Honey drenched tobacco ablaze. Autumnal landscapes and rustic backdrops. A kaleidoscope of falling leaves, obscured by the swirl of incandescent smoke.
The opening blast is a delight: It is the aroma of a sweet pipe tobacco that is flavoured, mainly with a dark rose and some fruits, like redcurrant, junipier and whiffs of blackcurrant, although most of the time is is a rather mixed fruitiness on me.
In the drydown I get touches of a smooth, dark and sightly dusty undertone of leather-like styrax note but not very sude-like to me. The sweetness is supported by a tonka/vanilla impression that lingers until the end. Soft hints of herbal teas - chamomille with whiffs of rooibos, are also present at this time.
The base continues the leather-vanilla theme, with a dark but rather smooth patchouli filtering into the mix gradually; this patchouli is neither harsh nor sharp.
I get moderate sillage, very good projection, eight hours of longevity on my skin.
This first part of this autumnal creation is a creative take on the tobacco-leather theme, but the later stages are somewhat blander at times. Nonetheless, overall a good composition. 3.5/5
Like Amouage Interlude Man, to me it evokes memories of smoking a fruit-flavoured narghile in a chicha bar in Beirut or Istanbul. Less cloying, less sweet and more balanced than Interlude Man in my view. I like it very much.
I don't think the Lutens "aesthetic" is a good fit for my own tastes, given that I like structural clarity and precision, and there's often a certain cloudiness to Lutens' creations that reads to me as somewhat ramshackle.
Fumerie Turque is a very interestingly kind of dry, earthy take on tobacco with some accords I haven't found anywhere else, and it deserves commendation for that. I don't find it exactly unpleasant, but I do find it a bit stuffy in a way that I don't enjoy spending a great period of time with it.
A less ordinary oriental would be hard to find. Fumerie Turque is basically a gross animal note, accompanied by the Turkish Delight flavoured smoke of a narguilé.
Simple and effective, but whether you like such a mix of the raw and refined can only be answered in one way. Definitely try this one before you buy.