Signature pour Homme Zaharoff

The pear-cardamom-lavender triumvirate announces itself with unexpected brightness, the cardamom's lemony-spiced warmth immediately grounding what could have been an aggressively fresh composition. Within minutes, Provençal cedar's dry-wood spine becomes discernible beneath the citrus and herbal notes, signalling the woody direction ahead.

By the first hour, the oud's dark, slightly smoky character emerges fully, paired with the somewhat unexpected powdery softness of iris that prevents the composition from becoming genuinely animalic. Ginger and pimento leaf create a peppery, almost food-like middle register whilst Canadian fir balsam adds a sharp, resinous quality that lifts the oud's potential heaviness—the interplay between these elements creates a pleasant tension rather than coherence.

The base proves the composition's most unified phase, as sandalwood, black amber, myrrh, and frankincense consolidate into a warm, faintly sweet resinous bed that smells vaguely ecclesiastical. The spice notes fade considerably, leaving mainly woody-amber warmth with just a whisper of patchouli's earth-dark undertones lingering as the fragrance diminishes.