MAAI (2014)
by Bogue Profumo

If you like the stinky aromatics of Jicky and the spicy funk of Cuba, you'll probably like this.
Maai is a contrast of antiseptics and brown dirt noise: cypress, eucalyptus, camphor and bay; and on the other side animal and balsamic notes.
And it would make sense if there were oud at its core, it would tie everything together.
There is also an outlier of dried fruit, with a gourmand hint of sweetness, and nuances of metal, wood and canvas.

At first, to my mind, it evoked a field hospital in the chaotic mud of Flanders.
But the radiance it gives off is more diffuse than that, a cool fruity aldehyde.
The drydown is a patchouli chypre with a lot of civet, which makes this bizarre scent actually quite traditional.

And only now - having looked online - it turns out that Maai is a Japanese word. It means the defensive space between two opposing enemies. Or, in this context, No Man's Land.

4*

Bloom decant sample

IF I had never smelled the original version of MAAI, I would appreciate this scent all the more. Unfortunately, I bought a bottle when it first came out, and its strikingly green and resiny animalic qualities floored me. Now however, this wild cat of the jungle has returned from the vet minus its testicles and claws and wearing a plastic cone of shame.

MAAI is still an interesting and lovely 'fume, highlighting some musky florals (primarily tuberose), undergirded with spicy, soapy woods. It's even a bit aftershave-y in an old school way, but it ain't a patch on what it used to be. So know that when you read reviews referencing and reveling in its strikingly animalic nature, you're hearing about a beast from the past, now sadly neutered and safe for the furniture.

Modern Chypre Extrordinaire

Its really good. Initially kind of camphorous. Civet aldehydes jasmine. Its awesome. 5 stars, top 10 for me.

To me this was a MACHO male scent, and I rarely characterize any scent as gender-specific. I came of perfume age in the blasts of the overblown 1980's.To me this smelled like the skanky too-old guys still at the bar at last call. The initial charred animalistic smokiness almost did me in. It did mellow but the unpleasant almost metallic civit ran the other fainter of heart ambers and florals away leaving a little puff of an old fire pit the morning after camping.

BOGUE – MAAI (2014)

A blast of luxuriant resins greets the nose upon initial application. They are a bit sharp at first, but quickly warm. I sense cedar wood as well, though it is not listed in the note tree. (The note tree itself is rather secretive, announcing “resins,” “spices,” “incense infusions,” and “animalics,” without revealing any by name.)

Soon the florals begin to enter, slowly and quietly, with tuberose and ylang leading the procession. I can’t detect the rose or jasmine listed. Cinnamon and cardamom (ala Laurent’s Opium) appear alongside. The animalics arrive with civet, musk and castoreum prominent. It all settles down to a deep, warm, masculine aroma, reminding me of a carpentry emporium: the aroma of freshly sawed wood, combining with shellac, lemon oil and honeyed turpentine.
I am unable to detect any sandalwood or oak moss, although other Basenoters do.

As with MEM, Bogue’s blending and use of obviously quality oils is stellar. This is one I would be hard pressed to label as unisex, as it is to my nose overwhelmingly masculine, just as MEM is unabashedly feminine by nature.

Recommended for those into the “woods” genre.