Alamut
Lorenzo Villoresi (2006)

Luca Turin gave Alamut one star, calling it a "hideous oriental," completely eviscerating Lorenzo Villoresi "(putting) forth no ideas at all." Naturally, I had to try, as I always do when Turin gives a scathing one star review and plus I was already an admirer of Villoresi. Wouldn't you know it? I love it. Rosy, powerfully woody, filled to the brim with florals and a moderately animalic, musky dry down tempered with a dusty, powdery undercurrent.

I most notice the rose and orange blossom in its opening, with the top notes characteristic of a creamy sandalwood, and then a barnyard flower garden narcissus, a humid ylang ylang, all anchored by a sultry woodiness. In fact, in comparison with Rouge Hermes, which has a very similar profile, I easily favored Alamut, as Villoresi pulls no punches and doses the elements with a saturation that has made me fall in love with his compositions.

There is a thickness that might be a bit much for wallflowers, but for those with zero inhibition when it comes to scent, I love to lavish in this. Fans of the aforementioned Rouge Hermes, Guerlain Samsara, or Maria Candida Gentile Cinabre: do take note. I swear that Turin just has a personal vendetta against Villoresi! Alamut is irresistible...

Alamut is one of those perfumes that gives the epithet ‘old-fashioned’ a bad rep; it’s the bray of a creature draped in furs that thinks it is entitled to hold the floor. Deploying the worst instincts of the floral-amber genre, it is an oversaturated thing where heavy florals are clumped up against dumpier resins, delivered in an explosion of powder that feels like a gas attack. That sense of assault is perceived by both wearer and bystander. No doubt the intention was richness, lushness, complexity; the execution is bombastic, thrown-together, sticky. The house claims the sensuality of the ‘flowers of One Thousand and One Nights’ for this one, and sure there is a medley of floral accents that one can discern (and which I am too lazy to list), but the overall effect is of the shrieking mile-high carnation that devoured the world.

If you want something different from all these rose and oud based fragrances out there that they all smell kind of the same and quite boring, give this one a try because it's a great one!

Right at first whiff this fragrance brings old memories! because smells like classic and old fragrances that my grandfather and many guys back in those days used to wear. a classic and manly rose based fragrance with great quality and blend.

At the beginning I can smell rose but one of those dark and mysterious ones along with lots of resins and strong spicy aura. there is also a mellow sweet ambery scent as well to balance things up and calms down bitter resins and dry and wild spices.
I really like the opening because while it's tough, manly and classy, it's sweet, powdery, delicious and very pleasing because of rose at the same time . it's also a little woody but not too much.

As time passes by, those bitter resins and spices get weaker (they will stay till the end tough) and at the same time scent gets sweeter and a little more powdery.
In this part scent has a little dirty and kind of animalic feeling as well but it's very mellow.
Projection is good and above average and longevity for EDT version is around 4-5 hours.
If you like "Chanel Egoiste" give this one a try. it's something with the same vibe and not as masculine as "Egoiste" but more sensual.

Very pretty and feminine, lovely floral notes followed by amber, but quite easily forgettable.

I really wanted to be wowed by Alamut, but whilst it's a lovely and pretty fragrance, it doesn't stand out as unusual enough or special enough to make me want to buy a bottle.

Genre: Woody Oriental

Notes: Osmanthus, rose, jasmine, rosewood, narcissus, tuberose, ylang-ylang, orange blossom, labdanum, amber, musk, amyris, sandalwood, patchouli, benzoin, leather and powdery notes.

Given his penchant for spices, sweet vanilla base notes, and big, assertive olfactory profiles, it's no wonder some of Lorenzo Villoresi's most successful works, including Piper Nigrum, Spezie, and Incensi, have been in the oriental genre. Alamut is another oriental, more recent than the rest. Where its predecessors were all very spicy, Alamut is more of a floral-amber composition. The top notes include a boozy amber and a very musty indolic orange blossom, soon bolstered by a very heavy rose and an animalic musk that suggests a civet reconstruction. For the first few minutes of wear it feels both overly potent and crude, but Villoresi's scents often open clumsily before gaining their footing and their poise.

Alamut does settle down into a less strident floral-oriental arrangement, with patchouli, labdanum, and tropical white flowers alongside the rose, sweet amber, and musk. It's still busy composition, at once very heavy and opaque. Alamut also suffers from a certain plainness, as if all of those ingredients jostle one another into a non-descript oriental blur. This lack of clarity suggests to me that Alamut would have benefited from editing. The drydown features Villoresi's signature powdery vanilla base note accord (try Teint de Neige for an undiluted taste), though in Alamut it remains cloaked in heavy amber, benzoin, and patchouli. Loud as it is going on, Alamut fades rapidly – either that or I'm very fast to habituate to it. Normally I'd complain, but in this case I don't enjoy the scent enough to rue its quick exit. I think Villoresi has done better elsewhere.

Powerful classic chypre, deep, spicy and animalic, soapy and baroque, wich rich floral notes – tuberose, rose, narcissus: an overhelming, sensual, majestic triade. Halfway between the classic Chanel's like Bois des Iles and Cuir de Russie, and the more contemporary Amouage's or other opulent Oriental florals, just less thick and dense, more simple, with a more essential and mediterranean twist. Earthy, mossy and moderately dark base of patchouli and vanilla, with soft musks and a dusty sweet feel. Everything sounds loud and clear, all materials smell high quality and the composition is just perfect to make each of them work at its best – both alone and in the blend. More restrained and discreet than it may seem from the composition: the opening is powerful, but it soon calms down. It becomes a mellow, soapy, floral, dark and elegant leather chypre, with spicy notes. Really well-balanced, refined, pleasant and versatile.

8/10