Lion Lust

The marriage of rose and oud – something as timeless, and perhaps as “cliche” as bread and butter. But whoever has been lucky enough to get their nose on the Sultan’s royal Mélange, knows if anything’s but commonplace, it’s this particular nectar of the olfactory savant.

Mélange Royale was Sultan Qaboos’ signature scent. The scent a fragrance lover with unlimited resources wore himself. 

The thought of building a perfume around the Sultan’s otherworldly potion has haunted me since first laying my nostrils on it.

I was sold. There was nothing like this.

But then again, being Ensar, it had to take a tortuous path and lead me to the lion’s den and the primordial Hindi’s call of the Ancients.

I wanted to make it mine – and I am an Oud man… and, as some would rename me, a Musk man.

But then again, I have a certain penchant for the out-of-the-ordinary. I love complications that merge together to create one big act of tortured SIMPLICITY.

So, what would that smell like? An Oud man’s – a Musk man’s take on a Royal Ghalia? Imagine the meeting of the Sultan’s own Mélange, with his legendary Meghalaya 1977 with a transmutation via EO…

What I ended up with couldn’t be more unique, or unusual for the world of things smelly.

A sensual chord of maraschino cherries dipped in vanilla in the opening quickly – like in a matter of minutes – gets pushed aside as a musky mane barges in.

Smell a fat dose of Musk lunge on a spread of Carob and Strawberry, Blackcurrant paste injected with Raspberry, Honey dripping into the earthy resinous red of Myrrh. The Musk so strong and the Mélange so decadent you have no idea what’s going on, only that it smells pheromonal; delicious.

It’s quite tricky to create a ‘balanced’ animalic fragrance. Do you want a loud lion’s roar? Should the muskiness be discreet to the extent it only exalts the supporting aromatics, or even hide the fact that there are animalics in the perfume? Is the brute scent of Raw Musk too much for you, while a touch of Civet just isn’t enough? 

Lion Lust plays on different aspects of raw animalic force vs. beautifying the juhi and juicing up the castoreum – making it as much lust as lion…

That’s why if you’ve never been a fan of musk, Lion Lust is a sexy gateway. If you think you’ve explored musky, castory, ambery facets in all their glory, this perfume will tease you to no end – have you smelled jambu laced with honeysuckle musktoreumed beyond recognition?

Unlike how the musk leaps out in the first few minutes, heart notes emerge almost unnoticed. Before you know it, you realize there’s a floral tone to the aroma that snuck in…

Amidst the succulent high notes and the ever-present lion raw aura, an elegant fusion of tuberose, rose otto, and jasmine lies in wait as you unexpectedly smell their presence – that layer of rose’s diffusive lemony twang, the juhi’s red, and the sensual creamy texture of tuberose that dries down smoothly when tonka bean and sandalwood step onto the stage…

…Their otherwise calming tone was likewise roughed up by the wild glacé of castoreum, civet, and dark, potent Kashmiri musk.

I knew it was love when Habib presented me with his masterful leather case labeled Lion Lust. Sadly, that would be the last leahter pouch he’d produce.

Just as animalics work in different ways, from being the featured note or influencing other aromatics, other aromatics play similar roles:

Jambu’s inherent balmy scent isn’t pronounced but rather adds a richer layer of satisfaction to the florals the way castoreum does. Similarly, using myrrh in here was more about adding an earthy dryness to accompanying aromatics than letting it be a featured note, i.e. here, it’s used for how it acts more than how it smells.

The wild (and rare) Nepalese spikenard is used not to add its potent herbaceous bite to the note breakdown. Rather, it adds to the muskiness of the aroma…

It’s been said that it’s spikenard that gives musk its muskiness because it was a staple in the deer musk’s diet…

Likewise, precious costus root on its own is a… challenging smell, while when used carelessly in a perfume it can kill the fragrance. But when used in the right dose, you can work olfactory magic.

That’s why, from a perfumery view, Lion Lust is all about the passionate dance of aromatics, not a showcasing of the aromatics themselves. 

TOP
Vanilla
Honey
Clove
Carob
Raspberry
Blackcurrant

HEART
Honeysuckle
Juniper Berry
Jasmine Juhi
Rose Otto

BASE
Meghalaya 1977
Mélange Royale
Nepalese Spikenard
Sandalwood
Tolu Balsam
Castoreum
Vanilla
Jambu
Myrrh
Civet

More than a mere rendition of a ghalia, Lion Lust actually contains Mélange Royale – the timeless marriage of vintage Burmese oud and Ta’ifi rose from the 1980s. And I don’t mean just a drop of it to say we used it, but 2 grams! This component alone is worth $1,665

If you ask me, oud and rose are a lion’s best friend. The fierce potency of musk and civet, the zest of castoreum and costus, the almost unpalatable medicinal bite of spikenard, all of which make up the lion’s mane… they exalt the bottomless depth of top-notch oud and the charm of fine rose like nothing else can. 

In turn, the zesty top notes and exquisite florals rouse a dreary lion from its slumber. And waiting for it when it’s up, there’s a pool of olde oud to drink from…

In Mystical Lotus, Mélange Royale was used in tango with Nha Trang oud. With Lion Lust, “the ghalia of ghalias” runs out in the wild chasing the feral roar of Meghalaya 1977.

“Meghalaya ’77 though, very purple, earthy, some leather, dark fruits, and all melded together in that way the really old ouds do, giving the scent tremendous body.” —Josh M / USA

“Dark, deep, smoooooooooth… Singed resins, leather books worn smooth by decades of caring use. And finally, a drydown of golden incense, slightly bitter, woody, elegant.” —Renzo C / CANADA

Between the all-star cast of age-old animalics, the finest flowers, exotic roots, the vintage Meghalayan oud’s dark fruity leathery incense aroma oozes into every crevice of this perfume to bring out the lion and the lust to let you don a fragrance that… Grrrrr!

*In addition to the discount, Lion Lust orders will also qualify to be added to the Oudvember draw and stand to win a bottle of Old City – worth $1,750.

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