Deer Musk
Abdul Samad Al Qurashi

Surely not a structured fragrance but a molecular musky-resinous (sexually balsamic) "multiveined" odour with a brutal erotic attractivenes. Vegetal/organic/ambery dark musc, profound, beastly and impenetrable. Ambergris is visceral and tinged by arcane floral sparks. Vegetal moss, animalic muscs, honey, roots, perhaps mushrooms, ambergris, dark woods and beasty secretions are mixed in a bursting alchemy. The moan of deers' sex in to the jaws of a dark-green appalling high forests.
P.S: This is an organic musk, definitely animalic but with a deep balsamic kind of woodsy/mossy vibe "from the forest" as well. There is an intensely honeyed ambergris in the mix (carnal, visceral) and the aroma, despite not properly structured, is profoundly sensual, boldly radiant and erotic (vaguely dandy). I recommend it to you if you are a lover of this carnal/vegetal musky genre. A sensual hot potion full of carnal secretions and sin. Enjoy.

I had written an earlier review of this but put it in the wrong place (under Royal Musk Gazelle). But aside from the confusion in names, there also seems to be a bit of confusion over batch variations in this one, the Deer Musk. Apparently, ASAQ have two batches of this floating around - an aged/macerated version, and a lighter version. The earlier sample I tested was very dark, sticky, and almost feral, whereas my current sample of Deer Musk (from another source) is lighter in color, more liquid, and a great deal milder than what I had experienced the first time around.

Anyway, I quite like this version of Deer Musk. It goes on lighter than my previous sample, is less sticky, and later on in the scent's development, I can actually pick up on some of the ambery tones here, and also a sweet, almost grassy note in the late drydown (if CPOs can be said to have a traditional 'drydown' at all - actually, it's more like a gradual fading out of the central accord). However, make no bones about it, the first two hours are taken up with an unmistakable fecal tang. It's the type of fecal tone you get in Muscs Khoublai Khan, but whereas MKK gives off a ferocious fecal yowl for the first five minutes and then starts to pile on the roses, cream, and cozy castoreum to take the sting out of its tail somewhat, Deer Musk is a dirty musk completely unadorned (for the first hour or two at least).

Honestly, I love Muscs Khoublai Khan as much for the way it steers away from a purely fecal tone, and so I decided to play around with the Deer Musk to see if I could layer it successfully with other oils and perfumes. Taking a leaf out of MKK's playbook, which pairs rose with musk, I first tried applying a drop of Amouage's Rose TRO (Turkish Rose Absolute) over a smear of Deer Musk. What an amazing combination this turned out to be! Rose TRO added a creamy, sweet rose accord that softened the blunt force of the dark musk, and the musk added a dark, almost feral undertone to the rose that brought it into animalic rose chypre territory. The Deer Musk provided the requisite darkness and complexity that the rose had been crying out for. Amazing. All it needed was a bit of civet and the scent would approach the soiled-underwear feel of the glorious Rose Poivree (the vintage version) by The Different Company.

My other experiment was to layer the Deer Musk under a drop of Ghoroub (Ghroob) perfume oil from Arabian Oud. This was also good, although perhaps not as sublime as the first blend. But on balance, I found that the Deer Musk again added a creamy, fecal undertow to the innocent, sugary orange blossoms of the Ghoroub oil, rendering it far naughtier than it had any right to be. I always think of Ghoroub oil as a sunny, innocent, happy scent that would be perfect for daytime outings with the family and so on, but the addition of the Deer Musk brought the whole thing into night-time seduction territory. Very nice!

On the whole, I think it would be very interesting to have a tola of this in my collection, not to wear as a standalone per se (I prefer the more rounded composition of MKK for my dark musk needs), but as a layering agent to add a layer of darkness, complexity, and yes, creamy fecal warmth to other, more innocent, sweet floral blends and attars in my collection.

Deer Gazelle Musk opens with a beautiful and complex smell of animalic musk, quite less indolic and considerably less "loud" than I expected. Beautiful contrasting nuances of amber and dusty vanilla create a blend which manages to smell at the same time raw and warm, velvety and refined, with also an unperceivable breeze of flowers providing "colour" and ariosity. They are not in the composition, which is supposed to be pure musk oil, so I guess all this echoes and notes are part of the complexity of this material. The prominent note is however, obviously, musk, which smells animalic and slightly "fecal" but as I said, quite less than I expected (and feared, to be honest). It is much well softened and made gentler by this graceful crown of ambery and floral nuances. Overall, the musk note is quite similar to some extents to oud, with the same slightly indolic and dirty feel, just obviously less woody and less smoky, and more earthy, stale, moldy, dirty. A really interesting and much captivating scent, which can be used and enjoyed on several levels and degrees of appreciation; it is an elegant, shady, masculine (or "bitchy"...) amber-musky scent which can be used as-is, as it's not challenging or "stinky" but rather refined from the very first moment, but the great quality of materials allows you to go deeper and enjoy its evolution and its nuances, pretty much like an imaginative safari tour. No mistakes, no cheap sides, no plastic drydown, pure natural deepness. Plus, being relatively simple complexity-wise, I believe it is built to be used as a "base" too, to create one's own personal scent with other oils from the same house - I think this is part of the routine with Arabian perfumery. Which makes sense and must be surely a great experience - just to "play" a bit I mixed it with a drop of ta'if rose oil from the same brand, the result was amazing (but I must admit I am not a fan of mixing and layering, so I probably won't do that again: too many alternatives and choices, everything may go perfectly with everything... I must be a sad, close-minded Western man too much used to pay noses to do the job for me!). Anyway... finally, everlasting drydown, still there the day after, surviving a shower - but quite close to skin. My final advice would be: get this, together with other ones, maybe in a sample pack. It may appear a bit costly at first, but the experience of enjoying other ways of approaching perfumes may surely be worth it (plus however it smells gorgeous, period).

8,5/10

Have to agree with you Alfarom ASAQ black musk gazelle is truly amazing. It has a very smooth fruity sweaty animalic start than after the initial blast it's truly outstanding, surrounding you with a cloud of smooth warm furry comforting musk.
Another one true try that's even more crazy and extreme is AA Musk Gazelle by Ajmal. It's feral to the point of being antisocial but once layered with another perfume it's outstanding!

Fans of hardcore musks and, more generally, of animalic musks, take note. ASAQ interpretation of the infamous Deer Musk is aimed to represent the main star in its own complexity and multifaceted nature. The fragrance comes in a thick, dark brown, (sort of) sticky oil you have to rub on your skin. It starts off with an extremely animalic blast that, admittedly, can result quite challenging to many. Hold on a bunch of minutes and let it reveal its mesmerizing nature.

After the brutal, almost fecal opening, ASAQ's Deer Musk unveils an extremely complex blend of ambery notes, warm musk and subtle floral nuances. It feels velvety and smooth, soothing and luxurious yet dangerously animalic and carnal. If you dig *westernized* musks a-la Muscs Koublai Kahn and Musk Tonkin or, more generally, animalic fragrances, you ought to yourself to give this bomb a chance because there's nothing like it.

Originally conceived as a base, it does great both layered with other fragrances / oils and as a standalone. Terrific.