Ruh
Pekji (2015)

Sampling Pekji Ruh, a spicy, floral, semi-animalic, mix featuring a diverse coalition of notes, including rose, oud, cardamom, and saffron. There’s not too much of any one of these four key notes, but rather, a fairly balanced combination, so those that find any particular note overbearing should not fear this blend. Still, it’s provocative and unique enough, respectively, that it demands some attention while not smelling like anything else I’m aware of. It’s not as much of an instant winner as Odoon, but I quote like it, and it’s a little easier to wear than the amber-patchouli Battaniye, I’d say, even if not quite as easygoing as the marine-ish Eaumer.

Like the rest of the line, Ruh is priced at $165 for 50ml, in extrait concentration, and is sold in the US at boutiques like Luckyscent (where I bought the discovery set of five) and others, and it performs well.

7 out of 10

Interesting note combo. For me, the notes bounce off of each other, taking turns revealing themselves. It's dark, smoky, in a way... Smells of various incenses mixed together, burning in some faraway mountain temple in the forest, I imagine. It softens, melds beautifully. I enjoy it more as it wears on.

Smells like creamier later, if that makes any sense. No one note overpowers the other. Magnificent blend!

Stardate 20170324:

Take note perfumers - This is how a saffron should be done.
It is the main player with rose and spice supporting it.
Unlike other reviewers, I dont get much coffee here.
This is a great saffron scent.

Quality!
This is the first thought that comes to my mind when the opening blast hits my nose mainly with a dominating saffron, a pleasant cardamom and a rose impression. The saffron is not light and bright like in, for instance, Comptoir Sud Pacifique's Sultan Safran, but darker, richer and more intense.

The rose is quite dark, smooth with just a modicum of glowing booziness. The coffee component is neither standing out nor particularly prominent - this is quite different for more directly coffee-dominated products like L'Eau de Navigateur. On my skin, the coffee permeates the opening triad and, infused with a hint of weak black tea, is part of the olfactory fabric in an unobtrusive manner.

Towards the base a restrained and slightly raisinous ambery aroma is added, with hints of musk, dark hesperidic glimpses and woodsy impression; all this is smoothly intertwined to form a multilayered fabric of olfactory artwork.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection and an astounding - for natural ingrendients - ten hours of longevity on my skin.

Quality!
This sums up this oriental-gourmandish autumnal composition, as the most outstanding feature is the amazing quality of the natural ingredients. Some fragrances sport two or three dozens of notes that end up resulting in a disjointed mess. This scent, supremely skillfully pleated from comparative few and as such fairly standard main chords, does the opposite in a convincing manner. 4.25/5.

The name is correct: This creation has spirit.