Malik Al Taif (2018): A Rose Ride on A Bender
A Mini Review
Malik Al Taif (2018) by Russian Adam (of Areej Le Dore) is an olfactive orchestra of rose (Taif and Indian), oud and deer musk. The scent progression on skin is far more complex than on clothes than I expected. It starts off with a very spicy and sparkly rose. Few months ago, whilst it was slightly windy in the mosque, I could clearly smell deer musk - very similar to a deer musk grain maceration in sandalwood that I made, but it is lot deeper and less sharper - followed by some resinous and incensy facets of Indian oud. The oud on me is always dignified, never too loud. One can make MAT loud by wearing 3-4 sprays though! The oud part was a revelation to me - I first thought that someone else was wearing the oud! In later stages, rose becomes almost like a dry down of rose absolutes with some rose lokum like facets - sweeter and ambery. I cannot yet detect Cambodian oud in it - mainly because I have very little experience with ouds of that region, and/or, it is used in a way that is discretely undetectable in order to modify/introduce other facets in this composition.
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| Malik Al Taif (Extrait, 30ml) |
There is also a hint of saffron making it a bit dry, occasionally leathery (depending on the weather) and a bit austere along with that humming oudiness. India rose, which I cannot detect, probably adds some volume through depth to the overall rose profile. I can clearly smell the Taifi rose otto in it, which has quite a distinct top-to-middle progression and profile. I sometimes wear it with some deer musk maceration and Hindi oil. MAT makes my rose-oud fix extra special!
At dry down, when it is slightly warmer, more specifically, higher than 22°C, the oud, musk and resins produce a deeper resinous and incensy and slightly more leathery experience. Conversely, below 22°C, the rose lasts longer - so much so that I can detect it even after 7 hours. In such cases, the rose smells almost like some of the best rose Turkish delights (lokum), partly helped by resins and oud. Here, I find some similarities between the dry downs of rose absolutes from Bulgaria and Turkey (same Rosa damascena variety). Also, the leathery nuances become more restrained and incense and resinous facets are less deeper.
To me, Malik Al Taif is largely a rose-centric perfume on a bender* - gladly ushered into the limelight by its famous allies - namely some gorgeous Indian (and probably Cambodian oud), deer musk absolute and saffron. I now want to wear Juriah from Sultan Pasha on one hand and MAT on the other!
* I 'stole' that term from Sarah McCartney (4160 Tuesdays)
At dry down, when it is slightly warmer, more specifically, higher than 22°C, the oud, musk and resins produce a deeper resinous and incensy and slightly more leathery experience. Conversely, below 22°C, the rose lasts longer - so much so that I can detect it even after 7 hours. In such cases, the rose smells almost like some of the best rose Turkish delights (lokum), partly helped by resins and oud. Here, I find some similarities between the dry downs of rose absolutes from Bulgaria and Turkey (same Rosa damascena variety). Also, the leathery nuances become more restrained and incense and resinous facets are less deeper.
To me, Malik Al Taif is largely a rose-centric perfume on a bender* - gladly ushered into the limelight by its famous allies - namely some gorgeous Indian (and probably Cambodian oud), deer musk absolute and saffron. I now want to wear Juriah from Sultan Pasha on one hand and MAT on the other!
* I 'stole' that term from Sarah McCartney (4160 Tuesdays)
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