Akaba
Antonio Visconti

Akaba is one of the more successful examples of this house's style which tends towards the dense and unwashed, classical in composition but sometimes just plain weird to the nose. Most I am quite happy to keep at arm's length; Akaba I'll gladly allow to get a bit closer.
The characteristic density is here as well; the opening reads like licorice-accented toffee with a hefty dose of sweaty salt. But given time, the perfume opens up – though not an awful lot – to reveal an unusual harmony of fudgy tones balanced with woods and herbs. The fudge side is represented by a gooey blend of tobacco, patchouli, tonka and vanilla, almost too rich a confection. But it is sliced through by the salt and dry woods – artemisia, sharp cedar, petrified sandal. Pinning these two aspects together is what I consider to be the central note of this perfume, the salty, sweet and rooty licorice, a wonderful extract used here far removed from the headache-inducing variants found in drugstore ‘masculines'. The result is a perfume a bit like an olive – many will never acquire the taste, while others won't know when to stop.