Aalacho N°1

Description

“What you’re smelling is version #1, which Dominique really likes, but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. He sensed my hesitation with it and graciously created a version #2, which I love (with a capital HEART). In fact, I’ve already used it up — it’s one of the few bottles of fragrance I’ve completely emptied.

Violet leaf isn’t an essence I’m all that keen on, and version #1 featured it prominently. Version #2 went a different direction with an accord of Opoponax, Frankincense and Tobacco.

Versions #1 and #2 are very different, yet both are exceptionally well done. “

Nathan Branch on Basenotes

“I can see how Aalacho N° 2 fit Nathans brief perfectly and would hit the spot dead centre for him. Though I like this very much and will wear it, I prefer the Aalacho 1 which seems a little more open in composition, less dense and with that ethereal violet leaf giving a lighter shade of green.

I thought the other day, Aalacho I is like a natural version of a cross between GIT and Polo green. That stunning violet leaf note, now I know what it is, it seems so clear.”

Hirsh Duckfinder on Basenotes

Aalacho, the story behind: Nathan Branch ordered me a custom perfume, giving me this brief:

Basenotes thread

Outsiders 50 ml bottle

Photo courtesy Nathan Branch

“I appreciate bold statements that stand out from the crowd, and I love dry, woody orientals with incense smoke. I’m not a fan of vanilla or heavily sweetened fragrances — I rarely eat dessert and prefer coffee, instead, but I do appreciate a mellow sweetness. I do not purchase floral fragrances and tend to avoid perfumes with flowers and/or fruits, including citrus. I like dark earthy musks, the smell of burning leaves and woods (we used to burn cherry wood in the fireplace when I was a child), mossy forests, raw honey, salt, black leather.”

I based my composition Aalacho N° 1 more on his brief than on the ingredients listed. When I realized that Nathan was disappointed by the fragrance he had received, I made it again without any liberty, exactly with the accord and the ingredients he had asked me for in the first place. I sent it to him for free, he loved it.

Nathan Branch Aalacho review