Santal Wood
Ajmal (2014)

Love this.
A rich, luxurious blend of superlative quality built around the finest Indian Sandalwood.
Ajmal has long had a reputation for innovative fragrances made from the finest and most exotic ingredients combining elements of traditional Middle Eastern, Indian and European perfumery.
My introduction to Ajmal came circa 2012 when exploring Oud and Middle Eastern perfumery and I still have a number of Ajmal limited editions of Oud, Ambergris and Sandalwood.

As a lover of Sandalwood and a fan of Ajmal I was drawn to Santal Wood and had very high hopes.
Thankfully this was a blind buy that exceeded my expectations.

Santal Wood is part of Ajmal's W line (along with Rose Wood, Incense Wood, Hatkora Wood, Patchouli Wood, Amber Wood) and as a prestige product is luxuriously presented: the box is black and textured to feel like leather, with a gold metallic plaque.
Unboxing is like opening a pharoah's sarcophagus - the flacon inside is solid black glass like obsidian with another gold plaque.
A gift fit for a king - or for one's inner monarch.

*It's essential to give the bottle a really good shake* because Santal Wood contains a remarkably high percentage of essential oils which settle after long periods in storage or in transit (I failed to do this the first time I tried Santal Wood but after giving it a thorough shake it was like a completely different fragrance)
A beautiful, multifaceted fragrance comprising a symphony of natural notes built around Indian Sandalwood that embodies the finest traditions of Middle Eastern perfumery - floral notes, spices, resins, woods and Oud combine to form an intricate olfactory mosaic redolent of luxury.

There is a beautiful Oud note in Santal Wood that adds warmth and depth (and, considering this is an Ajmal creation, is almost certainly the real thing thing)

It's certainly not cheap, nor does it smell cheap but its quality is truly superlative.
Compared to the ridiculous prices of many niche fragrances of grossly inferior quality and performance Santal Wood represents incredible value for money.

Performance is excellent - longevity is upwards of eight hours, sillage is substantial but polite, the fragrance is sophisticated, luxurious and natural and the dry down is sublime.

Santal Wood is truly magnificent and it gives the wearer an aura of intoxicating Sandalwoodiness that attracts curiosity and elicits compliments.

Even though there is no benzoin or myrrh listed I consider this an Oriental, especially since Oud is really a type of resin, not a wood.
If you're familiar with Middle Eastern style fragrances the beauty of Santal Wood will be easy to appreciate, however if it's your first Middle Eastern style fragrance it might be challenging.
In any case, I love this and wear it for my own pleasure.
If you're a Sandalwood obsessive like me there are two other Ajmal Sandalwoods worth considering: Amber Santal and Purely Orient Santal.

My second try from Ajmal after Amber Wood, Santal Wood is a nice, reasonably-bodied woody entry that has spicy, sharp, and sweet hints, with an underlying layer of rose that is exposed nicely as the fragrance dries down.

It consists primarily of sandalwood and cedarwood with some interesting additives--most notably, cardamom providing spiciness, ginger providing sharpness, and rose providing, well, its signature florality. There are also wee hints of patchouli and oud, but even several hours into the wearing, these are not prominent.

It's mainly a woody fragrance, though, still, though the rose, cardamom, and ginger all provide hints of interest that prevent it from being too safe. Still, there's something about that it that is rather generic and non-distinguishing.

Despite Amber Wood seeming to be the recipient of more of the hype and love, though, Santal Wood seems to me to be the more well-rounded fragrance.

$169 for 100ml (FragranceX, in North America) is nevertheless a bit high of an asking price, even on the secondary market, on account of Santal Wood feeling somewhat generic. Its utility is not to be denied by me, though. It makes for a very reliable cold weather day-and-night scent, leaning masculine slightly but kept unisex particularly by the rose.

I quite like but probably wouldn't consider buying it at its price point--it feels more like something that should be well under $100.

7 out of 10

This fragrance is certainly not a power bomb considering the fact that it is quite mild. However, it lingers on the skin for hours and can be detected after 8 to 12 hours after spraying it.

This can be worn by both a male or female. I don't consider a signature scent but it is certainly of niche quality and has a distinctive personality.