Hijaz

Hijaz opens on a thick, jammy accord of candied dates and dried fig with a candied mandarin lift and an early woody touch of sandalwood and cedar - the same 'eastern spice shop' entry that makes Arabie so distinctive. The heart turns hot and spicy: clove, cumin, nutmeg and a herbal bay leaf, dense and aromatic, like walking through a Moroccan souk. The dry-down settles into warm resins - myrrh, siamese benzoin and sweet tonka - giving that balsamic, ambered finish. Against the genuine Lutens it is simpler and a touch sweeter: the dried-fruit-macerated-in-syrup excess is reined in, the spice and resin layers flatten into a single warm chord, and projection stays modest, hugging the skin within a couple of hours rather than radiating. Still, the rich, mysterious, spicy-sweet oriental mood comes through faithfully. It trades the original's baroque complexity and tenacity for budget accessibility, best in autumn and winter for evenings and cozy, atmospheric occasions.