I had seen this one listed many times during my research, but it was hard to find in my market area. Plain old Fendi? Yes. Asja? No. Not to be seen anywhere. Finally, I made it's acquantance, and now you poor people will have to listen to be blather on about it, even though you have known about it for years. Ah well, I cannot help myself.
The name is not subtle. Asja announces the presence of an Oriental like a banner waving. Fortunately, it lives up to the big expectations of its namesake.
Here is a spicy Oriental that manages to smell expensive and restrained, different from so many others, even while sharing notes with them. Cinnamon (along with vanilla) give it immediate likeability. Even though cinnamon and vanilla are an overdone combination in this genre, it manages to escape being trite because of the glorious fruit notes. (More about them later.)
Cinnamon was the only spice note that I could find listed, but I immediately throught there must be more spices--perhaps clove (one of my favorites) but far less heavy-handed than the dose in Coco (which I love.) I was relieved when I read Ayala's review in the directory, which clearly listed eugenol.
Here is my favorite part: The fruit is DIVINE: raspberry, apricot, peach, bergamot, maybe plum. What a successful combination of aromas! All of it is accomplished without ending up smelling like a fruit salad. Asja is classy, like a glass of wine cordial, or a fruit liquor, with an "aged," blended, "fermented" characteristic that makes it simultaneously strong and mellow. Again, I wondered what my nose was picking up, and I was reassured when Ayala called it "mulled" as in spiced wine, and a blog listed these fruit notes as "overripe." So, I am confident to say to you, it smells fermented--in a good way. That is what makes this fruit accord special.
I believe I know the final touch that makes Asja unique. This fruity, spicy Oriental shows great restraint in terms of sweetness. With all the abovementioned fruit and spice going on, it could easily have been over-the-top sweet, but that would have put it squarely in trite territory. Not so, Asja. This one is exceptional.
Plus, the bottle is gorgeous, a work of art, like two black and gold laquored rice bowls.
The name is not subtle. Asja announces the presence of an Oriental like a banner waving. Fortunately, it lives up to the big expectations of its namesake.
Here is a spicy Oriental that manages to smell expensive and restrained, different from so many others, even while sharing notes with them. Cinnamon (along with vanilla) give it immediate likeability. Even though cinnamon and vanilla are an overdone combination in this genre, it manages to escape being trite because of the glorious fruit notes. (More about them later.)
Cinnamon was the only spice note that I could find listed, but I immediately throught there must be more spices--perhaps clove (one of my favorites) but far less heavy-handed than the dose in Coco (which I love.) I was relieved when I read Ayala's review in the directory, which clearly listed eugenol.
Here is my favorite part: The fruit is DIVINE: raspberry, apricot, peach, bergamot, maybe plum. What a successful combination of aromas! All of it is accomplished without ending up smelling like a fruit salad. Asja is classy, like a glass of wine cordial, or a fruit liquor, with an "aged," blended, "fermented" characteristic that makes it simultaneously strong and mellow. Again, I wondered what my nose was picking up, and I was reassured when Ayala called it "mulled" as in spiced wine, and a blog listed these fruit notes as "overripe." So, I am confident to say to you, it smells fermented--in a good way. That is what makes this fruit accord special.
I believe I know the final touch that makes Asja unique. This fruity, spicy Oriental shows great restraint in terms of sweetness. With all the abovementioned fruit and spice going on, it could easily have been over-the-top sweet, but that would have put it squarely in trite territory. Not so, Asja. This one is exceptional.
Plus, the bottle is gorgeous, a work of art, like two black and gold laquored rice bowls.
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