Equilibre
Sultan Pasha (2018)

My vocabulary deserts me when it comes to scents such as Equilibre, defaulting to the word ‘handsome’ to describe their total effect - rich, leathery florals with a bold, resinous darkness illuminated by flashes of light. Perhaps the genre might be better described as Arabian exotica refined through a filter of Western luxury.

I like to think of scents such as Puredistance Black or Black Gemstone by SHL 777, for example, as being Middle-Eastern themes interpreted in a bespoke, Saville Row tailoring sort of way. Think of the rough brutality of Eastern resins, oud, and stinking piles of freshly-tanned leather gentled and cushioned in the air-conditioning of a Western showroom, freeze-dried and turned out into a neat Hermes pocket handkerchief. Although I feel that Equilibre outclasses both the Puredistance and the SHL 777, they all share a pursuit of gentrification, of bringing the brute force of the orient to heel for the modern gentleman.

They also share a certain bright-on-dark effect. The overall impression created by Equilibre’s opening is one of total darkness, its velvety gloom pierced here and there by the lancing brightness of Meyer lemon. The indole of jasmine, rose, and other flowers is emphasized to high heaven by a quasi-feral oud that smells like a cow barn strewn with thousands of pressed flower petals. Backing this central accord is a vein of gummy black leather, against which the light accents of violet leaf and lemon sparkle.

The attar is aptly named. Throughout Equilibre’s progression, what strikes me is its remarkable balance between dark and light, resinous and creamy, woody and floral. Every note is held in perfect tension with the next. It is such an intricate composition that the overall impression is of a fragrant brick of compressed florals, resins, leather, with few individual notes breaking free of the unified whole.

However, here and there, light flashes on individual components, giving you a brief glimpse - a fruity but decaying rose, sweaty cedar, phenolic jasmine, black rubber, fermented hay, a quasi-fecal Hindi, horses, tack rooms, leather, the saline earthiness of myrrh, the acid lemon brightness of citrus. In the far drydown, an egg-yolk-yellow mimosa emerges, catching me by surprise with its faintly gluey delicacy. Against the smooth expanse of dark oudy leather, the mimosa feels like a lone sliver of early morning sunshine. This would be devastating on the right man.

Equilibre is a very clear and unprecedented victory from Sultan Pasha - it is exactly what I was searching for without my having known it! As a matter of fact, the composition was such a startling discovery for me, that I spent nearly the entire first wear-through I had with it at my arm, sniffing away, without too much analysis going on: simply closing my eyes and letting the scent lead me where it wanted to. The second time I wore it, I spent a lot more time with the notes, looking to make sense of the majesty I was audience to, and the most wonderful thing is, with the notes on full display, it is just as dizzying and brimming with inspiration and beauty. The ONLY thing I have smelled that I can call to mind even near the same category as Equilibre is Ensar Oud's "Oud Yusuf." Now, hear me out before you call me a fraud, a sophist, or any other set of names that you could think of when equating Equilibre to EO's "prettiest oud you can wear” - and even better yet, an Hindi oud to a Thai oud. The connection here is not only the rose, sandalwood, violet leaf, white florals and oud - but also the fruity character that presents itself at the top of the composition - in Yusuf's case this is the honeydew and apricot which lead you down a winding set of incredible wooden stairs - but in Equilibre's case we are given meyer lemon, blood orange and bergamot. The zesty crisp qualities of the lemon and bergamot here are met with the more tangy and juicy elements from the blood orange - here blood orange plays its tricks upon me in perfect execution - it IS in fact sweeter, and tinged with raspberry as I often find myself dissapointed that other "blood orange" notes never trick me with. What's even more is that the sharp violet leaf up top plays into the affect of the floral pairing with the citrus, and the moment you take you eye from the citrus, you are met with the most luscious jasmine and orange blossom that you could ever imagine - above them spins the web of the ever creamy neroli - below them the booming juicy, crisp nature of the persian rose - and in between the orange blossom (which smells quite similar to the neroli, save with a more floral character) pairs its semi-indolic qualities with the jasmine at play here, which remains quite free from indols itself - it is quite sweet, and reminds me of the Jasmine used in Serge Lutens A La Nuit. The two are enveloped in a clean, musky quality, which, when surrounded by the fruit, the violet, and the rose, is quite small in the grand scheme of things, and indeed seems to just be the edge of the florals themselves - as if the effect one gets from exhaling after deeply breathing in a bouquet of these majestic white florals.

