Marrakech
Aesop (2005)

Genre: Oriental

No top notes to speak of here – Marrakech launches straight into its central accord of spices and resins, and that's pretty much where it stays for as long as it lasts. Cardamom and clove are both prominent at Marrakech's heart, and the tart, lemony aspect of the cardamom note is the only relief offered in what is otherwise a uniformly dense, opaque composition. The fragrance is potent, tenacious, and projects conspicuously, so you won't need much of it to create an impression.

Marrakech has a peculiarly archaic, even primitive air about it, a quality it shares with certain other spicy/resinous oriental scents, Diptyque's marvelous Eau Lente and bizarre L'Autre not least among them. Marrakech is a simpler composition, much drier than the opopanax-drenched Eau Lente, and without L'Autre's potentially disturbing animalic edge, but if you enjoy the Diptyques' spice market fantasies, you may find Marrakech worth sampling. Me, I find it attractive, but also a might dull after extended wear.

This is a linear fragrance, redolent of clove and bay. In fact it is pretty much a modern Bay Rhum. Some cinnamon in the dry down.

As such it is pleasant but no award winner. If you want a more complex and longer lasting Bay Rhum, choose L.T. Piver's Reve d'Or lotion. A strong spicy blast that lasts all day.

This would be perfectly pleasant at a price not higher than $30/bottle. However, it prices itself at way beyond that modest sum, and so for me, is unaffordable. No problem though, as I'd spend $15 on Reve before I'd spend $75 on Marrakech.

The longevity is rather an issue, but while it lasts it is a genuinely intersting scent with lots of clove, freshly cracked pepper and other spices up front. Apparently it is all natural (does that explain the longevity?). In its heart it can seem almost grubby and earthy. Certainly interesting, but a bit homespun?

Marrakech is one of my favorite places, and this fragrance doesn't really provide much of the old déjà vu. The fragrance is very smoky and spicy… Chai tea. It's a fragrance that makes a strong statement: There's depth and darkness and drama in the fragrance… much more darkness than the actual city has. Marrakech, the city, I experienced as bright and direct and full of life. Marrakech the fragrance seems dark, dramatic, and even a bit sinister. Even though it is replete with drama and darkness – with a smoky and spicy demeanor – it can be carried off successfully because it is in reality a rather light fragrance sillage-wise. Once the spices settle down, Marrakech is a wearable skin scent for as long as it lasts... and lasting is its major weakness: It has way too limited longevity.

There're possibilities with Marrakech, and its uniqueness is admirable, but I wish Trebor hadn't mentioned that thing about fried seasoned chicken legs (in his now deleted review), because now I sometimes think that I catch a gourmand note, and I momentarily see myself as having rubbed spicy fried chicken all over my body. This is not an olfactory or visual image that I appreciate. My major complaint, though, is that, even though it is truly an interesting fragrance, it doesn't last more than an hour on my skin.