Aristocrat
Ajmal (2017)

I would absolutely dread to be within a city block of the reviewer below me. Oh my God, 16 sprays? Of an Ajmal that contains genuine Indian oud?! That’s ghastly to say the least! What in the hell is wrong with that dude. Anymore than 2 sprays from any Ajmal and you can forget about smelling anything in it which creates the illusion perfectly of it being weak. I beg to differ from years of experience with this house.

Anything and everything from Ajmal is unnecessarily strong. You only need apply a teeny tiny bit like 1 spray to smell the entire scent pyramid, and even that creates a strong sillage which will scent your entire body. Aristocrat is a very potent nuke of genuine Indian agarwood, strong musk, woody cedar and deep patchouli on a balmy amber base with strong soapy lily and jasmine flowers as support. All heavy hitting and long lasting notes that are balanced with three distinct stages. Wear time is all day and all night and when worn correctly, sillage is within your personal space after a couple of hours of application.

Believe it or not but this concoction is Ajmal’s take on Chanel’s Bleu eau de parfum, or maybe it’s serendipitous. I know that sounds hard to believe but it’s the truth. Aristocrat is a dead ringer for the Chanel but with a Middle Eastern twist. The oud/musk dry down on this is intoxicating. I love this to pieces. It smells amazing and totally enjoyable to wear. One of Ajmal’s best creations in a while. 2 thumbs way up!

This stuff is so weakly concentrated that getting to know it has been a bit of a chore.

With a couple of sprays, it's practically nothing, just an alcohol smell followed by a dribble of mint.

With 8-10 sprays, a touch of watermelon and apple come through under the alcohol and mint. At this point, I actually enjoyed it, like a very weak but promising watermelon mojito perfume.

With 16 sprays, I finally feel like I smell everything, but it's worse than before, because all the cheap fake fruit and flowers that finally come through make Aristocrat smell really muddled and cheap. Given time, there's just a hint of a spiced amber base, which helps, but is so weak that it's almost pointless.

So I guess that's it. I really wouldn't bother with this, but if someone else could come along and improve on the watermelon mojito idea, I'd appreciate it. There's a good idea there.