Where the first rendition took us to a bath house, now we are cleaned up, with the designer jeans on and headed out to a sake house. Different herbs and adult aromatics; this one is a storied one in my collection. Japanese whiskey instead of wheat made from rice (think a sake-whiskey mix). Spiced aromatics that are green. There is some coriander and caramel honey with darkened plum, smoky fruit. I have been to the houses where they have specialty high-heat charcoal grills. Think of putting apricot on the spigot and cooking it. The smell you would have afterward with the shot of whiskey sake is what you get here. Camphor settles in during the middle of the wearing, and it’s clean feeling with a minty medicinal touch on it.
It settles into more of an herbaceous wood fragrance from here on out, while the booze slowly settles off. The sandalwood transitions down into a smoky creaminess that is sweet and amber like with the spices blending in. Overall, this perfume is outstanding. It transitions and gives vibrant notes that are clear and profound. You can tell Taha has worked with these before. It is punchy in all the perfect ways, and oud is the structure of the perfume. Like oakmoss is to a fougere and chypre, the oud is to this category. We need a name for this, but for now, let’s call it “Saura.” This is its own category. Boozy Malay spices and oud. Make no mistake; this is the perfume to have.