No. 3 isn’t a complicated fragrance. Complex, yes—the oud alone is layered enough to keep your nose guessing for hours—but it’s meant to simply be an elegant oud-rose perfume pampered with the rarest musk anybody can access. The kind of elegance only the choicest aromatics marinated together can produce; ones it’s been a joy and privilege to have access to and share with you today.
EO No 3 (EDP)
Powerful, pristine Ta’ifi rose ottos dominate the diffusive profile. Layer upon layer upon layer of rose, fleeting whispers of pear and…
No. 1 was released three years ago, so I know this has been a while coming. I wanted to seal the EO trilogy with a special perfume that will garner the same reputation its predecessors have, and the wait has paid off…
Those of you who have been on this journey with us for the last couple of decades will remember the Ward Sultani we were bequeathed in 2007. We’ve smelled plenty of roses but have not encountered anything that quite compares to what comes out of Sultan Qaboos’ private archives.
It took fourteen years of searching the world over… 28 harvests of the finest Himalayan, Bulgarian, Turkish, Japanese, Austrian, and French roses to encounter the likes of it again. Only thing is, it wasn’t from any of those harvests… The rose oil I’m talking about reached us directly from the Royal Archives of the great Sultan once again, after all these years…
No 1 was an ode not just to leather but also high-grade oud oil as the star of the show in artisanal perfumery. So too, No. 3 is a Royal tribute not only to the mother of all roses—vintage Ta’ifi oil from the greatest collection of Ta’ifi rose oils the world has ever known—it is also an extravagant take on what made Nos. 1 & 2 game-changers in their respective genres: Oud and Musk…
EO3 incorporates equally ridiculous amounts of oud and musk as went into making its predecessors while glorifying the finale in this EO trilogy with the world’s finest Ta’ifi rose to create a rose-oud-musk to end all rose-oud-musks once and for all.
I did so many permutations of this perfume, and with each and every one of them, we either end up losing money when compared to what the neat oils would command on their own—or hardly breaking even.
The same was true for the No. 1 & 2 OGs as well at the time. We were up against a market awash in cheap ingredients, unable to fathom the caliber oud, precious florals, and other exotic aromatics that went into making those perfumes. The prices were a PR investment. It hits you harder when you look back at all the vintage ouds that went into crafting those fragrances… and are now gone for good as a result.
No. 3 is no different. You’re basically paying for the retail cost of the Royal Ta‘ifi rose and decades-aged Myitkyina Oud. The rest of the ingredients, Italian leather, and accessory costs are included on the house as a free gift… along with the Tibetan, Tonkin, and Mongolian musks, and old, old ambergris from the royal court, the likes of which you’d be pulling nails to acquire today.
In many ways, No. 3 is my ultimate Ghalia. The historic rarities that made up ancient ghalias are literally in this perfume. Vintage Myitkyina oud you can’t make today, not for love or money, infused with a melange of musks each in all likelihood centuries-old, exalted with any perfumers most beloved ingredient: rose. But not just any rose—Ta’ifi rose extracted decades ago, for a man whose wallet had no limit.
The fragrance is old-school Sultani style. From black pepper to mandarin to nutmeg and rosewood, there’s a sweet-spicy chord that’s practically unrecognizable by itself but is interwoven into fat layers of olde oud and tonnes of Royal Ta’ifi that lets you literally smell like the Sultan would have smelled. The Sultani signature, those rich, diffusive liqueur heavy rose oud wafts that smell of another time.
First Testimonials Are In…
Got my EO3 today as well. Still gathering my impressions. It’s close to SRR (Sultan Red Rose) but more sparkling and in the beginning almost citrusy. Undoubtedly one of the crown jewels in my collection.
This is Truly amazing, it’s hard to keep your nose away from my hand! Highly intoxicating! It’s blowing my mind!
“EO3 made such an enormous though simple impression on me. It’s the same heart-stirring emotion that gardening gives me, or caring for my cat… it’s the puerile manifestation of love that makes me giggle.
