Dhajala

Dhajala occupies an unusual territory—it's a fragrance that treats florals as structure rather than decoration, building them around a backbone of green austerity and peppery snap. Jacques Flori's composition opens with galbanum's characteristic bitter-green bite, immediately complicated by a surge of bergamot and orange that refuse to settle into the expected citrus sweetness. Instead, they read as almost herbal, their brightness corralled by the cool, almost metallic character of galbanum before orange blossom enters to add a creamy, slightly indolic texture.

The heart reveals the fragrance's true personality: a rose and jasmine pairing that's neither romantic nor particularly soft. Pink pepper dominates this phase with an almost peppercorn-like intensity, sharpening the florals rather than cushioning them. There's a tension here that prevents Dhajala from becoming a conventional floral—the spicy accord (88%) cuts through what could have been cloying, creating something with genuine intellectual presence.