Attar/Mukhallat of the Day

[Mr.P]

Sweet orange is easy to overlook. If you are working on some blend and all is good but the top notes are frustratingly sour or funky in some way, a little sweet orange sweetens without any odd boozy fruity notes. Just amazing. It also evaporates quickly so it doesn't really mess with your overall scent too much.

 

[Oudhseeker]

By a divine predisteny, I ran into an old old oud warehouse on the highway connecting Makkah and Jeddah. There I met a 31 year old man who has the remaining stock of oud woods, oils and blends as well as other precious aromatics dating back to the 80s. I sampled some of the blends his father made and I was blown away...those blends are literally Ghaliyas in their truest form. I snatched a tola from him, and couldn't be happier. He disclosed to me some tricks and tips on how to make a decent smelling mukhallat. Now I need to procure the necessary ingredients to try out my luck in blending oud with musk, rose and ambergris.

 

[soulfoud]

For any of you guys experimenting, I have found tonka to be the most amazing material. It easily gets out of hand and when it does it is still interesting. I could go on and on… [...]

I had an interesting experience with Eden's tonka butter the other day. On it's own it has a dominant almond note. Pleasant enough, but not terribly interesting. I was working with Fraterworks labdanum absolute, trying different materials with it to tone down what I perceive to be a fruity aspect. A 2:1 blend of tonka and labdanum blew me away. It was sweet, ambery, resinous, creamy, and vanillic without a trace of almond. It's amazing how a material can be so completely transformed in a simple combination.

 

[User]

For any of you guys experimenting, I have found tonka to be the most amazing material. It easily gets out of hand and when it does it is still interesting. I could go on and on… Starting to develop blends with it has subtly changed the way my house smells amazingly enough and it's very pleasant. Anyway I've tried two different tonka extracts one is a solid granular crystalline material that I got from perfumers supply house. The other is a syrup like liquid which came from fraterworks and is their signature tonka. I've made identical blends using both.

There's something in the Fraterworks extract which seems kind of like an accessory note - and I find it distracting in the blends where I've wanted to have a strong impact of tonka. The material from perfume supply house smells much more like actual Tonka beans, and seems to be a little bit more true true nature extraction. It may be that there's something very desirable about the more expensive fraterworks product but this is one that for me seems a bit off… The accessory notes are kind of toasty and sweet, sort of like caramelized sugar but also odd in some unique way that I can't connect to another scent - like some kind of cooked down syrup. These notes are pleasant but they seem like something that isn't in the tonka beans themselves (at least the ones that I've seen).

Tldr: tonka absolute is wonderful; i prefer PSH to FW for this one

I tried tonka for the first time recently and it was the one from Apothecary’s garden.

I simply swiped it neat and it was beautiful that way. Not super interesting but very pleasant to me, which makes me think it would be a nice note in perfume.

I tried it in a couple blends and it didn’t work but I have no doubt it will be useful in some other way. Not to mention that there were other problems with the blend I used it in.

 

[Mr.P]

I had an interesting experience with Eden's tonka butter the other day. On it's own it has a dominant almond note. Pleasant enough, but not terribly interesting. I was working with Fraterworks labdanum absolute, trying different materials with it to tone down what I perceive to be a fruity aspect. A 2:1 blend of tonka and labdanum blew me away. It was sweet, ambery, resinous, creamy, and vanillic without a trace of almond. It's amazing how a material can be so completely transformed in a simple combination.

Tonka butter is interesting. Quite different from the absolute!

I tried tonka for the first time recently and it was the one from Apothecary’s garden.

I simply swiped it neat and it was beautiful that way. Not super interesting but very pleasant to me, which makes me think it would be a nice note in perfume.

I tried it in a couple blends and it didn’t work but I have no doubt it will be useful in some other way. Not to mention that there were other problems with the blend I used it in.

It's very simple and sweet on the one hand, but has some interactions with florals and resins that I find to be very appealing. Also very nice to have an additional sweet fixative.

The absolutes are worth checking out in my opinion. I almost feel like they were made for tobacco accords which is something I've been meaning to play around with

 

[User]

It's very simple and sweet on the one hand, but has some interactions with florals and resins that I find to be very appealing. Also very nice to have an additional sweet fixative.

The absolutes are worth checking out in my opinion. I almost feel like they were made for tobacco accords which is something I've been meaning to play around with

Exactly. As a sweetener it is great. Adjacent to vanilla but different.

I have only tried the one specimen but no doubt I will try other forms of it at some point.

And with tobacco sounds divine. Obviously vanilla is great with tobacco and I think tonka can take the place of vanilla in a lot of applications, or supplement.

I have it on my list to make a vanilla and tobacco scent so I will keep this in mind as something to try. That is a general perfume profile that I have always liked the idea of, but every particular perfume I try is a little off and I want to perfect it somehow.

I’d have to guess that this combination is already used somewhere.

