is while just sitting around. The original was actually still there also, but you'd have to smell it from up close and even then it was not that noticeable.

Ratings.
Scent: Extrait is an 8.5, EDP is a 9. The original [EDP] keeps the best parts of the scent in tact both in the air and on skin.
Longevity: Extrait will give 10-12 hours at a relevant strength level, original I'd estimate 7-8 hours. So extrait gets a 9, EDP gets a 7.
Sillage: It's a bit hard for me to rate this still, even after 2 days of full-wears, but I believe the EDP is a 6 - it will be noticeable for 3-4 hours at arm's length; the extrait is likely to get at least 6 hours at arm's length, I'd give it an 8.
Bottle: It's the same bottle, to me it's an 8 - on par with Roja, Amouage etc. I might be giving them too much here even.
Value: So why am I buying the extrait at €350 over the original at €230 (to add - after a 15% discount, my relative prices are 297.50€ vs. 195.50€). To me, the extra 2 points on longevity and sillage make the extrait the better preposition since I love scents that command attention and the final price is half what I paid for Sultan. I'd value both an 8, but if you are fine with a less screechy scent in the form of the EDP, that could be a 9.

When you just smell the 2ml sample vial without even spraying it, it gives a lot of accords - the first thing you notice is the sweetness, but that is quickly followed with a deep smoky undertone. These same accords are transferred onto paper or skin. I partially get why people think it's fruity in the vial, but that won't show when you actually spray it.

So what does it smell like and what do the notes remind me of? If you just smell it on paper, the sweetness that you will notice at the top is driven by the licorice root, very similar to the vibe you get when you smell Initio's Oud for Happiness, a fresh-sweet all-year scent. On skin, at the opening, I get more smoky and ambery than I get the sweetness, but I do see some similarities in the air to Royal Crown's Sultan, a vanilla-oud gourmand, once we get out of the instant drydown.

As the scent evolves, it gets darker and darker. The base hits in a different way - I would compare it to asphalt being installed or a burnt tire (my interpretation of what the birch tar base note does). This hydrocarbon-type vibe is something you see in some other scents, e.g. Xerjoff's Don and Carner's Cuirs. You really have to smell it from up close to notice it.

The base has that Amouage DNA, but this is nothing like the animalic oud you get from Opus XIII Silver Oud (I saw it in the "Reminds me of" section of the other website). The birch tar and tobacco serve as a solid base to build upon, and the smoky-resinous spiciness is not something that goes away. Closer to Interlude, but there's not really anything like this in the market. Think of it as an evolution for the fruity-leather profile while also not being as "safe for work".

One thing that I do notice is that this doesn't actually perform as strong as some of the other scents from Amouage. Note: I am yet to try this in cold weather, given we are in August. My opinions are likely to change on this part, but for now, I think this sillage is not more than average (7/10) and the longevity will be there, but it won't be infinite-level like some oud fragrances (8/10 max).

I've tried a lot of stuff since I got into the hobby more than a year ago now, and this is an absolute standout. Certain to add it by the end of the year if not sooner. Extremely unique creation and not something that Amouage does a lot as a house (i.e. combining sweetness with harshness). I say that after I just went through Amouage's 12x2ml men's discovery. Objectively, this has too much going on for it to be mainstream and blind-buy safe, but if you're somebody that does this for the art of it and wants something that nobody else has, this is literally made for you. This isn't Naxos and this isn't Herod.

I had been looking to break into both end-game and lesser-known niche perfumery for a while, once I had established a significant foothold in and understanding for several mainstream niche brands like Marly, Initio, Xerjoff etc. Royal Crown was atop the pyramid as an end-game brand through a combination of pricing and notoriety, but exposure to the house was difficult as they don't sell samples directly and their customer support... well, let's just say they're not all that active.

