Al Hajjar Al'Aswad
Abdul Samad Al Qurashi

THIS is the rose I've been looking for to layer as well as wear alone. Goodness this is beautiful! So dark and full! It feels like a dark swirl of reds and pinks. Exquisite!

lThe opening blast reeks of an intense oud with a delicious dark rose core - a velvety dyad, rich and intoxicating. In the drydown a deep, animalic and dark musk leads this scent into gloomier territory, but there is always a pleasantness, and the absence of any harshness and sharpness is well worth noting.

Rays of sunshine seem to break through at times when floral brightness emerges temporarily, a late-summer saturated floral impression whole presence is fluctuating; the powerful rose-oud-musk core always with in the end. In the last hours I also get whiffs of wood, mainly sandalwood.

The performance is very good with strong sillage, excellent projection and eight hours of longevity on my skin. An excellent rich Arab-oriental composition of this great Mecca house.

1001 nights in a bottle. 4/5

This "neo-old school" in style fragrance (actually a really bright sticky oil) is a gorgeous resinous musky-floral of immense beauty and intense evocative power. Al Hajjar Al'Asward is more affordable and versatile in comparison with many far more intricate juices from Abdul Samad Al Qurashi. The floral exhalations rise up over an extremely musky laundry olfactory base evocative about rare and translucent memories from the childhood when the sunny souther alleys (of the medieval town) used to be pervaded by the laundry aroma of freshly washed clothes (aroma) which used to be mixed with a sort of mouldy humidity exhaling from decrepit basements and cellars. The perfume is dense, floral aromatic, vaguely (may be ostensibly) fruity (apricot like), musky, just minimally incensey, fresh and oily while the note of oud (neither woody nor medicinal) provides in this case just a sort of laundry/naphthalene-like balsamic undertone conjuring the aroma of secret wardrobes, fresh laundry and fragrant bed shits a la So Oud Nud. Elegant and bold. Great.