Layla

There is a famous line in the poetry of Layla and Majnun. Majnun, lost in love for his beloved, speaks to the walls of her home:

“I pass by these walls, the walls of Layla’s home. It is not love for the walls that has taken my heart, it is love for the one who once resided within them.”

It is this love - deep, unspoken, eternal - that we sought to capture in LAYLA.

LAYLA is composed of some of the rarest and most treasured materials in our atelier: 2003 Wild Borneo oud, Champaca absolute, 80% irones Orris, French Jasmine, and Musk macerated for many years. Yet it is the Champaca that steals the heart. We have never used it in any of our private blends before. For years, we waited for the right moment, and LAYLA became that moment. It melted seamlessly into the wild Borneo profile, creating a fragrance that instantly commanded attention and, like Layla herself, left an impression wherever she went.

LAYLA opens with a blue, aquatic brightness, the meeting of Champaca and Irish Ambergris. As it settles, whispers of the finest French Sultani Jasmine and aged Musk begin to bloom. Then comes the champion: the Borneo oud, one of the finest we have ever encountered. It was madness to use all of it. To put it into perspective, had we sold the oud neat, it would have been twice the price of LAYLA itself.

The 80% irones Orris lends allure and velvet smoothness, while Musk and Cade give it an olfactory strength and presence that lingers. We rarely speak of technique, but this creation demanded it: one of the most strenuous and time-consuming works we have ever undertaken, built through multiple stages of refinement and patience.