Widian / AJ Arabia
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The first fifteen minutes erupt in a fizzing cocktail of lemon and mandarin, sharpened by pink pepper's metallic tingle and coriander's green, almost soapy brightness. Lavender adds an herbal sweetness that's already hinting at the caramel to come, whilst bergamot's Earl Grey bitterness provides just enough edge to keep things from veering too confected.
As the citrus recedes, caramel blooms spectacularly—not buttercream sweetness but something darker, toffee-like, threaded through with tobacco leaf's dry rasp and jasmine's indolic warmth. The rose and geranium add a rosy-metallic quality, whilst iris lends its powdery, earthy facets and patchouli deepens into chocolate-tinged woods that make the whole composition feel plush yet grounded.
The final act belongs to the skin-scents: vanilla rendered almost savoury by frankincense's resinous incense smoke, tonka's hay-like sweetness, and vetiver's rooty earthiness creating a base that's both creamy and woody. Ambergris and white amber provide a salty-musky halo, whilst cypriol adds a leathery darkness that ensures this never becomes just another sweet fragrance—it's got teeth beneath the silk.
New York plunges you into a velvet-lined speakeasy where tobacco smoke curls around crystallised bergamot peels and lavender syrup cocktails. Jordi Fernández has orchestrated something gloriously paradoxical: a gourmand that wears tailoring, sweetness that never simpering, florals that refuse to play demure. That caramel note—rich as burnt demerara—collides with medicinal frankincense and the green snap of coriander seed, creating an addictive tension between indulgence and restraint. The jasmine and Bulgarian rose emerge not as a conventional bouquet but as honeyed, almost animalic whispers beneath clouds of vanilla and tobacco absolute.
What makes this compelling is the interplay between the creamy triumvirate of tonka, vanilla, and Nirvanolide's skin-like musk, and the darker, more complex base of cypriol's woody leather and Haitian vetiver's earthy bite. The patchouli here isn't your standard headshop variety—it's the Indonesian cut, darker and more chocolatey, reinforcing that caramel heart whilst the iris adds a rooty, almost carroty facet that keeps things from sliding into dessert territory. Akigalawood contributes a peppery, oud-adjacent warmth without actual oud's polarising funk.
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4.0/5 (87)