Dzongkha

You have disturbed this iris in her remote mountain cave, where she had retreated to meditate and brood. You approach the mouth of the cave bearing gifts -- peonies, lychee candies, packets of black tea wrapped in precious calligraphic paper. She stalks onto the doorstep in a ash-smeared bathrobe, dishevelled. She glares at you, snatches the gifts from your hand, throws a handful of topsoil in the general direction of your head, stomps inside. You turn to descend the mountain. She has never looked more beautiful.

The fragrance you choose when you don't want to smell like you're wearing a fragrance, yet you absolutely must carry a scent with you. Superb. Different. As my business partner describes it: "Very unlike anything else."

Of all my scents, this one is perfection. It's strong but delicate, powerful yet gentle, you get the idea, right? There is a softness in this I've never experienced in any fragrance and it's unique in that dry, distant, airy way. There's no word to compare this scent with that an opposite does not equally apply. This is my Holy Grail scent after trying hundreds This is the one I never want to be without.

To my little crazy nose, this smells like Homage Attar without the Rose Taifi of course. I will say that this is a poor mans Homage Attar but that's ok because I'm poor...and I'm a man lol (sorry). Dzongkha is a beautiful fragrance which is definitely worth sampling.

I love my fragrances, like many here. Fragrance fanatic, if you like. L'Artisan Dzongkha is my default scent. This is where I turn for comfort, when I can't decide what to wear or what I want to smell like. One of my Holy Grail scents. I noticed that the Lucky Scent gauge has this slightly on the masculine side. I don't normally go for masculine in any of my scents, I do find it to be quite feminine.

Sometimes I love this because I get mostly iris, old wet rock, and incense. Othertimes I can't stand it because I pick up a strong whiskey note! Once I wore it to a party and a friend asked me if I'd been on a weekend bender. Ack!!! Beware the whiskey note.

It's hard to find a leather I love. I love the note but to find it done to my liking is quite another matter. The leather is done to perfection here. It's near perfect in every other aspect as well. I'm not overly fond of the herbaceous note at the beginning but it seems as if it's a necessary part of this concoction so I'm not complaining, either. The herbal note never goes away but it transforms into something more soft and somehow a "necessary" component to the formulation. Unique enough that a test drive is recommended but it is definitely full-bottle worthy. Quite beautiful. Quite beautiful, indeed.

The overall effect is a “hospital smell.” This is the cold/metallic/disinfectant facet of iris along with overtones of woods, smoke, soap, spices, leather, and flowers. [4 out of 5 stars]

Yes, at first, it smells like vinegar and hairspray. But then...it starts to smell really different and exotic, in a good way. Somehow lemon-y (very lightly), incensey, woody, tea-ish and Asian. Definitely unique.

Does anyone get Celery with this? Don't care at all for this!

The first three minutes of this fragrance smelled violently of black pepper and paper - but completely sterile. After this very strange start, Dzongkha quickly dried down to a natural smelling iris - not powdery or floral, but of roots and dirt. It is the smell of that sticks in your nose when you're planting your spring bulbs. Mix that earthy, dirty, vaguely chalky freshness of soil with a hint of lingering spice in the background, like the leftover bits of stark clove from Tauer's L'air du Desert Marocain. This is a beautifully made fragrance, but don't get me wrong here: while it smells of spring roots and bits of spice, it is austere, adult and not the least bit smiling.

Tonight, I am comparing Dzongkha to Aoud Queen Roses. They have nothing in common except each contains a "dirty" version of iris (Dzongkha) or rose (AQR). I like dirty. At mid notes, Dzongkha is beautiful with its dark carnation and paper undertones. The rose in Aoud Queen Roses is exquisite; bright and dark at the same time. Aoud Queen Roses wins by a hair, simply because it's more chypre than oriental.

I smell khus! ...a nice, papery, dry khus mixed with incense. Maybe that's the tea I'm smelling? Either way, it's beautiful. As it dries I smell the spice notes a bit more...along with something sweet. Lychee? Lovley! This would make a great everyday scent :)

I came to LuckyScent because I was starting a new job in a mostly-male environment, and wanted to get away from my more usual sexy jasmines and get a perfume that had a certain strength and elegance to it (l'eau de "rich old man," if you will). I was originally looking for something woodsy, cedar-based perhaps, and on a whim tacked on a sample of Dzongkha to a long list of samples of things like CdG Kyoto, Cedre, etc., on the basis of a previous reviewer's comparison to a cold November wind. When I first applied Dzongkha, I had no idea it would become my favorite of the bunch - my first reaction was a variation on a neutral-to-bad "hunh." It was too far outside of my prior scent experiences. And yet, I couldn't stop sniffing it. This fragrance evolves, but there is an ever-present core, something I can only describe as an open center to the fragrance, that all of the other notes swirl around, like standing in the calm center of a leaf-bearing dust-devil in late fall. A cold, dry, empty space that allows you to appreciate the rest. Although very complex, this is not a crowded scent, if that makes any sense. And on me, the fragrance lasts forever. I love walking into meetings while wearing it; it makes me feel strong and serene all at once. I just bought my first bottle - this is "the one" for me. Oh, and for those of you, like me, who cringe and think of blue-haired ladies when you see "iris" show up as a note in a fragrance - somehow the iris here gets transmuted into a dry smoky stoniness; this does not come across as a floral fragrance at all. (The peony didn't register on me at all - or it's just so well-integrated I couldn't pick it out as a distinct note).

Now, I agree with most; the top notes didn't rub me the right way. With a cross between citronella and mint gum, I was terrified. But that faded in seconds. Now I'm sitting here with a swirl of cardamom and iris on my wrists that I adore. If I try hard enough, I can smell the milk and tea that keep a sweet balance and I can note the cedar and vetyver that play up the cardamom on my skin. The lychee and peony never really came onto my skin, but that's fine. I plan to buy the 100 ml bottle as soon as my sample runs out.

Hairspray. No subtleties here. Stinks.

One of L'Artisan's best. Vetiver is dominant. I thought I got ylang in the topnote but I'm sure luckyscent is right and lychee is there - a famous lychee base probably. Also some rose?

I would have given this the full complement of stars if it lasted longer. On me this fragrance is gone quickly, but nice when it's there. I smell stone, incense, paper and , very slightly, tea. I agree with the person who said it smells like Citta di Kyoto, it's amazingly similar.

This reminded me very much of Jaisalmer: A sharp, strong and fairly true burning incense smell. While I love incense, these are too cold and sharp on my skin. There was nothing to soften this, none of the floral came through, just hard, woody incense. If that's your thing, this is your scent.

Smells like leather and tabacco. I thought it was horrible, but if you like those smells, you will love this scent.