Tobacco fragrances often get the ‘weight’ thing wrong. Too much amber or vanilla, and it sinks under the heft of its own richness, but too light and it feels like a sheer wash of ash on the skin. Tabac by Abdes Salaam Attar gets it right by pairing a bold tobacco leaf with a sheer dried-fruit amber and a bitter, earthy vanilla - elements that serve to modulate each other’s behavior and sidestep any excessive sweetness.
The tobacco leaf in Tabac is raw and uncured, even a bit rough around the edges. Its honest-to-goodness rustic charm is complemented by the quasi-animalic woodiness of sticky black vanilla pod and the buttery, cherry-almond bitterness of tonka bean. As you might imagine, the result is incredibly rich. But fear not! The resinous amber underpinning the tobacco, vanilla, and tonka bean crown is so dry that there’s no danger of this tipping over into syrup. Tabac is simply vigorous, handsome, and very well-built. It’s the perfect mid-weight tobacco perfume: substantial enough to be satisfying and spacious enough to wear without feeling crushed under the weight of super-rich materials. In a word – suave.