Now, I have spoken for a moment quite strongly of florals and fruit - it would be a mistake if you walked away from my ravings thinking that this is entirely the portrait of Equilibre that I intend to paint - the fruit and the florals are only a part of the majesty of Equilibre - and without the rest of the composition they would indeed be a lovely fragrance, but not the wholly awe inspiring composition of which we speak today. Equilibre is, even at the start of the fragrance, one which wears it's Hindi oud as a badge of honor upon its sleeve - also very noticeable up front are the honey and opoponax - as you travel to the base of the fragrance, note only do the oud, honey and opoponax make themselves well at home, but they are joined by a wild civet, heady and warm benzoin, a mimosa that amplifies the violet and honey, as if played through a delay pedal that brought such a varied and unique character to these now familiar voices, and a creamy, woody sandalwood to keep one within the lining of the forest of the Gods that they found themselves within with Equilibre.
Of particular note is the honeyed qualities which reach you at this stage - Sultan Pasha has done a lovely job making sure to include every quality which one could think of as far warm benzoin/honey/smokey/myrrh as far as would be suitable within this composition. The opoponax meets with the honey to add not only smokey, powdery and myrrh tinges to the already thick, ambery and quasi-molten flavor of honey that drizzles about the fragrance (here landing occasionally pulling up meaty or otherwise savory affects from the earthy vetiver at play also in the base, but also the more musky and aggressive elements from the civet and musk, but also occasionally leaning over into the territory of the Hindi oud hard at work throughout the entire lifespan of this fragrance.) The benzoin in the base is that which has lent its hand to many of the more warm, resinous compositions from Sultan Pasha already - and that's a great thing, because the benzoin itself is as near perfect as benzoin can seemingly get without being the focal point of a composition - for it supplies not only elements of a thick, chewy, warm base upon which the rest of the animalic, resinous and smokey notes work with, but also keeps from ever being distracting by being overtly vanillic.

The Hindi oud here is in fact the most difficult aspect for me to discuss, without a doubt - it has this playful, wonderful quality whereabout it sits dead center in this fragrance, and yet, as one reaches out to grasp it, it wriggles off into a prismatic reflection of itself, shining from the glistening qualities found in each and every other element at work here - but as you stand in the center of this ever present reflection you still feel the weight of this majestic beast that you have locked in on - as if you have found yourself within the oud itself, and within the history of its maturation - the history of notes locked well within itself, and through truly benevolent means, is now communicating them to you. The oud itself seems smoky, and yet fruity in-and-for-itself, and yet, one cannot help but notice the green and animalic qualities it carries with it at its edges (which do indeed trail off into the ever real green and animalic qualities present in the composition itself) - overall there is a thick, oily, and if you could imagine the inverse of a mentholated characteristic, that is exactly what I would call the tone of the heart of this oud. Invariably woody. Exceptionally enticing. Occasionally animalic, musky and green. Floral, and creamy? Despite all the possibilities, the certainty is that it pairs immensely well with the fruits and florals up top, and the slew of base notes do very well to keep things immensely complex, while covering their tracks so as to not leave you chasing trees instead of admiring how glorious the forest is, and breathless at the beauty of the existence of such a creation.

10/10
LONG LIVE SULTAN PASHA!

YT: Jess AndWesh

Opening is Stinky,Cheesy,Hindi Oud set up against a Sour Citrus bouquet that immediately has me feeling "Heavy Leather" This same bouquet immediately lays bare the most ethereal incense of the wood.
The Oud funk sets back, the wood remains, blends with softness of Sandal. Light Benzoined honey and golden canvas.
I have the sense the heart as abstract floral.
A smoulder, almost smoke drifts through partnered with a minted Vetiver
As with most SP attars I have tasted a rather short intensity that mixes with my own musk to provide a gentle golden glow attractive.

On the opening you have a juicy lime with some cheesy barnyard Oud which disappears within two minutes to add that creamy depth to the scent. Then you have a beautiful orange blossom and neroli wrapped up in a gorgeous freshness. At this stage it smells exactly like vintage Kobe from Xerjoff and it smells amazing.

Every so often you get a animalic hint coming from the Oud that adds sensuality along with a slight creaminess. I've said this before but I love the way he adds animalics to his scents to a smaller or larger degree for that contrast. I don't mind the cheesy barnyard type of oud as it vanishes quickly and adds such good depth to a scent.

So here I am surrounded in a halo of lush fresh neroli and orange blossom with it's creamy depth and animalic hints. Wonderful!