The balance of beauty and playfulness is what attracts me so intensely to this fragrance. The opening is so incredibly fresh and bright it captures the headspace of the most opulent rose imaginable. It comes across citrusy and ripe, though I hardly detect sweetness, but lightly balsamic and almost tangy notes instead.
There’s not a heavy vibe about it, even in the late stages of development, the ambergris seems to lift and brighten the oud and base accords. I’ve also noticed the silage of this fragrance projects so much more musk than I get smelling it directly. This really adds to the charm of the composition—to get to experience it all again when you retrace your steps! Magnificent!”
Mitchell S. • USA
I’m wearing SRR (Sultan Red Rose) today and wore EO3 on Saturday and I’m still debating which I like more. The rose is so different in both… love the non-powdery approach of EO3 though.
Okay so I try to put in words, what I got so far. If this perfume is anything NOT, then it’s sharp, green or edgy. It’s the smoothest, freshest, most jammy rose I have ever smelled. Every drop of bitterness seems to be pulled out of it to make it as pure as possible. The „trifecta of musk“ as EO called it in his mail is adding the creaminess. It’s not as animalic as I thought it would be. More like the musk-part in „NFU“ Sweet, creamy and slightly sparkling. The Taifi has these citrusy, slightly mentholated nuances, which perfectly balance out the sweetness of the composition and the Oud adds a fine woody quality deep in the base.
It’s literally the most luxurious smell I have ever smelled. Everything ends here. There is no above. I found my grail.
It’s amazing. I’m going to wear it again tomorrow. I needed to work today, so I wore something less distracting to me. All I could do yesterday is sit and absorb the bubble of fragrance around me.
My first impressions of EO3 as many are asking: It’s so wonderful! You get all the beautiful aspects of the most elegant rose and the lemon Adam wrote, it’s truly there. To my nose, there’s a lime like feel behind the rose which is very reminiscent of a sweet lemon tart. The musky rose is so silky smooth. Definitely a crowd pleasing perfume. I haven’t done a full wearing as I’m already wearing something today. But I could not take my nose away from where I applied EO3. Adam did not exaggerate when he said this could easily be a $1500 perfume.
“Feels like I had been waiting to type the words #EO3 for years. This one completes the trio, and very early thoughts are positive. Very jammy and citrusy rose top with ambergris and a heavy dose of musk. Some oud in the background, albeit not much right now…”
carlitoismael • USA
I finally got to experience a rose I have never thought that I would smell in my lifetime. It is like your smelling the petals rather than the green stems or leaves. Pure and rich, with the musk being present throughout. I find a citrus dancing with the sweet rose petals but cant figure which ingredient it is. The oud is present when you first spray it, after an hour I get a lot of rose and musk overall. I still need to spend some time with this elegant but fierce piece of art. Thank you brother Ensar Oud.
I am about one hour into my first wearing of EO3 and I think it’s excellent. Ethereal, but very present. Beautiful musk and tart rose with something slightly leathery in the background. I am guessing that’s the oud. Worthy of the EO3 name.
Just got mine: love at first sniff.
The best rose that I’ve ever smelled 🤤 Pure art in a bottle. I’m really glad that I could get this fragrance for my collection; every time I spray it it feels so good. The smell and the projection of this one is so powerful.
I haven’t been a big fan of rose fragrances until I’ve tried this one and it changed my mind on 🌹 completely. Everything in this fragrance is so well balanced and it keeps getting me compliments over compliments. The musk, the Taifi, the ambergris, the oud and all the other good ingredients that went into this masterpiece are a 100% olfactory satisfaction.
I’ve only spent 3 days with EO No.3 and the Legends sampler. And I’ve become regretful to have spent the past 3 years lost in the rabbit hole of fragcom, and all that comes with it. I loved my fragrances, because they were all I’ve known was possible. Now that I’ve discovered Artisanal Oud my beliefs were catapulted with the sheer bliss. I’m thankful to Allah, to have created you.
