Iris Noir Parfum 30ml

You can read more about the origins of Iris Noir here, where I talk about the inspiration I drew from the scents I encountered living in Jordan, about how this is my attempt to bottle those fragrant moments: the honeysuckle you smell on the way to the zawiya. The melissa wafting through your kitchen window at sunset, the brewed thyme and orange blossom and rosemary. Pines that line the Roman ruins. The purple sweetness of sumac salad. The Shaykh handing out swipes of jasmine; mureeds asking about that rose he used to wear. And the scent par excellence of Sufis: oud.

This is one of my earliest compositions, and while I want to retain the overall Iris Noir profile, I wanted to make this edition the most decked-out one to date. 

To start with, you’re getting a higher overall concentration, which means each spritz gives you a bit more mileage. Then, there are structural additions and tweaks to enhance the depth and complexity of the composition. 

The perfume now features an all-new cast of roses, incorporating our newest, and seriously stunning Afghani rose otto – the same one that’s in Sultan White Rose. It’s one of the freshest roses I’ve ever smelled, and because it’s also beautifully diffusive, the iris-peach-berry top notes are lifted more, while also bringing the oud more to the forefront. 

The first edition actually contained mostly rose absolutes, while this one contains mostly ottos, so there’s quite a difference in how the accompanying aromatics are affected by the brighter, golden-zesty tenor of otto’s cleaner pitch (compared to the darker, earthier tone of the absolutes).

Likewise, there’s a new ensemble of jasmine and aged sandalwood, but the major change comes in the form of an iris-loving oud duo…

Iris, whether it be in butter form or the absolute, has a distinct powderiness. It’s so inherent in the scent it smells like a texture. While Iris Noir’s profile is already replete with this almost-delicious powdery texture, it’s difficult to match the right ouds so that you retain that texture and let the oud become part of it, rather than dominate or get lost in it.

I have two ouds that are right on the money to ooze into the iris and inject their oudiness into it, not over-layer or drown it. Both are basically the scent of pure oud powder, bottled; one Hainan, one Nha Trang. And Iris Noir now contains both.

They smell like you’re standing at the distillery while grinding the oud chips, dust puffing through the bags casting the resinous bliss into the air. It’s one of the most heavenly olfactory experiences you can wish for. 

The fusion of Hailam and Guallam creates a powdery accord of orange zest laced with styrax and citrus that not only blends in like a chameleon inside the iris, but also seamlessly oozes into the subtle peach-raspberry-jasmine opening notes, all on wings of rose.

TOP

Peach

Raspberry

HEART

Afghan Rose Otto

Jasmine Grandiflorum

Mimosa

BASE

Wild Hainan Oud

Wild Nha Trang Oud

Aged Sandalwood

Iris

You get everything that makes Iris Noir so regal, now fine-tuned with ouds I didn’t have when I first made it years ago, for an enhanced oudy powderiness that’s soulful and perhaps paints an even truer picture of the scents of the river Jordan, the wadi waterfalls; the Sufis there