Armaf Niche - Bucephalus No. XI

By the editors · 2 min readThe niche edition opens nearly identically to its standard counterpart — pineapple braced against bergamot, sweet-tart fruit hitting first. The black currant is gone here, leaving the pineapple to carry the top alone, and the result reads cleaner if a touch less juicy.

The heart pivots dark with myrrh under jasmine and rose, the resin pulling the floral toward smoke. It holds the fruity-floral tension well into the middle hours, the contrast doing most of the work.

The base swaps oakmoss for ambergris, which makes the drydown warmer and saltier — less mossy-classical, more skin-warm and rounded. Vanilla and musk soften the finish. Longevity is similar; the sillage feels denser. A small reformulation that nudges the same shape toward something more enveloping in cooler weather.