Coffee Break : Golden Dallah
Xerjoff (2018)

Wow. I love it. Totally unisex. Beautiful, soft spices with a bit of incense. Great performances as well. Edit: It’s got some coffee/chocolate bitterness/fruitiness that could be considered as masculine.

The opening blast emits aromas of soft and slightly sweet spices, that is quite unusual in a pleasant way.

Soon the coffee arrives, served in the receptacle implied by the name. It hovers between being a Cafe-au-lait and a Caffe Mocha. he a lovely rose develops, which is blossom-base but, unfortunate, struggles to compete with the caffeinated aromas overshadowing it at times. In the background, the spices are enhanced by a restrained incense composed, which haw now significant medicinal component on me. An ambery oud is also present now, but is is very discreet on me; this oud is in the background mostly. In spite of both notes present her, this is a far cry from those intrusive and kick-in-your-face oud-rose creations that pullulate the department store shelves at times.

The base adds a nutty vanilla aroma, which , again quite pallid on me - this is unusual for the average vanilla note I experienced in the past.

I get moderate sillage, very good projection, and five hours of longevity on my skin.

As a coffee-based spring scent it works very well, although the second half is becoming weaker in intensity with time.
The quality of the ingredients is high, and they are applies with some originality in the mix, which is blended very skillfully. The vividness and intensity, unfortunately, is rather disappointing in the second half of the development. 3.5/5

This is something quite special. I've used up my sample now but will have to get a bigger one before eventually getting a full bottle.
Lasts forever and smells great on your clothes. I love a fragrance I still get strong whiffs of hours after spraying; this falls into that category. At a time when my stupid hay fever has blocked my stupid nose, this beautiful spicy oriental still makes itself known to me... 5 stars

The first thing I got was a divine cocao or chocolate with a jammy rose. The light touch of oud kicks in with a few spices with an amber background. I get about 10 hours on my skin. Better suited for cooler weather. A head turner for sure.

My first try from Xerjoff's Coffee Break collection is Golden Dallah, the member of the collection that seems to be reputed to actually contain the most coffee. I definitely fall into the camp of immediately smelling cannabis upon first spray, perhaps the effect the named Cambodian oud note, the overall blend smelling like a mix of cannabis, coffee, resins, and just a touch of cocoa. It's a great blend that hints at being a sweet gourmand while really only being partly that, instead a coupling of the cocoa/resins and oud/cannabis aspect. And it performs very well, with strong projection from the onset and seemingly quite great longevity. To clarify, though, the coffee is present but not dominant. I would not label this a coffee-rich, let alone a coffee-dominant fragrance, at least based on how it smells on my skin.

The cannabis accord in Golden Dallah reminds me of two of Dua Fragrances' two original blends–Cannabliss with the Mobster and Pineapple Express–with Golden Dallah landing somewhere between the dark boozy tobacco vibe of the former and fresh fruity aspect of the latter.

Golden Dallah is priced at $235 for 50ml and is sold by great boutiques like Beverly Hills Perfumery and Luckyscent as well as Saks Fifth Avenue and the Xerjoff Universe website. I obtained my sample from the Xerjoff website but both Beverly Hills Perfumery and Luckyscent sell the official spray samples in addition to full bottles.

Overall, this is a clear winner that may be a little challenging due to the sort of cannabis/oud accord, but for those that enjoy it, it might be a welcome, daring, semi-gourmand.

8 out of 10

I approached Golden Dallah with some hesitation as I'm not a coffee person – the stuff makes me nauseous and its aroma I find little better. Add hot spices on top and I'm even less inclined. But fortunately, Golden Dallah is first and foremost an amber oriental; the coffee note is well submerged in the mix and given a nice hazelnut twist, which tames it and makes it more companionable. The volley of spices is delivered in a genteel, herbal, almost barbershop manner, providing uplift to the more traditional gourmand notes – coffee, cocoa, tonka, hazelnuts – rather than weighting them down.
The quality I appreciate most about Golden Dallah is that it wears its richness lightly; it's not oppressive, rather there's a sunny, balmy quality about the experience of this perfume. It remains refreshing despite being a calorie bomb, deploys gourmand notes without turning into dessert; that, in my book, is perhaps as close as one gets to having one's cake and eating it.
Lasts for days on end on clothes and, surprisingly, improves with age, showing its oudy side.

Golden Dallah initial review: Warm, Unique, inviting, dark, spicy, coffee /chocolate fragrance.

Wow. Now this is something special, warm and inviting. Straight off I get chocolates (slightly boozy) and right underneath are those spices used within Arabic coffee. Arabic coffee is mostly unroasted and we add spices to it (cardamom is a must , cloves , saffron some add cinnamon and ginger ). It's served using a Dallah hence the name here . So we have here Arabic coffee with its spices after that chocolate blast along with a good amount of incense. The chocolate then becomes more dusty. Some sweetness comes along from amber and tonka. Arabic coffee is usually served with something sweet including dates, chocolates or other sweets . It's used mostly in special events, visits, gatherings and religious holidays. Many burn oud (incense/bukhoor) in such environments. I see the image they are trying to get at . Rose? maybe there is a small amount.

It's a unique fragrance. I don't recall any fragrance that smells close to it . It has an idea and image behind it. its creative. I'm very impressed .

Performance is very good.

From the gorgeous bottle to the exotic potion within, Xerjoff's "Coffee Break: Golden Dallah" - a spicy oriental wonder - is quite a fragrant experience!

Golden Dallah is a reference to a fancy, metallic dispenser from which coffee can be poured, utilized in Middle East countries. (You can get several good images if you enter "dallah" into an ebay search line.)

This is a medium strength EdP with definite cocoa, hazelnut, tonka, incense, and amber notes present, creating a yummy, smoky aura. There is a just-discernible touch of rose around the edges, and a fairly clean woody oud in the heart.

Great performace and a memorable scent!