A perfume which only kings buy for their queen, but both use em cuz its that good.
Amazing…. I’m at a loss for words at the moment. For now I’ll leave it at amazing. I’ll come up with something more eloquent tomorrow, but wow! Ensar you are a genius brother, thank you for your art, vision and your passion.
The Taif is such an incredible note in this composition it’s one of the smoothest blends yet.
EO3: A Rose Oud Fougere
I’ve read some impressions of EO3 regarding it as a simple composition. I could easily be wrong but I don’t think this is the case. It is in fact very complex, but the impression of simplicity is a testament to the brilliance of its formulation.
EO3 seems simple because its ingredients form a fougere accord, which is a traditional French perfume type dating back to the late 19th century in Fougere Royale by Paul Parquet, part owner of Houbigant. Fougere means “fern-like” and is still one of the most popular types of men’s fragrances. It was the first perfume to use coumarin, which is a synthetic, but this can be substituted with tonka bean. Some traditional ingredients that go into a fougere that give it that soapy barbershop vibe are labdanum, tonka or coumarin, lavender, bergamote, oakmoss, vetiver, geranium. For EO3 I believe some of the notes are tonka, vanilla, coffee, cocoa, cardamon, cinnamon, frankincense, bergamote, yuzu, oakmoss, lavender, vetiver, and labdanum…. so not exactly a simple composition!
An accord can come off as simple because it’s very difficult to perceive its building blocks, another example of this is “powdery”, which is in fact a classic fragrance made up of several ingredients but for most these ingredients are not able to be recognized. The base ingredients in baby powder are vanilla, ylang, rosewood, geranium, lavender, jasmine, and maybe some others. These are easily recognizable on their own but when combined into an accord they meld into one.
For a comparison to popular fragrances I’ve sampled or owned in the past, EO3 is most similar to the original formulations of Lyric Man and Homage Attar by Amouage. Although the quality of EO3 easily surpasses these classics, never mind the far inferior current versions, hopefully this gives a reference for the kind of fragrance EO3 is.
The rose and oud used in EO3 are incredible, as you’d expect. The Taif rose is very recognizable and together with musk makes the perfume very diffusive and it has exceptional projection and silage for a natural perfume. Musk and ambergris are more of an enhancement to this composition rather than main players but their presence is obvious. The musk is very clear and wispy, making for something closer to a clean skin scent rather than anything more animalic. From what I’ve experienced so far this is likely Tonkin musk which is very old and has lost a lot of its secondary notes, leaving a very pure experience of musk without elaboration.
Finally, it’s difficult to convey the quality of both the ingredients and the composition itself. Both are exceptional. I don’t even know how you can put a value on something like this, as it’s very unique. It makes what many consider high-end fragrances seem like dollar-store synthetics. Like EO1 and EO2, it has a familiar backbone yet its execution is unique, using top notes such as yuzu, and the quality of the composition transcends its exceptional ingredients in the way the best fragrances do — it’s more than the sum of its parts. EO3 is one of the best fragrances I’ve ever experienced and one of the very few I know is a 5-star fragrance without having to own it and use it for an extended period of time. It’s hard to come up with enough superlatives.
EO3 is so good that I felt compelled to respond to this email with my thoughts as requested and also just to compliment you guys in general on this release. Nice work and thank you. My thoughts on the fragrance:
First, to describe the scent bubble I get from one spray to the chest in one word:
“ethereal.” def. 2. heavenly or spiritual.
“ethereal, otherworldly visions”
The rose, musk, and oud are each defined and present, but the scent profile has a delicate character. No bells and whistles or heavy-handedness. This is not a knock on performance. I took down these thoughts twelve hours after applying one spray of EO3, and the fragrance is still there and noticeable. Longevity is great and the way the composition floats off the skin in thin, silky layers for hours really works for me here.
