This one's a divisive beast. Some adore its luxurious leather and smooth spice, while others can't get past its challenging opening, likening it to everything from animal urine to a shoe repair shop. Sample before you commit to this bold statement.

Desert Spice is Aromara's take on Penhaligon's Cairo, a rich saffron-rose-oud composition from the brand's Trade Routes collection. Aromara keeps the saffron and rose signature intact but simplifies Cairo's more intricate spice-incense interplay into a broader, warmer amber-oud base, losing some of the original's precision but keeping the exotic character that made Cairo distinctive.