 

[Ashfaque]

Chaval d'Arabie (Sultan Pasha): A rose-oud composition in Khaliji style with lots of balsams, resins, animalics and a unique pulsating and animalic leather. Perfect in cooler weather.

 

[Mr.P]

I am completely surprised by this tobacco absolute. It has classic tobacco leaf aroma but more complex than i am used to - has a phenolic aspect which resembles castoreum and oud in an almost smokey sense; new mown hay and to my nose it is a bit musky. It is nicotine free as well which is not something to be taken for granted

 

[Kabir Attars]

RBO Montreal this Ittar is sublime.

 

[Xerohome]

White Kyara by AA
Perfumes can not get better than that. Spicy, choclatey, oudy, a bit of cinnamon, woody, and a background of haze sweetness, on top of all of that it gives me the coldness of kyara on the heater.

 

[Zubayr]

Naseem - Mesoud

I was really excited for this attar plus some others when I ordered them, but when I smelled it from the bottle I was a little revolted

I finally got the courage to put a tiny bit on, and after letting sit for a few mins it smells amazing. There's so much going on I don't even know how to describe it. Depending on how strongly I take a sniff, I get different notes. There is still an underlying pissy smell, but hoping that fades away

Man brother Mehmet was right, there's too much castoreum in here😂

 

[Relitaliano]

Haha I love that. I wasn’t aware of what’s happening in Haiti, already too much going on on this side. Thanks for letting me know, I’ll get a couple of ounces.
Do you recommend the double distilled or normal one?

Double Distilled from Eden is more linear than its Haitian Counterpart, (blends very well with citrus or florals while lending excellent fixitive properties) which is quite nuanced and has a citrus/grapefruit drydown which is spectacular. Both have great Tenacity, with the Double Distilled being off the charts 18+ hours on the skin.

Favorites in order of appreciation:

1.) Java- Deep, Dark, very Smokey, almost boozy, wish longevity was better on skin (6-8 hrs), usually blend with double distilled for boosted tenacity

2.) Haitian or Double distilled (Tie)- both are fantastic with the citrusy drydown of the regular Haitian having a slight preference (16+ hrs on skin)

3.) Madagascar- Wow…Very complex, Slightly Smokey, Dark, Coffee, Cacao, and changes drastically with great tenacity on the skin (10+ hrs on skin)

4.) Indian- Has components of Java and Haitian mixed, with less Smokey facets from Java and if you removed the Citrusy notes from the Haitian while adding a light green vegetal backbone. Has the worst tenacity on skin (4-6 hrs) and I always combine with DD or Haitian

 

[Maunamoku]

“Soroor”, @mesOUD.

Remarkable composition. It has mellowed and clarified even more as it’s aged, revealing delicately composed, harmonious mid- and back- notes. Such a rare experience to find. Transportive and regal.

 

[User]

Al Shareef Yaqoot 2

This stuff is great. Still trying to pick apart the notes but it’s overall it’s very Oudy and musky. This is a style of attar that I just really like.

Does anyone know what particular oud is used in this attar? Al Shareef just says it’s Malaysian in the description.

 

[Kabir Attars]

EO's Sultan Leather Ghaliyah very complex oil opens citrus sweet but then becomes leathery smokey hints of birch tar notes Rose notes blended in the birch tar a salty note that you can almost taste. Need more time with this oil.

 

[Saudalhajri]

View attachment 43286
@An Najwa Ruh Khus Ateeq
A very clean, refined, aged traditional rug khus, the notes are all present and detectable yet rounded and balanced perfectly.
The other Ruh Khus is like a modern representation of the Ateeq, subtler, less earthy more green, almost citrusy, fresher smelling.

I have just arrived from a long camping trip in the mountains of Najed, my nose is too full of campfire smoke and camel grazing grounds, and I’m very very tired, so this needs a revisit later when I’m more relaxed.
A special thanks to An Najwa for the many samples he sent, you’re very generous, and I loved every one of them, I will order some of them inshallah later after a long, careful smelling session or ten.

 

[Olfactory Nomad]

Al - Hind Oud - Bilquis with added white ambergris. I had to have the smallest of sneaky smells as it's been in there for a couple of weeks. The ambergris has now melted and blended really well and added (to my nose so far) a slight vanilla mellow muskiness to it. This is going to be great!

 

[The Scent Guru]

Maison Anthony Marmin Imperial Ambergris.

May or may not be natural (I've asked him and got an obtuse answer) but he does have a way to frame a note. I think MAM is very enjoyable and inexpensive by comparison. What say you?

 

[Zubayr]

Maison Anthony Marmin Imperial Ambergris.

May or may not be natural (I've asked him and got an obtuse answer) but he does have a way to frame a note. I think MAM is very enjoyable and inexpensive by comparison. What say you?

I have a lot of his attars and I regularly wear them when I go out. Like you said, very enjoyable and inexpensive by comparison

 

[Fragdoctor]

Wore camboscena by katana to work today - Cambodian oud, isparta rose and sandalwood. Nothing fancy, just the regular oud and rose, simple and easy to wear.