Sahara Noir
Tom Ford (2013)

As inexplicably discontinued as its sibling, Amber Absolute, Sahara Noir is for many the standout of the frankincense field. It has the advantage of being both familiar and novel at the same time, essentially dusting off the black pepper frankincense core of Black Cashmere (Donna Karan), Amber Absolute (Tom Ford), and even Black (Comme des Garcons), before adding cinnamon and tobacco to highlight the authentically dusty-sooty texture of the frankincense, and burnt sugar and orange rind for a sweet-n-sour brightness that illuminates its darkness. Though quite sharp at first, once it settles in a bit, what you notice about Sahara Noir is just how smooth and high-gloss it actually is (a sort of Tom Ford signature, I think).

Listen, objectively speaking, this is obviously a really solid fragrance – well made, with good quality materials, rich and warm, yet true to the chilly coniferous sting of frankincense. However, since I have owned and then sold or swapped away two whole bottles of this monster, there is obviously something about Sahara Noir that isn’t doing it for me at a personal level. The best I can come up with is that it is two-thirds the way to Amber Absolute, which only serves to remind me that I’d much rather be wearing Amber Absolute instead.

I always felt this should have been a unisex release in the Private Blend line. It's a caravanserai in the desert evening, as the sun sets below the dunes.

A brief burst of citrus notes leading to a very nice smoky, resinous frankincense, with hints of orange blossom blossom. The dry down is what makes it special - a smouldering incense and woods affair played out at perfect volume: long-lasting, noticeable but never too loud.
An excellent scent - one of the best from this brand. Sadly discontinued.

4/5

Tom. If you're reading this, bring back Sahara Noir. Thanks in advance!

Very middle eastern. Very holy. Very ancient. Very nice!!

Sahara Noir is a fragrance that was probably doomed to fail. Should have been marketed unisex. Maybe even as a mens fragrance. I think a lot of Women would have a hard time wearing this. There are some similarities to LADDM but with an added shit load of incense. Don't get me wrong, there's lots of other stuff in the mix but this is predominately an incense fragrance. On the whole I'm not a massive fan of incense heavy perfumes but this might just be the exception.

8/10

This smells exactly like one of the Montale and Loewe incense based fragrances. Nothing original or special here and easy to see why it was discontinued. It also lasts for hours and kept annoying me throughout the day. Nothing Sahara or Noir about it.