Makkah Blend
Abdul Samad Al Qurashi

Makkah Blend by Abdul Samad Al Qurashi is a very nice, smooth floral oud with a big fat cushion of musk under its tail. It leans slightly feminine, because of the floral aspects, but I see no reason why a man couldn't pull it off. Compared to the two ASAQ blends I've tried thus far - the Black Musk Gahazal / Deer Musk, and Royal Amber - this is definitely less challenging and more conventional. The opening is nicely fresh and citrusy, with a large dose of bergamot, but I am pleased to see that this is not pushed so far as to become overly green and pungent (as in the Amousage Salamah attar) or household lemon pledge-like (as in the first hour of Majid Iterij's otherwise lovely and haunting Al Safa). This is smooth all the way.

The heart and base notes, which hit your nose in one stream, as this is not your traditional top-down pyramid, are floral and musky. The florals are supposedly wildflowers, but in my experience, wildflowers are just pretty-looking weeds and surely impossible to harvest a consistent smelling tincture or oil out of them anyway....so let's agree that the wildflower thing is probably a fantasy note. The florals smell blurry and pleasant, but not definable as one flower or another. The musk is very pleasant. Even though I have seen notes indicating that there is deer musk in this, it is so white and inoffensive-smelling that this particular deer must have had his man bits neutered off of him before being scraped into this fragrance.

All in all, a very nice, pleasant, high-quality oil that will suit anyone who is looking for a quiet, floral-musky fragrance and who doesn't want to be challenged overly much. The white musk drydown is a bit generic for my tastes, as I feel I've smelled this type of accord before in other CPOs and for a lower price too, but it's good stuff and definitely worth trying.