Qurashi Blend AAA
Abdul Samad Al Qurashi

This is very pleasant and easy to wear. The opening is bright and bristling with what feels like a ton of green-yellow bergamot or other citrus oils, a clean, almost antiseptic musk, and a dry, bright oud accord. The oud here is supposedly an aged oud, but I have to say that it feels as brightly medicinal as some of the Montale synthetic ouds - I say this not as a bad thing, just that the aged oud does not take up the center stage as I had been expecting it to. The opening is strikingly similar to the tingly, bergamot-tinged opening of Black Aoud, actually, although Qurashi Blend AAA is obviously completely natural and has none of the synthetic screech of the Montale.

The similarities with Black Aoud are fleeting, however, and soon Qurashi Blend takes up the shape it will occupy for the rest of its (rather long) life on my skin - a bergamot-citrus-spice top shimmering over a warm, delicious amber, musk and oud combination. The base is warm, deep, and sweet, forming a snug pillow on which the bright, lemony top can sparkle to its heart content. I see this as a sunny-day scent, or the type of thing to put on to lift a rainy day - happiness in a little bottle. Despite the advertised presence of aged oud, it never really comes across as an oud-centric scent. There is a warm buzz of dry, slightly smokey woods far back along the backbone, but it stays there, politely, allowing the citruses and amber to shine through.

It's a lovely scent - nothing too unconventional or unique, but very nicely done, and with impeccable materials, as you would expect from ASAQ and at this price point. It lasts a long time, roughly ten hours (less than, let's say, the Heritage Blend from ASAQ, which lasts for a day and a bit), but what's really impressive is that the bright, citrusy top notes are extended right through the life of the fragrance and remain warm and sparkling for far longer than you might imagine a bergamot accord to last. I would recommend this scent for a man or a woman who is looking for a sunny, bergamot and amber-loaded fragrance to last them all day, a sort of all-natural Shalimar Light - a lemon pie married to a rich, woody, ambery base.