The smell:
The taif rose is exquisite. The perfect lemony taif profile rendered in high definition. The best taif rose I have smelled. Perhaps because the accompanying components of the composition are used so deftly; not in competition with the rose, but rather the perfect compliments. If taif rose is the pinnacle of roses, this is the pinnacle of taif roses. The pinnacle of the pinnacle.
The musk cocktail used here is sensual. This fragrance is surely perfectly unisex, but the sensuality of the musk melds with my chemistry in a way that makes me perceive it as having a masculine edge. It is more about the magnetism the musk lends to the composition than anything traditionally masculine. I pick up a leathery nuance right away that I attribute to the oud used here. It is present throughout and combines with the musk to present a feral undertone that stands in perfect juxtaposition to the beautiful and delicate taif rose.
I keep coming back to EO because of the quality of the ingredients used in their compositions. The quality of the rose, musk, and oud in EO3 is on another level of course, but this is one of the first EO releases where the composition is so good it somehow manages to outshine the incredible ingredients.
As my fragrance journey continues, I find that the types of fragrances I longed for have appeared in my collection over time. EO No 3 ticks off a type of fragrance I’ve desired since the very beginning: a rose based fragrance that approaches an almost soliflore status.
As soon as you hold down the atomizer, you feel the Taif Rose bursting out like a certain mascot kicking down a wall. It is unapologetically fresh, with an unmistakable citrus feel that you can find in some of the finest rose oils, but not to this degree. If you can imagine squeezing out rose oil from a thick petal in the same way the juice of a mandarin segment sprays out when you bite into it, that’s how I can best describe this element. The almost Ruh Gulab type spiciness feels too hot to be pepper yet too cool to be cardamom.
As the fragrance dries down, the signature luscious texture of the Taif Rose becomes more apparent. The sweetness which was too faint to acknowledge in the opening is now too good not to praise. Think of simple syrup with a dash of rosewater. The rose is more delicate and powdery compared to the punchy opening. I can’t help but notice something in the background is making this fragrance more diffusive than any Rose I have experienced. Hints of mind-numbing Mongolian Musk, tart Tonkin Musk, and truffle-like Tibetan Musk are what cause the rosaceous aspect of this fragrance to emanate. What is more understated is the ambergris, which balances these different flavours with its saltiness. The Malaysian Oud is even more discreet, providing an oriental woodiness along with the sensation of oil that has been used to temper spices.
There are fragrances in my collection that have a lot more depth and a lot more to write about. Furthermore, there are fragrances in my collection that have identical ingredients but still have more depth. It is the simplicity of this fragrance which captivates me though. While we are spoiled for choice when it comes to oud-rose fragrances, I always wanted a fragrance which was not a combo, bouquet, melange, or parfait—something where rose is the main character, narrator, director, and composer. Something which I feel confident doing one, two, three, maybe even ten sprays without thinking twice about, while knowing it will last more than 10 hours on my skin if I just do one. A rose fragrance that I don’t have to dress up to wear, but makes me feel dressed up when I wear it. This is the rose cologne that I had spent too long dreaming about.
EO No.3 is most certainly juicier and brighter – I would say borderline sparkling/effervescent. As with all of Ensar’s works, it seems as though there is always a tingling sensation of some sort that accompanies the act of smelling the fragrance itself and this sensation only ever adds to the overall experience.
EO No. 3 is no different – the sparkling sensation that I experience adds a certain vibrancy to the rose. With that being said, there have been a few fragrances where this sensation was almost entirely in service of the base notes to add to their overall depth, but, in this case, the sparkling carbonated tingling just brings out the heart and top notes so much, making them seem cleaner and yet also more complete.
Keep them coming!
Received EO 3 and I am speechless – this is on the Rose-Oud Throne. It has so many layers of rose – like a kaleidoscope of roses and the burst of musk – like the gardens in Al-Andalus.
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