chris maurice
Editor’s note pending — every credited perfumer eventually gets a written profile here.
The compositions
Fiero
Wardasina
Opera
Rebus
Love is Lost
Laylati
Aubres
Symphonium
Symphonium opens with a flash of bright citrus—mandarin and orange that quickly give way to something warmer and more enveloping.
Purple Accento
Jebel
Sacro e Profano
Insieme
Emery
Moonage Daydream
Warda Al Oud
Oud Luban
King Masarat
Alexandria Imperiale
Alexandria II Extrait Oil
Nefs
The opening is a strange, heady collision—honey thickened with saffron and violet, then sharpened by sage and warmed by fig.
Via Cavour I
Via Cavour I opens with an immediate embrace of rose and patchouli, but not the sharp, green partnership you might expect.
Aubres (The Fortnum & Mason Exclusive)
Rosso Afgano
Symphonium 2015
Tony Iommi Monkey Special
The opening arrives boozy and bright—rum doused with bergamot, sweet but not cloying, like cocktail hour before the house lights dim.
Lira
Lira opens with a brief flicker of citrus brightness before caramel surges forward, warm and unapologetic.
NILUFER Extrait De Parfum
Pikovaya Dama 2018
The opening is a tight citrus chord—neroli, lemon, bergamot—laced with rose that reads more aromatic than floral.
Fars
Fars opens with a sharp lavender-bergamot duet that feels almost medicinal at first—clean and bracing, like a cold compress steeped in citrus.
Alexandria III
The third chapter in Xerjoff's Alexandria series opens on an inviting accord: cinnamon, rosewood, and lavender — warm, slightly sweet, with the lavender tempering the spice into something rounder than it first appears.
Kisses Rain Labios Rotos
Amber Star
Erba Gold
Alexandria II
Alexandria II opens with a peculiar contrast: bright apple laced with cinnamon's warmth, softened by lavender's aromatic haze.
Malesia
Black Sukar
Song For a Wanderer
Uden Overdose
The opening bursts with sharp citrus—bergamot and lemon crackling like static before the ginger surges through, root-spicy and almost medicinal.
Tiba
Ceylon
Java Blossom
Luxor
Luxor opens with a rare combination: cinnamon and cardamom provide the expected oriental spice, but leather appears in the top notes — unusual placement that announces the composition's intent from the first moment.
K’bridge Club
Diapason
Ouverture
Ouverture opens with an airy brightness—fig leaf's green milkiness softened by magnolia and a whisper of citrus.
Begum
Alexandria Orientale
The Alexandria series is Xerjoff at its most uncompromising — named for the ancient city and built accordingly.
Symphonium Parfum
Coro (Selfridges Exclusive)
Sang Noir
Ouverture
Star Musk
Star-musk opens with a resinous amber warmth that feels almost tactile, like sun-warmed skin layered with fine incense.
Pikovaya Dama
A citrus-neroli opening leads immediately into something darker—incense smoke already visible through the brightness, rose petals touched by resin.
B-612
Lavender arrives cool and aromatic, already woven into soft woods rather than standing alone as a herbal prelude.
Duetto
Wabar
La Capitale
The name suggests a city of consequence, and the composition follows through.
Nero 70
Verde Accento
XJ 1861 Decas
The opening is bold and unapologetic: narcotic tuberose collides with raw tobacco leaf, neither one willing to yield.
Opera
Opera opens with a warm, spiced exhalation—nutmeg dusted over ylang-ylang's creamy petals, already hinting at the richness beneath.
Avant le Jour
Classic Paradise
Harrods Emerald Star
Ensemble
Methexis
Magia
Tony Iommi Signed Crystal
Rose Gold
Capriccio
Ipnotica
Vain Naive
The opening is a bright citrus wash—orange and bergamot—that quickly gives way to a jammy heart of raspberry and plum, darkened by cedar and softened by rose and jasmine.
Vain & Naïve
Orange and bergamot open with a bright citrus spray that quickly gives way to something richer and more deliberately playful.
Riad Jasmine
Shamal
Muskane
Andante
Red Hoba
Vivace
Melodia
Torino
Moonglade M.INT
Moonglade
Allende
La Tosca
La Tosca opens with a bright lemon that quickly gives way to something more complex—violet leaf lending a green, almost metallic coolness while Bulgarian rose adds depth without sweetness.