Sashka Black
by Martine Micallef

One of the best perfumes out there, period.
Unfortunately is has been discontinued, but this gem can still be found in ebay.
It is strong with a capital S, reminiscent of the powerhouses of the 70's and 80's
Artemisia, lavender, patchouly bomb, lasts all day long and sillage ain't shy either.
Of course if you are an aquatic lover you'll despise this fragrance, it will fry your nostrils if you are not careful, and that is what I like best of this bomb.
Love it, love it, love it

24th July, 2011.

Sashka Black is a hulking, beetle browed fougère built on the same massive scale as Lauder for Men, Jules, and Havana. As the name implies, it’s dark, but it’s also scrupulously clean in a decidedly old-fashioned – maybe even stodgy – manner. If ever there were a fragrance for which the descriptor “barbershop” was apt, this is it.

Sashka Black opens on a very clear, sweet bergamot that’s soon complimented by the classical fougère components of lavender and tonka (coumarin). The artemisia (wormwood) listed in the pyramid is detectable, but not dominant, or even conspicuous as it is in some other fougères. The central aromatic accord rests on a foundation of clean musk, moss, and sweet amber.

While Sashka Black is weighty, it is not a complicated scent. Whatever its actual content, the composition reads as if it were assembled from a mere half-a-dozen ingredients. That's just fine and dandy, but in its simplicity Sashka Black misses the idiosyncrasies that enliven other big-boned fougères. It has none of the animalic undertones that make Jules and Lauder for Men so seductive, nor any of the lush tobacco, leather or floral notes that make Havana and Or Black so profoundly nuanced. In the company of these other giants, Sashka Black seems incomplete. Where scents like Or Black or Lauder for Men perform on the skin, Sashka Black just falls out of the bottle and lies there.

I have no idea whether it’s still in production (M. Micallef is capricious about maintaining its catalog), but it is without doubt costly and hard to find. I’m also quite certain it’s not worth the expense or the effort.

11th December, 2009.

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1st December, 2009. (Last Edited: 24th January, 2011.)

Sweet lemon musk. The musk is on the verge of being animalic, smelling like civet and the amber doesn't help that at all. Doesn't mix well and give the impression it's been sitting around for a tad too long. After the opening of lemoned lavender, that's all it is: ambery musk that doesn't settle right for me. Smells smilar to M7 but very sweet.

29th November, 2009.