Writing this review today, it all came back to me. My first experience with Sultan was in London. I was surprised to find out that Roja Dove is a fan of the house and sells it in his Haute Parfumerie on the top floor in Harrods (Knightsbridge in London). I went through the six bottles that were on the stall on strips, one-at-a-time, beginning with Sultan and Khan, then moving to Ytzma and Rose Masquat, and lastly to Rain and Ambrosia. Sultan and Khan impressed even on paper, but as I moved to the fresher profiles, the less impressed I became with the house. A bit like meeting your heroes and they're not everything you had hoped. I'm still waiting to get a true feel for the house once they begin offering samples because blind-buying a 50ml for €400+ requires quite the courage.

But the strips weren't where my experience with Sultan ended. I went back the next day and asked the VERY friendly salesman for a full wear. After the green light, I started to apply the scent. 3 on both sleeves, 1 on each side of the neck, 2 on the back of the neck, all of it on the dress shirt that I was wearing to the team meeting with my employer in an hour. I closed my eyes and it engulfed me, it filled my soul.

Sultan's profile is rare in perfumery - it is a true end-game gourmand. What floats around in the air is a dense, sweet cloud. Very heavy on the vanilla and amber, does not have boozy or floral aspects to it. The base is a very different type of balsamic/medicinal wood that is effectively never used in gourmand scents.

It was only after leaving Harrods that I had realized that my spraying was not just aggressive, but also excessive. Walking through central London, I could not even escape my own scent cloud. It helps being a confident extravert, because I got looks, a lot of looks. I took the tube (London's version of a metro/underground) back to Victoria. In the carts/wagons of the tube, keeping the window slightly down at the end of the cart is encouraged for better ventilation. The experience in the store was one thing, but standing there, even next to the slightly tilted-down window in a hot metro, it took Sultan to a whole new level. It was a type of sillage and strength that I had never experienced. To the raggedly-clothed man that stood opposite of me for 5 minutes before lowering the window to the bottom, my sincerest of apologies.

Few stand at the top as it relates to gourmand fragrances. There are two scents that I've tried which do this much - Kilian's "Intoxicated" and Roja's "Sweetie Aoud". If you've tried either of these two, you'd have a fair understanding for what Sultan is able to achieve at the peak of its powers. I was browsing other websites to see comparables and the top two on the other primary website were Initio's Absolute Aphrodisiac and Atelier des Ors' Lune Feline. I tried Lune Feline back in May 2022 when this Sultan review was written, and subsequently added a bottle in August 2022 - as far as my sampling goes, I would say this is the most accurate comparison. You mainly get cardamom rather than vanilla in the open, and it dries smokier than Sultan, but you achieve a lot of the same. The Initio stands out in a different way, i.e. I get more of a burnt caramel in the air than vanilla and the base is very medicinal, reminding me of cough syrup. Absolute Aphrodisiac leans more feminine to me.

I don't feel the need to spend time on most of the ratings for Sultan - we are talking an elite end-game gourmand with 12h+ longevity, these two are 10/10s. I've gotten 10/10 sillage, but mostly in hotter weather and with plenty sprays. The average wear will have a sillage of around 8-9 (and it doesn't pop the most in winter weather either). The bottles of Royal Crown, to me, are among top 2 for niche with the lovely crown caps that have the encrusted jewels in them. The only other house whose packaging I love this much is Xerjoff. The bottle actually doesn't tell the whole story either because you get this incredible case as well, just like Xerjoff. What I do want to discuss is price because Royal Crown sells the 100ml for €579. While I feel comfortable with the $ paid, I objectively cannot say that this is more than good value. Once you get into this price bracket and you don't have the $ to constantly buy at this price point, I don't think you'll ever feel like you got 10/10 for your money. If you like the Initio or the Atelier des Ors just slightly less for 2/5 the money, Sultan becomes a luxury. The only question is what is that luxury worth to you?

Edit (4th Feb '23): After ATH published his video reviewing the scent, I adjusted sillage down for the sake of an honest review. I previously had it at a 10, but I don't think I'd ever get a 10/10 sillage unless I was wearing Sultan in hot weather or with a serious amount of sprays.