Maharadjah (2006)
by Parfums de Nicolaï

This one breaks my heart. I love this from start to finish. I prefer it to Maharanih. It reminds me of a refined Jicky (because it is missing those bright citrus top notes). It also reminds me of Jicky because it's longevity on me is almost nonexistant. I love lavender and patchouli...I grow both. Can anyone tell me why lavender scents are so fleeting?

In general, I am not a fan of lavender used in pefumery (aromatherapy's another thing altogether) but Maharadjah has proven to be an exception. The lavender opening IS bold and may be offputting to some. However, if you are looking for a very interesting fragrance, stick around for the dry down, it's absolutly worth the wait.

The cinnamon/clove/sandal/patch drydown is delightful, warm, enveloping. Coffee isn't a note mentioned but every now & then I seem to catch a whiff of it, or something which reminds me of a wonderful warm cup of the dark brew.

Maharadjah has an aura; it's the only scent I prefer to smell from a few inches from my skin. If I snuffle, as I'm wont to do, with my nose pressed into my flesh, the overall effect isn't as pleasant. (Too much lavender staight to the sinuses.) Instead, step away from the wrist (or wherever) and enjoy the sillage of Maharadjah.

If you like the notes, I don't think you will be dissapointed, surprised perhaps, but not dissapointed.

The type “A” guy in me always loves it when the men’s and women’s versions of a scent are actually variations on the same theme. It happens in the two Amouage Gold offerings, and again with Parfums de Nicolaï’s Maharanih and Maharadjah. Both scents are traditional spicy orientals with huge opopanax notes, amber-and-sandalwood foundations, sweet vanilla, cinnamon, and clove. But where Maharanih garnishes its center with a candied fruit and rose accord, Maharadjah sticks to the woods and spices, leaving the opopanax even more exposed and ratcheting up the impact of the cloves and cinnamon. With its warm, woody-spicy heart, Maharadjah is a sterner, darker scent than its mate, very close to Diptyque’s Eau Lente in style, and even vaguely suggestive of Michel Roudnitska’s monumentally austere Noir Epices for Frederic Malle.

The relative absence of fruit and floral notes in its heart leaves Maharadjah feeling more linear in its development than Maharanih, as the amber, opopanax, and sandalwood base notes are exposed earlier in its progression. This isn’t necessarily to Maharadjah’s detriment – those who prefer their woods and spices "straight up" can experience them undiluted for longer here. Maharadjah’s lifespan is at least six or eight hours, and it projects well for most of that duration. Sillage is significant, but not overbearing, and you’ll leave a perceptible but still subtle cloud of fragrance behind you when you wear Maharadjah. Ironically, as a pair of male and female named scents, I think Maharadjah and Maharanih are both perfectly wearable by either gender.

Parfums de Nicolai Maharadjah

Patricia de Nicolai has shown that her Guerlain bloodline runs true and as the grand-daughter of Pierre Guerlain will always have that mentioned. More's the pity because I think she has now achieved a status where she is creating more new and noteworthy scents than the House which she shares her genetics with. 2006's Maharadjah is a good example of a de Nicolai creation. When you hear Maharadjah you think of India and you probably expect some cumin somewhere in the mix. Then you spray on Maharadjah and you are greeted with a strong opening but instead of spices what you get is lavender. Actually I should restate that, you get Lavender with a capital L. I'm one who likes his lavender but this is an industrial strength blast of lavender. I like it but I can see it being too much for some. The lavender sticks around for a good long time before the expected spices start to appear in the heart. This does have spices that begin with "c" but not cumin and not with a capital "c". The spices here are clove and cinnamon. They very slowly come forward and eventually push the lavender to the background. Once the spice firmly takes the wheel this scent does turn the corner into the expected spicy oriental territory a name like Maharadjah would lead you to expect. The cinnamon comes off very warm on my skin and pretty long-lasting. The spices stick around as sandalwood and patchouli close the scent out with a creamy conclusion. Maharadjah is not a scent for everyone and I imagine the strong lavender at the beginning will be a turn-off for many but it is this level of the unexpected that makes Maharadjah such a fascinating scent for me.

I wasn’t expecting the strong lavender opening – for some strange reason I didn’t think of lavender in an Indian theme fragrance. I was looking forward to a pallet of Indian spices with a sumptuously rich sweet background, but they weren’t there; however, the lavender came on in full force. It’s a good lavender opening; it reminds me a bit of LV’s Wild Lavender / Inglese or Lutens Gris Clair, only its not as dramatic or rich. On my skin it takes a while for the lavender to disappear to give the rest of the fragrance a chance. When it’s is gone, I don’t get any middle level accords, The scent seems to go directly to the drydown, which is a soft, spicy, enticing patchouli / sandalwood (more patchouli than sandalwood) skin scent, the longevity of which is superb. The lavender opening of Maharadjah is good, but it’s somewhat neutral for me: It’s too solid to be ignored and too light to provide the richness I enjoy in a very few lavender fragrances. But the drydown shines through: It is subtle, proportional, elegant, wearable, sensual...

Love at first sniff! Reminds me of YSL Opium EDP but finer and more imperious. Intoxicating, spicy, sweet, warm, and honeyed. I see nothing in the notes listed above of vanilla, honey, amber, but the fragrance is certainly rich, redolent, and exotic (to this Western nose anyway).