Al Fakhr
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The plum and pomegranate flood the senses immediately, tart and almost vinegary, whilst aged pepper pricks the back of the nose with a gentle burn. It's a distinctly fruity assault—concentrated, almost compote-like—that lacks refinement but commands attention.
The jasmine emerges with its indolic, slightly rank quality, tempering the fruit with an earthy florality that feels almost defiant. Turkish rose adds a dusty, powdery dimension, and stink weaves through everything like an untidy thread, creating an oddly magnetic tension between beauty and strangeness.
Vanilla and tonka bean take centre stage, but weakly; the cashmere note struggles to maintain presence. Within a few hours, the fragrance becomes a faint powdery-sweet skin scent, the floral characters nearly inaudible, leaving primarily sweetness and the ghost of that complex heart.
Al Fakhr's Black Oud announces itself as a floral-forward composition that wears its fruit like jewellery—ostentatiously, without apology. The plum and pomegranate don't whisper; they arrive with the aged pepper acting as a sharp-edged intermediary, creating an almost peppery-jammy opening that recalls stewed stone fruits meeting black peppercorn. This is where things become interesting: there's a dusty, slightly fermented quality to the fruit that prevents it from becoming merely gourmand.
The heart reveals night-blooming jasmine and Turkish rose, and here the fragrance's true character emerges. The jasmine carries that indolic, almost animalic weight that quality night bloomers possess—it's not the bright, cheerful jasmine of mass-market florals. Paired with Turkish rose, there's a powdery, slightly greenish undertone that grounds the composition. Then there's stink—a note that, when used judiciously, adds an elusive, almost fecal earthiness that makes a fragrance feel lived-in rather than laboratory-clean. It's subtle enough not to repel, but present enough to lend the floral accord an unsettling sophistication.
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3.9/5 (189)